Bless This House

I came to this film as somebody who'd never watched an episode of the television series of which it's a spin off and I went away having enjoyed it. It's no classic, for sure, but it does prove to be a pacey, gag-packed and charming way to spend an hour and a half.

The film is, in essence, a time capsule of the early 1960s, with all the outrageous fashions you could wish for. Sid James plays himself as an irascible family man, forever at the mercy of his nagging wife, cute daughter Sally (sister of Judy) Geeson and cheeky son Robin Askwith (CONFESSIONS OF A WINDOW CLEANER).

The loose plot sees popular comedy tag-team, Terry Scott and June Whitfield, moving in next door at which point all manner of over-the-garden-fence hijinks occur. There aren't really any stand-out gags to mention, but most of the cast are quite charming and there's plenty of mileage in the illegal-distillery antics in the garden shed.

With Gerald Thomas directing and Peter Rogers producing (not to mention Sid James starring) this feels very much like a late CARRY ON film, and it has an easygoing edge over some of the lacklustre entries in that series. Enjoyment also comes from nostalgia of the era, and in the excellent supporting cast (including Bill Maynard, Peter Butterworth, Patsy Rowlands, Marianne Stone and Frank Thornton).

1970's British light comedy based on a popular TV series.

It's soft, warming, harmless wallpaper. There's a lack of imagination about the whole thing - but it's gentle and inoffensive. The cast, including the minor roles, such as the waitress played by Wendy Richards, are familiar British situation comedy actors. It's that cosy familiarity that is the making or breaking of the piece. Making a film based on a TV series is rarely a good idea. What may be a pleasant half-hour spent at home while chatting to friends and family, can become stretched and dull over three times that length. There are plenty of better ways of passing the time than watching this damp squid.

From what I have seen of the TV series, it is a very enjoyable one that is funny and relaxing to watch. This spin off movie is not too bad, but it is nothing exceptional.

The good things: It is nicely filmed, the cinematography is very nice and the scenery lush, and the music is beautiful, it has a nice whimsical feel to it. The costumes are also nice to look at, by today's standards perhaps the fashion may be outdated and perhaps naff but in a glorious way. The best thing though is the casting. Sidney James, who I have loved since the Carry On franchise(which I admit I still enjoy), is incomparable as Sid. He just has a warm and fun presence whenever he is on screen as the grouchy father, and it is this presence that saves the film. The remainder of the cast are good too, Sally Geeson is rather so-so in the acting department, though it was nice to see her in a bikini, but Peter Butterworth, Wendy Richard, Diana Coupland and June Whitfield are great value.

The not so good things: The film does feel a little too short, at only 85 or so minutes. If it was made 5 minutes longer, some scenes could have been expanded on. The script does have some funny exchanges such as "Has his steering gone?" "I don't know whether it is his steering, or him!", but some of the material doesn't quite make the most of the running time. The humour here is amusing but nothing quotable or side-splittingly funny, and there were times when the slapstick was a little too much.

Overall, not bad, but unexceptional. 7/10 Bethany Cox

Bless this house i think is a very funny movie i have ever seen. It's a classic 1970's movie. As well as Till Death do us part, Raising Damp, and all the other classic comedy movies, Bless this house i think is the best because it has the fantastic actor Sid james who i think is a fantastic, one of the best comedian actors. Sid James is best known to star in the carry on movies as well as Terry Scott. This movie was made in 1972. The movie is about where a family have new neighbours next door. They do allsorts to the house, wreck it and get the whole place re-done, The Son from One Family and the Daughter from the new neighbours family fall in love together. And eventually get married in the end. It is a classic movie and it's worth buying and watching. I give Bless this house 10 out of 10 because it is very funny.

Bless this house, was successful enough profitably and critically and commercially enough for ITV; the bosses at the corporation have it the green light to commission a feature film version made in 1972.

Robin Stewart who played Sidney's son in the tv series was absent so he was replaced by another Robin Askwith who was semi- famous due to his appearances in several low- budget arthouse movies which plagued cinemas at the time before finding fame as the lead in the cult sex comedy franchise ( confessions film series 1974- 1978).

In this uneven film version, the Abbott families lives continue as humdrumly as possible until Mike meets a local girl played by Carol Hawkins from the TV sitcom ( please Sir) and slowly they fall in love, whilst Sally Geeson and her group of environmentalists continue to pontificate their socio economic views at various conferences.

This Is an uneven sitcom film it introduces a few new situations and characters which weren't in the tv series and develops the relationships for the children the daughter and her environmentalist group coinciding with mike's wooing of the lady in waiting.

Overall: a few sight gags are funny a lot of it falls flat unfortunately the actors play their parts with alomp apart from Robin Askwith overreacting and hamming it up unhealthily. I'd say this is one sitcom family that should've stayed on the small screen where they belong.