''Where Is Parsifal?'' is a 1984 British

comedy film A comedy film is a category of film which emphasizes humor. These films are designed to make the audience laugh through amusement. Films in this style traditionally have a happy ending (black comedy being an exception). Comedy is one of the ol ...

directed by

Henri Helman Henri Helman (born 1947) is a French director and screenwriter A screenplay writer (also called screenwriter, scriptwriter, scribe or scenarist) is a writer who practices the craft of screenwriting, writing screenplays on which mass medi ...

and starring

Tony Curtis Tony Curtis (born Bernard Schwartz; June 3, 1925September 29, 2010) was an American actor whose career spanned six decades, achieving the height of his popularity in the 1950s (Kansas Raiders, 1950) and early 1960s. He acted in more than 100 f ...

, Cassandra Domenica,

Erik Estrada Henry Enrique Estrada (born March 16, 1949) is an American actor and police officer. He is known for his co-starring lead role as California Highway Patrol officer Francis (Frank) Llewelyn "Ponch" Poncherello in the police drama television series ...

Peter Lawford Peter Sydney Ernest Lawford ( Aylen; 7 September 1923 – 24 December 1984) was an English-American actor.Obituary ''Variety'', 26 December 1984. He was a member of the " Rat Pack" and the brother-in-law of US president John F. Kennedy and sen ...

(in his final film role),

Ron Moody Ron Moody (born Ronald Moodnick; 8 January 1924 – 11 June 2015) was an English actor, composer, singer and writer. He was best known for his portrayal of Fagin in ''Oliver!'' (1968) and its 1983 Broadway revival. Moody earned a Golden Globe ...

Donald Pleasence Donald Henry Pleasence (; 5 October 1919 – 2 February 1995) was an English actor. He began his career on stage in the West End before transitioning into a screen career, where he played numerous supporting and character roles including RAF ...

and

Orson Welles George Orson Welles (May 6, 1915 – October 10, 1985) was an American actor, director, producer, and screenwriter, known for his innovative work in film, radio and theatre. He is considered to be among the greatest and most influential f ...

. The film screened in the

Un Certain Regard (, meaning 'a certain glance') is a section of the Cannes Film Festival's official selection. It is run at the Debussy, parallel to the competition for the . This section was introduced in 1978 by Gilles Jacob. The section presents 20 films w ...

section at the

1984 Cannes Film Festival The 37th Cannes Film Festival was held from 11 to 23 May 1984. The Palme d'Or went to the ''Paris, Texas'' by Wim Wenders. The festival opened with ''Fort Saganne'', directed by Alain Corneau and closed with '' The Bounty'', directed by Roger D ...

, before being released in the United Kingdom on 19 July 1985 by

J. Arthur Rank Film Distributors General Film Distributors (GFD), later known as J. Arthur Rank Film Distributors and Rank Film Distributors Ltd., was a British film distribution company based in London. It was active between 1935 and 1996, and from 1937 it was part of the Rank Or ...

(

The Rank Organisation The Rank Organisation was a British entertainment conglomerate founded by industrialist J. Arthur Rank in April 1937. It quickly became the largest and most vertically integrated film company in the United Kingdom, owning production, distribut ...

Plot

Parsifal Katzenellenbogen (Tony Curtis) is an eccentric hypochondriac who has invented a laser skywriter. Parsifal invites businessmen to his castle in the hopes of selling his invention. Potential buyers include gangster Henry Board II (Erik Estrada) accompanied by has-been movie star Montague Chippendale (Peter Lawford), Scotsman Mackintosh (Donald Pleasence), and gypsy Klingsor (Orson Welles).

Cast

– Parsifal Katzenellenbogen *Berta Domínguez – D.Elba (as Cassandra Domenica) *

– Henry Board II *

– Montague Chippendale *

– Beersbohm *

– Mackintosh *

– Klingsor *

Christopher Chaplin Christopher James Chaplin (born 8 July 1962) is a Swiss-born English composer and actor. He is the youngest son of film comedian Charlie Chaplin and his fourth wife Oona O'Neill. Biography Christopher Chaplin was born on 8 July 1962 at Clin ...

– Ivan *Nancy Roberts – Ruth *Ava Lazar – Sheila

Release

''Where Is Parsifal?'' is often incorrectly considered to be a

lost film A lost film is a feature or short film that no longer exists in any studio archive, private collection, public archive or the U.S. Library of Congress. Conditions During most of the 20th century, U.S. copyright law required at least one copy o ...

, since it has never been commercially available in the UK or US—in fact, it is on the British Film Institute's 75 Most Wanted list of lost films, though its status was updated to "found" after director Helman donated his personal print to the BFI—but the film was released on home video in (at least)

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical re ...

The Netherlands ) , anthem = ( en, "William of Nassau") , image_map = , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Kingdom of the Netherlands , established_title = Before independence , established_date = Spanish Netherl ...

and in

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...

(by Seven Keys Video) during the 1980s. The misinformation about the film being lost is due to the fact that although it was screened at the 1984 Cannes Film Festival, it was withdrawn prior to its official release date in the UK. In May 2013, the film appeared on

Netflix Netflix, Inc. is an American subscription video on-demand over-the-top streaming service and production company based in Los Gatos, California. Founded in 1997 by Reed Hastings and Marc Randolph in Scotts Valley, California, it offers a fil ...

streaming.

References

External links

BFI 75 Most Wanted entry
with extensive notes * {{IMDb title, 0086577 1983 films 1983 comedy films British comedy films 1980s English-language films 1980s British films