Last of Kettles

Image via Wikipedia

The most recent Friday film night had to be moved to Saturday which was rather confusing but otherwise excellent, with the usual combination of pie and beer to add to the general feeling of well-being.

SPOILERS BELOW

The downside however was that we came to the end of our Tutti-Frutti season in the knowledge that poor old Vincent, Bomba, the dodgey but somehow endearing Eddie Clocherty, the irritable but loyal Miss Toner, the lovely Suzi Kettles and the rest had never re-appeared, though we thought they richly deserved another outing or perhaps spin-offs in the case of some of the characters. The series ends on a typical note of jet-black humour as the Majestik's doomed jubilee tour hits a new low but at least Kettles and the thoroughly undeserving slob McGlone are united.

Noises Off... (Image via RottenTomatoes.com)

The main feature was Noises Off, which began life as a play by Michael Frayn and which both of us had seen in the theatre, Arthur more than once. The film is very good but perhaps not as much fun as seeing the play live, in a packed theatre.

The filmed version has good credentials, with Peter Bogdanovich directing a top cast including Michael Caine, Carol Burnett, Christopher Reeve and Denholm Elliott, and is extremely funny and well-paced. The action takes place both in front of, and behind the scenes as a series of performances of a farce descend into hysteria and chaos. We first see a final rehearsal and then a performance before the show is toured and a final performance that descends into insanity as the romances, jealousies and arguments behind the scenes begin to merge with the farcical goings on in front of the set.

It's hard to imagine a better comedy about a group of actors...except perhaps this one in an actual theatre.