Election special… The Rise and Rise of Michael Rimmer (1970)

Ah, the more things change the more they bloody well stay the same… smart guy market researches and manipulates both establishment and general voting public alike in a drive to the top, all in an age before social media optimisation, big data news filtering and the collapse of trust.

Devised and produced by David Frost under the pseudonym "David Paradine", the script was completed by Peter Cook, John Cleese, Graham Chapman, and Kevin Billington, who also directed. It’s very knowing as you’d expect from these denizens of sixties satire who set the controls for the heart of a system that was largely run by people they’d gone to college with.

Indeed, Peter Cook later admitted to basing the character of Michael Rimmer on Mr Frost himself. None more self-referential and, indeed, a modern viewing of the film imparts it with all due benefits of doubt accrued by its major players in subsequent years: it’s got That Was The Week That Was pedigree, Beyond the Fringe all the way through to Python and Peter’s post-mortem confirmation as a national treasure.

Fraser, Cook and Elliott on WorthingPier

After the film, he was not convinced by his own performance but it’s his lack of nuanced expression that now seems to work very well as this coldly avuncular murderer and shaker: he takes everything in equal measure and has a plan for every eventuality based on a shrewd appreciation of the amorality all around him: we get the corruption we deserve.

The film is mostly funny around its lead character and not because of him as a host of top-notch character actors make their mark and a “guest appearance” by renowned playwright, Harold Pinter threatens to steal the show.

Valerie Leon and Arthur Leers...

It is however, hard to upstage Arthur Lowe and he’s the one to watch from the get-go as lazily abusive ad agency boss Ferret sitting in his complacent office ogling his secretary Tanya’s knicker line (unsurprisingly it’s Valerie Leon who is, overall, rather splendid). An agitated customer arrives and is followed in by a wide-eyed smart young man with a half-smile. The customer thumps Ferret and leaves as the young man reveals himself to be Michael Rimmer, sent to perform a time and motion study on the bureau.

He follows the nervous staff around, watching the finance director totting up the betting odds, following Pumer (John Cleese) into the gents and then catching him practising his ballroom dancing. There’s lots of time wasted in the company and before long Ferret’s test-match and skirt watching has to stop as he’s demoted to the bottom (not the one he likes) and retained only in order that he may repay the huge sums he’s wasted.

Time and motion...

I think the boys are trying to make a point… and it still resonates.

Rimmer takes over and then, impressed with Peter Niss (Denholm Elliott) a man from the biggest market research competitor, head hunts him to help undermine them. He uses shock tactics to catch attention and at the same time undermine faith in established mores, using research to show that the population is enjoying more sex than it actually is or that Britain is a nation of Buddhists.

Stephen Hench is Talking to You..

Naturally manipulation of public opinion leads him to politics and he cosies up to the leader of the opposition, Tory Tom Hutchinson (Ronald Fraser) at a reception held at London Zoo – how very modern! He can help him win, and in scenes not a million miles away from The Resistible Rise of Arturo Ui, he coaches Hutchinson on tone, body language and emotional control.

At the same time, he begins to work with the Labour Prime Minister, Blacket (George A. Cooper) – any resemblance to Harold Wilson being purely intentional. Knowing how little the public like seeing Blacket perform he encourages him to make daily TV appearances… it’s the one sure way to ensure Labour’s chances go down the tube (as it were).

Corbett and Cleese out polling

Michael decides he must take a wife and selects the pretty fit, Olympic equestrian Patricia Cartwright (Vanessa Howard, fit and pretty) who is soon won over by his empty charm and the two marry at Budleigh Moor (get it?).

But as Michael makes his way higher and higher, Patricia is left to alone a lot with Peter who attempts to lure her away… there’s one especially excruciating scene in which Patricia exercises her frustrations away as Niss looks on shifting uncomfortably in his seat.

The film was timed for release before the 1970 General election but some nervousness on behalf of the distributors prevented this… job done chaps!!  As it turned out the film was spot on and the Tories beat Wilson (temporarily) with, in this case Hutchinson romping to victory.

Marriage on the Moor

Rimmer instils some radical thinking in the new government with mocked up weaponry a far cheaper alternative to the development of the actual capabilities and a secret invasion of Swiss banks allowing the UK to pretend it has discovered North Sea Gold.

Tragedy soon occurs though when Hutchinson falls to his doom after holding a large chunk of gold over his head on a drilling platform… did he fall or was that a helping hand from Rimmer?

There’s no stopping him now as the party looks for a new leader, Patricia returns to the winning horse and novel ideas are put in to play that seem to promise more democracy whilst at the same time ensuring its doom. Referenda my friends… you can’t ask the public all the time; they’d much rather someone else made the decisions, good or bad…

Patricia exercises and Niss misses out

Dusty verdict: Michael Rimmer is clearly a jolly jape for the ruling satirical classes and it’s not often that political humour stands the test of time. IN this case, some of the jokes have only ripened in the age of social-media enhanced political campaign and big data thought control. Mr Rimmer is all too believable in the age of President Trump and a British government including Boris Johnson.

Peter Cook’s sly style has also stood the test of time and his vacuity only makes the character of Rimmer more believable: a post-Blair/post-Cameron man of PR and spin with little discernible core belief.

Just a stroll on the beach...

There’s superb support especially from Arthur Lowe and some of our finest character actors, Roland Culver, Dennis Price, Ronnie Corbett, Michael Bates and a sexy Diana Coupland! I also love the idea of an Election Grandstand – a TV programme with more airtime than news to break… very prescient!

The film is now available from Warner Archives on DVD and is close to Cook’s better work of the sixties such as the excellent Bedazzled (made with long-time partner, Budleigh Moore).

Britannia waves the rules… The Ruling Class (1972)

It’s pretty quaint to see some present day reviewers describing this film as “dated” with its earnest concerns about the nobility. It’s not so much the target of this satire, they say, but the left-wing consensus behind it that may well no longer exist to the same extent… Whilst it’s true that the politics of the left have changed, the film and the play it was based on were always out of step with mainstream thought and are only dated by the reserve that now dominates the politico-creative arena.

Politics is more disorientated than it was but the modern nobility are no less powerful than they were in the 1960s and most of us only see the tip of the iceberg. This country has always been run by a loose self-perpetuating oligarchy that sustains itself through pragmatism and the genuine social mobility Britain can offer the talented exceptions. I don’t even think that’s a political observation in itself: just a statement of fact?

People, regardless of their abilities can still obtain great power and wealth simply by being born to the right parents and the Lords still sit in their own House, albeit in reduced, more qualified numbers. Wealth inequality is even greater than it was in 1972 and the ruling classes still send their sons to public schools and they still dominate the Government from which they still make decisions that lead to the deaths of working men and women in the national interest…

I don’t see that the satire of The Ruling Class is no longer relevant and whilst stylistically it may be of its time, it’s well directed by Peter Medak and has more cutting edge than the mountain of mainstream gag-merchants clogging our TV stations, theatres and arenas.

Mr O'Toole

Most of all it’s got Peter O’Toole throwing himself absolutely into the role of insane. His is such a wholehearted and sincere performance that quite often this film is one you watch through gritted teeth… it’s not comfortable viewing watching someone so evidently disturbed and the human instinct is to look away from abnormality. But, imagine the creative imagination employed to achieve this effect? O’Toole was an actor who took things to extremes and then pushed on.

Harry Andrews

The film opens with a speech from the 13th Earl of Gurney (Harry Andrews) in one of the Guild Halls – there’s not much substance but a collective recognition of Great British values. The Earl drives home to his massive mansion to be greeted by his faithful servant Tucker (Arthur Lowe on brilliant form) who patiently collects his lordships clothes as he discards them ready for bed then brings him the ballet skirt, stepladder and fine silken noose for his regular “nightcap” of auto-erotic asphyxiation.

Unfortunately this particular evening the Judge tries himself too hard and ends up paying the ultimate price…

Alistair Sim, James Villiers, Coral Browne and William Mervyn

The family gather for the reading of the will and what a mixed lot they are… the Earl’s brother, Sir Charles (William Mervyn) , his wife Lady Claire (Coral Browne)  and their  son Dinsdale (James Villiers) along with Bishop Lampton (the great Alastair Sim), appalled at the suggestion of an improper death. Sir Charles is eager to get matters resolved and to enjoy the fruits of the family estate but there’s a problem in the form of the Earl’s son, the rightful heir to the title but who has been locked up in a mental hospital for years.

The will is read and tucker receives a payment of £30,000 – he’ll drink to that – but then something stranger happens as Jack Arnold Alexander Tancred Gurney (O'Toole) arrives to claim his title of 14th Earl of Gurney.

But there’s a problem as Jack is clearly under the impression that he is Jesus Christ returned to earth to lead people back towards the light. None of this cuts any ice with Uncle Charles who quickly devises a plan to marry him off to his mistress Grace (Carolyn Seymour) produce a male heir and then have Jack declared incapable.

But Jack is not without allies and his Aunt wants him well for his own sake and also to frustrate her faithless husband’s ambitions. She encourages Jack’s psychiatrist, Dr Herder (Michael Bryant) and the two begin an affair of their own.

If this all sounds convoluted you need to remember that the film’s purpose is to lampoon Upper Class ambition and “rules”. It’s also a powerful visual fantasy in which Jack’s mental state is often shown on screen. There are Dennis Potter-esque musical numbers – often very funny – as well as the world seen through Jack’s eyes.

He is convinced that he once married The Lady of the Camellias and, as cynical planning would have it, Grace arrives as the Lady herself singing an aria from the opera. Jack is captivated as he is supposed to be but Grace also begins to develop feelings for her “mark”…

Jack’s religious mania continues and he often rests on a crucifix in the study before descending to preach to his family and anyone who visits about love.

Meanwhile Tucker is revealed as a revolutionary “cell” all on his own, dedicated to overthrowing the establishment and seizing control of the means of production… after he’s finished the next bottle that is.

Grace becomes pregnant and it becomes imperative to sober Jack up before Charles can complete his plan to have him sectioned. Dr Herder tries ever more extreme methods before bringing in a more violently insane man, McKyle (the always excellent Nigel Green), who also believes himself to be the son of God, The Electric Messiah! He launches into Jack who sees electric shocks seemingly flow from McKyle’s hands… in exhaustion he calls his own name. Is this the beginning of a cure?

Nigel Green

Grace gives birth to a son and Charles calls in an old favour from the Master of Lunacy (Graham Crowden) who will surely find any lingering slivers of psychosis. But Jack is on the road to recovery and remembering that the psychiatrist had been a sporting hero at their old school Eton. A rousing chorus of the Eton Boating Song ensures the men bond and Jack is declared sane.

But now the film takes a darker tone as Jack suppresses his true thoughts, spending long hours in the attic reading comics about Jack the Ripper and his slaughter... He stops being JC and gradually turns in to “Jack” his sublimation of loving thoughts engendering a murderous response…

But new Jack is welcomed by the local hunt and cheered for his talk about the reintroduction of proper punishment in a society weakened by excess and indulgence from the class that should lead through fear and the application of strict correction to any un-British-ness.

All a bit heavy-handed of course but the film’s grand set piece as Jack preaches to the converted in the House of Lords makes it all worthwhile. As his hard line is greeted with rapture he has a vision of the chamber filled with decaying corpses: fossils held together by centuries of cobwebs still dressed in ermine and furs…

Dusty verdict: The Ruling Class hits its obvious targets cleanly but also with wit and the almost frightening intensity of Peter O’Toole’s performance. And, without giving anything away, the ending is one that disturbs and lingers – this is not a nostalgic easy-watching experience.

The supporting cast are all excellent from Nigel Green’s electrified insanity to Michael Bryant’s conflicted psychiatrist. Carol Browne is superb as the repressed but determined Lady Claire destined to always be let down by the Gurney family whilst Arthur Lowe is effortlessly impressive as the inebriated anarchist, struggling to drink down the establishment from within.

Carolyn Seymour

Special mention should also be made of the peerless Carolyn Seymour who could well be the Lady of the Camellias but is equally convincing as the street-smart “actress” who finds love even in the midst of insanity.

The question is, does society find Jack’s love more delusional and less acceptable than his hate and that’s not just a political issue but a personal one: we have to decide our own demarcation lines in this one.

The Ruling Class is available on DVD from Amazon and there’s even a deluxe edition from Criterion over in America: interesting to see how the film is rated in the land of the free.