Alf 'n' Family

Alf Garnett is one of TV's finest - and most misunderstood - comedy creations. Alf's brought to life by socialist writer Johnny Speight and tremendous comic actor Warren Mitchell. Mitchell is Jewish, yet Garnett is a blistering satire of right-wing bigotry.

The film version of Till Death Do Us Part is superior to the misguided sequel In Sickness and in Health, though slightly behind the '65 TV original. The first half of the movie lacks the ethical counterpoint of his Labour-voting ("Randy Scouse git!") son-in-law, yet still scores with Mitchell's classic study of loud-mouth stupidity.

The joke is Alf himself, not his views, and seeing him denounce Hitler's fascism then, in almost the same breath, rally against "Eye-ties" and "coloureds" is a fine parody of small-minded ignorance. This is a man who gleefully cries, "get a bit of action now" at the outbreak of the Second World War. A man who proffers "Ugly, innit?" at the birth of his own daughter. On being told his daughter's mother-in-law goes to church every Sunday, he rants, "I said I was religious - I didn't say I was a bloody religious maniac!" Often it's the way he tells 'em. Other Alf philosophies include repressing student demonstrations with a plan to "bung that lot out to work at fourteen, same as they done in the old days". "Wasn't that bad," he says about Hitler, when deciding, with hindsight, that we should have joined forces with the Third Reich, "Had his faults."

Alf's the man who has an opinion on everything, no matter how ill informed, and regularly expresses it, preferably in a crowded pub, to anyone that will listen. Alf's only flexibility in his views is in having a photograph of Winston Churchill ready to take the place of Neville Chamberlain's when he resigns.

This form of satire takes risks and can be shocking - during the film Alf criticises the calibre of the Japanese after Hiroshima and insults the Pope. "The coon's got a sense o'humour" he declares of a young girl before collapsing in a drunken heap and plastering his daughter with beer at her wedding reception. A documentary on Mitchell's life saw him recount a tale of a man who approached him in the street, praising him for "having a go at them coons." Mitchell's response was "we were actually having a go at idiots like you." That said, while an elitist amusement, the fact that this material became such a mainstream hit means that real-life bigots will ultimately see it as a vindication of their views, making it questionable entertainment.

Working a half-hour sitcom into a feature-length narrative is inevitably hit and miss, though Speight must be praised for doing something new with the format rather than just crafting a triple-length episode. Where the series saw Alf tirading against 60s counterculture, the first half of the movie is a kind of pre-story, with Alf and Else in the middle of the blitz. The film's recreation of 40s England is well realised, even if editing in stock footage of aircraft disrupts the illusion somewhat. Direction by Norman Cohen is also often cleverer than you might expect for this type of material.

At the halfway mark we get a "nearly 20 years later" caption, taking us up to the present date and the series' timeline. A three-and-a-half-minute dream sequence in the final stages may seem like filler, but it was good enough for Chaplin in The Kid, so it gets by here. Maybe the problem with the central character is that Mitchell makes him so likeable in spite of himself. Some famous names offer support in the film - Brian Blessed, Bill Maynard, Geoffrey Hughes, Anthony Booth and Frank Thornton - but, other than Booth, none of them get much of a look in, this being Mitchell's film all the way.

Introducing the background to the television series, this film starts just before the War with Alf Garnett recently married and living in an attached house in the East End. Then it switches to the contemporary era, the world cup match in 1964 and the councils decision to demolish the house and move them to a high rise in Essex.

----------- I'd just like to point out a few factual errors promoted by Speight :

The housing in the east end demolished by Wilson was of very poor quality and in many cases falling down. It was poorly made in the first place and the east end was one of the most heavily bombed areas in the War. Garnett has an outside flush toilet but many houses only had a "short drop" toilet and relied on a nightcart service. When the Thames valley flooded in the early 1960s, there was a big outbreak of Tyhoid fever - this is when it was decided to demolish the area.

Speight has Garnett travelling long periods to work - in fact the container port was moved to Folkestone after the building of the Thames barrage (the bulk port had moved decades before) as the large ships could not enter so there was very little employment in the area.

While its technically true about the high rise (they were an elderly couple and the children were not on the lease but sponging), families were given semis not flats so the story is misleading.

The Seventies would see the boom of the sitcom spin off film a very mixed bag but for my generation the first examples of many series' we'd see.

Alf Garnett remains a classic TV character much misunderstood but you can find commentators who can write more eloquently then myself on that.

The film is an interesting mix of Alf in wartime and in the sixties (including the 1966 World cup final) - It's a well made lovingly shot film (the exact opposite of the 2nd film - the truly awful 'The Alf Garnett Saga).

Times have changed and thankfully so - The trailer for the film even uses the racist language Alf spewed - But this film gives an excellent view of the changing times in both eras.

Cast wise all of the main TV cast are here and are as good as ever - One problem for Alf is that Warren Mitchell was such a good actor and managed to make us like the old sod!

A time capsule and well worth seeking out (Network DVD have released the ultimate version).

In the 1960s and 1970s It was customary for British sitcoms to make the leap from the small screen to film and the Garnet family were one of BBC one's successful sitcoms so a film adaptation was inevitable.

Released in 1968 the film is about the early years of Alf and Elsie's marriage during the Blitz in world war two as well as the arrival of their first born child Rita played by Una Stubbs.

The film is pleasant and charming albeit less aggressive in it's interpretation of the politically motivated themes which were scattered throughout the series, the recreation of the period detail of Whopping in world war two is inspired.

The performances are very good Warren Mitchell as Alf slips back into the role he made famous in the British BBC one sitcom ( 1965- 1975) with ease. Dandy Nichols lights up the screen as his wife Elsie, whereas the burgeoning relationship between his daughter Rita once she grows up and her future husband Mike played by Anthony Booth is poignant and charming as can be.

Overall: A worthy big screen adaptation of the popular BBC One series, better than the awful and dreadful sequel which followed in 1972 that started two different actors playing the roles of Mike and Rita as Anthony Booth and Una Stubbs has other work commitments.

The Film of the Successful TV series "Till Death us do part" undoubtedly is one of the better TV to Film adaptations. Norman Cohen as mentioned has directed this superbly. (In comparison to Carry On Engalnd you can believe the war situation!) The Whole cast is present from the TV Series which is a bonus in itself. (Of which let down films such as Rising Damp - easier to not do it at all) Warren Mitchell & Dandy Nichols really do play up to expectations.

Usual errors within TV-Film adaptations is Recycled Material and/or weak plot lines/jokes. Till death us do part exceeds all these pitfalls and comes out trumps.

As Alf would say "bloody marvellous innit!" - and i would attribute that to this film!