''Futtocks End'' is a 1970 British comedy short film directed by

Bob Kellett Robert Ryerson Kellett (25 December 1927 – 27 November 2012) was a British film director, film producer, screenwriter, television director and television writer one of British cinema’s and television's most prominent comedy directors in ...

and starring

Ronnie Barker Ronald William George Barker (25 September 1929 – 3 October 2005) was an English actor, comedian and writer. He was known for roles in British comedy television series such as ''Porridge (1974 TV series), Porridge'', ''The Two Ronnies'', ...

Michael Hordern Sir Michael Murray Hordern (3 October 19112 May 1995) was an English actor. He is best known for his Shakespearean roles, especially King Lear. He often appeared in film, rising from a bit part actor to leading roles; by the time of his death ...

Roger Livesey Roger Livesey (25 June 1906 – 4 February 1976) was a British stage and film actor. He is most often remembered for the three Powell and Pressburger, Powell & Pressburger films in which he starred: ''The Life and Death of Colonel Blimp'', '' ...

and

Julian Orchard Julian Dean Chavasse Orchard (3 March 1930, in Wheatley, Oxfordshire – 21 June 1979, in Westminster, London) was an English comedy actor. He appeared in four ''Carry On'' films: '' Don't Lose Your Head'' (1966), '' Follow That Camel'' (196 ...

. It was written by Barker. Almost entirely without dialogue, the film includes a musical score, sound effects and incoherent mutterings.

Plot

The story revolves around a weekend gathering at the decaying country home of the eccentric and lewd Sir Giles Futtock and the series of saucy mishaps between the staff and his guests.

Cast

as Sir Giles Futtock *

as Hawk, the butler *

as Old Jack, the artist *

as Lord Twist, the twit *

Kika Markham Erika S.L. "Kika" Markham (born 1940)''birth registered 4th quarter (Oct, Nov, Dec) 1940'' is an English actress. Early life Markham is a daughter of actor David Markham and writer Olive Dehn (1914–2007). She has three sisters, including Pet ...

as Lesley, the niece *

Mary Merrall Mary Merrall (5 January 1890 – 31 August 1973), born Elsie Lloyd, was an English actress whose career of over 60 years encompassed stage, film and television work. Stage career Merrall's stage career started in her teens, making her first stag ...

as Fern Brassett, the aunt *

Hilary Pritchard Hilary Pritchard (1942–1996) was a Manx stage, film and television actress, who, according to her obituary in ''The Stage'', was "at one time known as the British Goldie Hawn." Career She was educated at St Ninian's High School, Douglas an ...

as Carol Singer, the photographic model *

Peggy Ann Clifford Peggy Ann Clifford (23 March 1921 in Poole, Dorset – 26 May 1986, in Kensington), was an English film, stage, and television character actress. She was born Peggy Anne Hamley Champion. Her mother's maiden name was Clifford. She appeared in tw ...

as cook *

Richard O'Sullivan Richard O'Sullivan (born 7 May 1944) is an English comedy actor. He is known for his role as Robin Tripp in the TV sitcoms ''Man About the House'' (1973–1976) and '' Robin's Nest'' (1977–1981) and as the title character in the period adven ...

as the boots * Jennifer Cox as Effie, the parlour maid * Suzanne Togni as Tweenie *

Sammie Winmill Sammie Winmill (born Janice Winmill c1950) is a British actress who had a number of roles in the 1970s, and is best known for portraying Carol in the Sci-fi series ''The Tomorrow People''. Career Her first noted appearance was alongside Ronni ...

as Tweenie * Kim Kee Lim as oriental gentleman *

Aubrey Woods Aubrey Harold Woods (9 April 1928 – 7 May 2013) was an English actor. He is best remembered for playing Bill in ''Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory'', where he sang " The Candy Man". Biography and career Woods was born on 9 April 19 ...

as the postman Sir Giles Futtock is another variation on Barker's Lord Rustless character.

Production

It was filmed at

Grim's Dyke Grim's Dyke (sometimes called Graeme's Dyke until late 1891)How, Harry ''The Strand Magazine'', Vol. 2, October 1891, pp. 330–41, reprinted at ''The Gilbert and Sullivan Archive'', 20 November 2011 is a house and estate in Harrow Weald, in n ...

, the former home of

W. S. Gilbert Sir William Schwenck Gilbert (18 November 1836 – 29 May 1911) was an English dramatist, librettist, poet and illustrator best known for his collaboration with composer Arthur Sullivan, which produced fourteen comic operas. The most fam ...

, now a hotel.

Critical reception

The Monthly Film Bulletin The ''Monthly Film Bulletin'' was a periodical of the British Film Institute published monthly from February 1934 until April 1991, when it merged with '' Sight & Sound''. It reviewed all films on release in the United Kingdom, including those wi ...

'' wrote: "Like ''

Rhubarb Rhubarb is the fleshy, edible stalks ( petioles) of species and hybrids (culinary rhubarb) of ''Rheum'' in the family Polygonaceae, which are cooked and used for food. The plant is a herbaceous perennial that grows from short, thick rhizomes. ...

'', this comedy featurette dispenses with all dialogue except for a series of mumbled noises and squeaks (the rest of the track consists of loud sound effects and a continuous, undistinguished score). Though one or two small gags work quite nicely (as Sir Giles reads a letter in the shower the water removes the writing), they are far too thinly spread, and the whole venture reeks of ancient music hall jokes. The cast seem to be enjoying themselves, but their over-emphatic performances and bits of speeded-up action hardly communicate the fun to the audience." British film critic

Leslie Halliwell Robert James Leslie Halliwell (23 February 1929 – 21 January 1989) was a British film critic, encyclopaedist and television rights buyer for ITV, the British commercial network, and Channel 4. He is best known for his reference guides, '' Fi ...

said: "A collection of visual gags, rather thinly spread, with dialogue replaced by squeaks and mumblings. Like all Barker's subsequent comedies on similar lines ('' The Picnic'', '' By the Sea'', etc) one chuckles in constant anticipation of guffaws which never come." Writing in ''

The Observer ''The Observer'' is a British newspaper published on Sundays. First published in 1791, it is the world's oldest Sunday newspaper. In 1993 it was acquired by Guardian Media Group Limited, and operated as a sister paper to ''The Guardian'' ...

'',

Clive James Clive James (born Vivian Leopold James; 7 October 1939 – 24 November 2019) was an Australian critic, journalist, broadcaster, writer and lyricist who lived and worked in the United Kingdom from 1962 until his death in 2019.James, Clive (1981) ''The Crystal Bucket'', Pan Macmillan, p.233

Releases

In 1979 the film was shown, with no prior announcement or explanation, by the

BBC The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) is a British public service broadcaster headquartered at Broadcasting House in London, England. Originally established in 1922 as the British Broadcasting Company, it evolved into its current sta ...

in the middle of that year's ''

Miss World Miss World is the oldest existing international beauty pageant. It was created in the United Kingdom by Eric Morley in 1951. Since his death in 2000, Morley's widow, Julia Morley, has co-chaired the pageant. Along with Miss Universe, Mi ...

'' broadcast. The programme had in fact been affected by industrial action by sound engineers. The film was released on DVD in June 2006 together with an audio commentary by the producer-director Bob Kellett. It was shown in

Trafalgar Square Trafalgar Square ( ) is a public square in the City of Westminster in Central London. It was established in the early-19th century around the area formerly known as Charing Cross. Its name commemorates the Battle of Trafalgar, the Royal Navy, ...

as part of the 2007

St George's Day Saint George's Day is the Calendar of saints, feast day of Saint George, celebrated by Christian churches, countries, regions, and cities of which he is the Patronages of Saint George, patron saint, including Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bu ...

celebrations. In 2021 a remastered edition of the film, together with Kellett's 2006 commentary and an 11-minute home movie edition, was released on the

Blu-ray Blu-ray (Blu-ray Disc or BD) is a digital optical disc data storage format designed to supersede the DVD format. It was invented and developed in 2005 and released worldwide on June 20, 2006, capable of storing several hours of high-defin ...

anthology ''Futtocks End and Other Short Stories''. The "other short stories" referred to in the title are three other short films produced by Kellett: ''

San Ferry Ann ''San Ferry Ann'' is a 1965 British sound effect comedy directed by Jeremy Summers with an ensemble cast including David Lodge, Joan Sims, Wilfrid Brambell, Rodney Bewes and Barbara Windsor. It was written and produced by Bob Kellett. Wordles ...

'', ''

A Home of Your Own ''A Home of Your Own'' is a 1965 British comedy film directed by Jay Lewis and starring Ronnie Barker, Richard Briers, Peter Butterworth and Bernard Cribbins. It was written by Lewis and Johnny Whyte. Plot The story is a brick-by-brick accou ...

'' (which also co-starred Barker, and is cited in Kellettt's commentary as an inspiration for ''Futtocks End''), and ''Vive le Sport''. All of these films are remastered in 2K from their original film elements. The complete script appears in ''All I Ever Wrote'' by Ronnie Barker (Sidgwick & Jackson Ltd, 2001), as well as ''Fork Handles: The Bery Vest of Ronnie Barker'' (

Ebury Press Ebury Publishing is a division of Penguin Random House, and is a publisher of general non-fiction books in the UK. Ebury was founded in 1961 as a division of Nat Mags and was originally located on Ebury Street in London. It was sold to Centu ...

, 2013). The script contains some differences from the finished film. As Kellett explains in his commentary, dialogue during the establishing scenes was dropped in favour of an entirely wordless approach. A garden fête scene later in the script was omitted for budgetary reasons.

References

External links

* {{Bob Kellett 1970 films 1970 comedy films British comedy films Films directed by Bob Kellett 1970s British films Films scored by Robert Sharples