Excellent production values including gorgeous period costumes - it is set in 1904 - and Alan Pudney's soft-focus photography of the exteriors and rooms of Knebworth House, mark this 'Upstairs Downstairs' spoof out as an above average entry in the 1970's Brit sex comedy stakes. Unfortunately producer Hazel Adair rather let herself down with her screenplay, with its surfeit of cringe-worthy puns, obsession with phallic imagery and general sniggering approach that typified the genre.
Most of the cast play with relish, with reliable character actor Neil Hallet having his finest hour as Hampton, Lord Cockshute's indispensable butler whose hands-on style is especially popular with Lady C. played by the stunning Sue Longhurst. Looking exquisite throughout, she's given a chance to really act and has some of the best lines. Along with Hallet she is the real star though placed half way down the cast list to accommodate the household names. Seventies icon Mary Millington looking sweet as Polly the maid and the under-used Olivia Munday as Lady Kitty provide more glamour and apparently took part in more explicit scenes for export versions. But Jack Wild, at 23 his career already in decline is pretty dire and Willie Rushton was no actor.
It's mostly well directed apart from the inevitable farcical scene of bedroom assignations, here combined with a fake robbery, that falls completely flat. Amazing that the BBFC considers some fleeting partial nudity and a few seconds of let's-pretend sex, still qualifies this for an '18' certificate; it should be of interest to a wider audience than usual for a film of this type.
