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''Please Sir!'' is a 1971 British
comedy film The comedy film is a film genre that emphasizes humor. These films are designed to amuse audiences and make them laugh. Films in this genre typically have a happy ending, with dark comedy being an exception to this rule. Comedy is one of the o ...
directed by Mark Stuart and starring
John Alderton John Alderton (born 27 November 1940) is an English retired actor. He is best known for his roles in '' Upstairs, Downstairs'', '' Thomas & Sarah'', '' Wodehouse Playhouse'', '' Little Miss'' (original television series), '' Please Sir!'', '' ...
,
Deryck Guyler Deryck Bower Guyler (29 April 1914 – 7 October 1999) was an English actor, best remembered for appearances in sitcoms such as ''Please Sir!'' and ''Sykes (TV series), Sykes''. Early life Guyler was born in Wallasey on the Wirral Peninsula, C ...
and Carol Hawkins. Written by John Esmonde and Bob Larbey, it is a spin-off from the ITV television series ''
Please Sir! ''Please Sir!'' is a British television sitcom created by John Esmonde and Bob Larbey and featuring actors John Alderton, Deryck Guyler, Penny Spencer, Joan Sanderson, Noel Howlett, Erik Chitty and Richard Davies. Produced by London Weeke ...
'' (1968–1972). It was released by the
Rank Organisation The Rank Organisation (founded as the J. Arthur Rank Organisation) is a British entertainment conglomerate founded in 1937 by industrialist J. Arthur Rank. It quickly became the largest and most vertically integrated film company in the Uni ...
on 10 September 1971.


Plot

Mr Hedges, the somewhat naive and idealistic teacher of the rebellious Class 5C of Fenn Street School lobbies to have his class allowed on the annual school camping trip despite opposition from the head teacher Mr Cromwell, the fastidious and officious school caretaker Mr Potter, snobbish teacher Miss Ewell and the world-weary Mr Price. Eventually (with Mr. Hedges having won the hearts and minds of Mr Cromwell and Miss Ewell with a speech about giving Class 5C a helping hand with the benefits of the trip to the countryside) Class 5C get to go on the trip – providing Mr Hedges comes along to supervise his unruly class. Once on the camping trip Mr Hedges pursues Penny Wheeler, a local part-time barmaid, and the class indulge in their usual activities: Dennis relishes the clean air and rural surroundings and befriends a gypsy boy named Nobbler; meanwhile 5C engage in a feud with stereotypical upper-class pupils from the posh Boulters School, which is resolved after a false rape allegation from Sharon. A case of stolen money is resolved through Mr Hedges trusting the class. At the final dance Mr Hedges is ensnared in the romantic clutches of teacher Miss Cutforth, contrary to his wishes.


Cast

*
John Alderton John Alderton (born 27 November 1940) is an English retired actor. He is best known for his roles in '' Upstairs, Downstairs'', '' Thomas & Sarah'', '' Wodehouse Playhouse'', '' Little Miss'' (original television series), '' Please Sir!'', '' ...
as Bernard Hedges *
Deryck Guyler Deryck Bower Guyler (29 April 1914 – 7 October 1999) was an English actor, best remembered for appearances in sitcoms such as ''Please Sir!'' and ''Sykes (TV series), Sykes''. Early life Guyler was born in Wallasey on the Wirral Peninsula, C ...
as Norman Potter * Noel Howlett as Maurice Cromwell *
Joan Sanderson Joan Sanderson (24 November 1912 – 24 May 1992) was an English actress. During a long career on stage and screen, her tall and commanding disposition led to her playing mostly dowagers, spinsters and matrons, as well as intense Shakespearean ...
as Doris Ewell * Richard Davies as Mr Price * Erik Chitty as Mr Smith *
Patsy Rowlands Patricia Amy Rowlands (19 January 1931 – 22 January 2005) was an English actress who is best remembered for her roles in the ''Carry On'' films series, as Betty Lewis in the ITV Thames sitcom '' Bless This House'', and as Alice Meredith ...
as Angela Cutforth *
Peter Cleall Peter Cleall (born 16 March 1944 in Finchley, Middlesex) is an actors' agent and former actor who is probably best known for playing wise-cracking Eric Duffy in the London Weekend Television comedy series '' Please Sir!'' which ran from 1968 t ...
as Eric Duffy * Carol Hawkins as Sharon Eversleigh *
Liz Gebhardt Elisabeth Anne Gebhardt (12 April 1945 – 10 August 1996) was an English actress, best known for playing the part of form 5C pupil Maureen Bullock in the LWT sitcom '' Please Sir!'' (1968–71) and in the subsequent spin-off show, '' The Fenn ...
as Maureen Bullock * David Barry as Frankie Abbott * Peter Denyer as Dennis Dunstable *
Malcolm McFee Malcolm Raymond McFee (16 August 1949 – 18 November 2001) was an English actor best known for his role as Peter Craven in the TV series '' Please Sir!'', the film of the same name, and the spin-off TV series '' The Fenn Street Gang''. Career ...
as Peter Craven * Aziz Resham as Feisal * Brinsley Forde as Wesley * Jill Kerman as Penny Wheeler *
Norman Bird John George Norman Bird (30 October 1924 – 22 April 2005) was an English character actor. Early life Bird was born in Coalville, Leicestershire, England. A RADA graduate, he made his West End debut in Peter Brook's production of ''The Wi ...
as Reynolds * Barbara Mitchell as Mrs Abbott * Peter Bayliss as Mr David Dunstable * Eve Pearce as Mrs Daphne Dunstable * Jack Smethurst as bus driver * Brenda Cowling as Mrs Duffy


Production

The film was a co production between
London Weekend Television London Weekend Television (LWT; now part of the non-franchised ITV London region) was the ITV (TV network), ITV network franchise holder for Greater London and the Home Counties at weekends, broadcasting from Fridays at 5.15 pm (7:00&nbs ...
and Leslie Grade. Filming started in May 1971, at
Pinewood Studios Pinewood Studios is a British film and television studio located in the village of Iver Heath, England. It is approximately west of central London. The studio has been the base for many productions over the years from large-scale films to t ...
and on location in
London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...
in
Primrose Hill Primrose Hill is a Grade II listed public park located north of Regent's Park in London, England, first opened to the public in 1842.Mills, A., ''Dictionary of London Place Names'', (2001) It was named after the natural hill in the centre of t ...
and
Willesden Willesden () is an area of north-west London, situated 5 miles (8 km) north-west of Charing Cross. It is historically a parish in the county of Middlesex that was incorporated as the Municipal Borough of Willesden in 1933; it has formed ...
. The country park scenes were shot at Black Park, close to Pinewood in
Buckinghamshire Buckinghamshire (, abbreviated ''Bucks'') is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South East England and one of the home counties. It is bordered by Northamptonshire to the north, Bedfordshire to the north-east, Hertfordshir ...
. A number of then/now location shot comparisons are documented at ReelStreets.com. Writers Larby and Esmonde said they enjoyed the "newfound freedom" writing a movie."We will be going back in time by writing an overall story of life at Fenn Street," said Esmonde. For instance, the film shows Mr. Hedges meeting Penny Wheeler – characters who were engaged and got married in Season Three of the TV show. The only regular cast member to not appear in the film was Penny Spencer, who played Sharon Eversleigh in the TV show. She was replaced by Carol Hawkins who also played the role in '' The Fenn Street Gang'' (1971–1973)'','' the TV spin-off from ''Please Sir!''


Music

The film's closing theme, "La La La Lu"'','' was written by Mike Vickers and performed by
Cilla Black Priscilla Maria Veronica White (27 May 1943 – 1 August 2015), better known as Cilla Black, was an English singer and television presenter. Championed by her friends the Beatles, Black began her career as a singer in 1963. Her singles "A ...
. Black and her manager/husband Bobby Willis claimed they had been led to believe the song would open and close the film, but it was instead used over the final scenes of the pupils dancing and then partially over the closing credits. The planned release of the single was consequently abandoned by Black, who instead used the track as the
B-side The A-side and B-side are the two sides of phonograph record, vinyl records and Compact cassette, cassettes, and the terms have often been printed on the labels of two-sided music recordings. The A-side of a Single (music), single usually ...
of her 1971 single '' Something Tells Me (Something's Gonna Happen Tonight)'', which became her final top 10 single in the UK


Reception


Box office

The film was one of the most popular movies of 1972 at the British box office.


Critical

''
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: "The episodes of the three-year-old TV comedy series about a young master's disciplinary problems in a tough, London comprehensive school last for an ample thirty minutes apiece. This film version plays up the original's already embarrassing tendency to use illiteracy, race and imbecility as primary sources of humour, while padding out its material to feature length with some laboured mugging and gross caricature. Recurring and lovingly-held closeups of John Alderton dithering, Deryck Guyler smirking, and Joan Sanderson glaring prove poor substitutes for comic invention, which seems to have been lost somewhere along the school's journey from urban to rural surroundings. And though the series may originally have claimed a degree of authenticity in its depiction of present-day pupil-teacher relationships, it's particularly hard to take these seriously now that most of Hedges' pupils (with the notable exception of Liz Gebhardt) look a good ten years too old for their parts." ''
Sight and Sound ''Sight and Sound'' (formerly written ''Sight & Sound'') is a monthly film magazine published by the British Film Institute (BFI). Since 1952, it has conducted the well-known decennial ''Sight and Sound'' Poll of the Greatest Films of All Time. ...
'' said "no marks for comic invention". The ''
Manchester Evening News The ''Manchester Evening News'' (''MEN'') is a regional daily newspaper covering Greater Manchester in North West England, founded in 1868. It is published Monday–Saturday; a Sunday edition, the ''MEN on Sunday'', was launched in February 20 ...
'' called it "good natured knockabout fun of the kind you can take all the family to see." ''The
Radio Times ''Radio Times'' is a British weekly listings magazine devoted to television and radio programme schedules, with other features such as interviews, film reviews and lifestyle items. Founded in September 1923 by John Reith, then general manage ...
Guide to Films'' gave the film 2/5 stars, writing: "Inspired by the Sidney Poitier feature '' To Sir with Love'' (1967), ITV's often hilarious sitcom ran for four years from 1968. The original class of 5C were all ready to depart for their own series, ''The Fenn Street Gang'', when this shambolic film version was made. John Alderton is good as the put-upon form teacher, but the few funny moments belong to Joan Sanderson as the headmaster's formidable assistant."
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: "Grossly inflated, occasionally funny big-screen version of the TV series."


References


External links

* {{Esmonde Larbey 1971 films 1971 comedy films British comedy films Films based on television series Films shot at Pinewood Studios Films set in schools Films shot in London Films set in London 1970s English-language films 1970s British films Films scored by Mike Vickers Films about camping