No Sex Please - We're British

Ronnie Corbett is a delight in this hilarious tale of a mix up and subsequent decisions that cause all manner of mayhem. Having not seen the stage play I cant compare it as other seem to have done, but as a stand alone piece I would definitely recommend it.

As has already been mentioned trying to make a film of a.west end farce is a bit.pointless,as it is not going to adapt well to another medium. It is not helped by actors playing as if they are onstage. Itbis good to see all the well known actors of the period. Otherwise this is a chore to watch.

Another typically British aspect of this film, is humbug and hypocrisy regarding sex. In particular from the pompous folk who hold themselves up, as Pillars of the Community the very Height of Respectability. One such person in Britain was Marry Whitehouse who assembled like minded souls, into the Viewers and Listeners Association. This was created to be moral arbiters of the nation, to decide what the public should consider as decent and proper. They created a storm in a teacup over a TV documentary about Andy Warhole, a programme that would probably have had only a tiny audience. Except that Whitehouse only managed to create publicity out of her furore. Many more people tuned in, to see what all the fuss was about. In this film Arthur Lowe's character Mr. Bromley is an all too typical example of this ilk, parading in public as whiter than white. While personally subscribing as Mr. Smith to the kind of club and practices, that he campaigns against. I especially liked the scene with the films arriving at the church hall, with the vicar handling them. And another of them being screened to the prudes, being projected on Bromley's body. Why because of a similar scene, from an episode of Steptoe and Son. Where an old what the public saw machine, has been donated to the church jumble. Pictures of Albert that he had modled for as a youth, were on the machine and paritioners were paying to view them.

I thought No Sex Please: We're British was an excellent British farce/sex comedy of the early 1970s. Much of the film's success comes down to the casting of no less than Ronnie Corbett in the central role, taking over from Michael Crawford who played the part on stage. Corbett is an exceptional delight here and thoroughly, thoroughly amusing; I can't imagine anyone else playing the role so successfully. He's a delight every time he's on screen, which is for most of the film. The story is simple stuff, but effective: the mild-mannered employees of a bank are shocked when a mix-up means that they start receiving * through the post. The subsequent farcical storytelling sees them trying to get rid of said *, which just keeps on turning up, and trying to avoid the authorities finding out both in the form of their own boss and the local police. This is cracking stuff, fast-paced and never less than funny; an exemplary British cast of familiar faces is also well chosen to play in support. Ian Ogilvy and Susan Penhaligon take the straight-man roles and do very well, while Arthur Lowe plays a familiar part with relish. Beryl Reid is delightful while the cameos from the likes of Michael Ripper, Frank Thornton, David Swift, Gerald Sim, Brian Wilde, and Robin Askwith are a hoot. Watch out for Margaret Nolan and Valerie Leon in an eye-popping double act at the film's climax.

A classic British farce which we found surprisingly good. Very entertaining. Ronnie Corbett was excellent. Lots of familiar faces and laugh out loud moments.

We poor old Brits have never been ashamed to demonstrate how embarrassed we are about anything sexual. This is why the farce No Sex Please, We're British - with a plot which centred on unwelcome * arriving at a small local bank branch - did so well on stage. This film adaptation shows its stage origins very clearly - you can hear every line and see every action as if it was taking place on stage. The trouble is that a line which is saucy, cheesy, and seaside postcard-y in terms of double entendre punning may work very well on stage: the audience will seize on it and it will form part of a dialogue between cast and audience, where the audience's huge enjoyment of rude and corny humour delivered with gusto feeds back to the cast who, in turn, devour the audience response and give it back in kind. Then deliver those same lines from a cinema screen - or, worse, a TV screen - and they emerge only to fall flat on their face. This sex face simply does not work as a film. But it is worth watching for the stellar cast of UK TV talent on show, all working their socks off to no avail.

This adaption of a British stage play in entertaining enough, and a nice traditional farce in many ways. With a nice central performance from the dearly missed Ronnie Corbett this film has many funny moments. As other people have said in their own reviews I think this material probably would have worked better on stage, and suffers somewhat in translation, but it makes for an enjoyable enough 80 minutes or so.

This is pretty dreadful and unfunny which is unfortunate as the cast has some great names. Ronnie Corbett tries his best in the lead role but the script is poor. Michael Robbins (On The Buses) is rather wasted as a car driver with only two small scenes. I think Ian Ogilvy is miscast as he's just not funny. Arthur Lowe is excellent as you might expect and Susan Penhaligon is very natural and looks like she's enjoying the whole thing. Interesting to see Michael Bates (It Ain't Half Hot Mum) in a relatively straight role while Beryl Reid sleepwalks through her part. For me though the most interesting thing is the shots (there are many) of Windsor town. Windsor was the location for Carry On films Cabby and Loving and Norman Wisdom's On The Beat.

NO SEX PLEASE WE'RE British is a film adaptation of the stage farce of the same name, written by Anthony Marriott and Alistair Foot. The stage version is one of the longest running farces in Britain and originally starred Michael Crawford. I'm too young to have seen the play when originally performed but I've read it and I have to say that once again the film version is better. This seems to be a trend with British films based on stage farces - the film version is better. The faster pacing has much to do with this. It's because of this that I wish more films based on British stage farces were made. It would have been wonderful to have A BEDFUL OF FOREIGNERS and MOVE OVER, MRS MARKHAM on the big screen for example. The plot is as follows - a couple living in a flat above a high street bank find themselves receiving all sorts of * - "dirty" postcards, books and so on. A timid, accident-prone bank clerk finds himself embroiled in it all too. The comedy derives from the very British theme of embarrassment of association with sex and the predictably hilarious results as they try to dispose of the books, the postcards and the videos. The film is a neat blend of CARRY ON style comedy mixed with the elements of traditional stage farce (outrageous misunderstandings, mistaken identities, characters making up ridiculous stories to get out of trouble and so on). There's also quite a bit of running around, hiding from people and the like. All that's missing really is a Benny Hill-style chase sequence, which would have been the icing on the cake. This film rests on the excellent performance of Ronnie Corbett. Outside of THE TWO RONNIES, Corbett is at his best in this film. He invests such a huge amount of energy and spirit in the role that it has to be seen to be believed. He proves what a great character actor he was. I really couldn't imagine anyone else being as good as he was in the role he played in this film. It's as though he found the part he was born to play. He did play a similar role in a film called SOME WILL, SOME WON'T it's true. But it just works better in this film due to the incredible situations he stumbles into. Ian Ogilvy and Susan Penhaligon are massively underrated as the couple who live above the bank. Before watching this film, it's hard to imagine Ian Ogilvy running around a flat trying to avert disaster. But he does it to perfection here. Likewise, Susan Penhaligon is great. The scene with the chili peppers is brilliant. Arthur Lowe is great as the pompous bank manager outraged by the proliferation of *. No one could make pompousness hilarious like Lowe did. The rest of the cast, including Beryl Reid, Michael Bates, Cheryl Hall, Michael Robbins and many others, are all great too and all play up to their screen personas in other films and shows very well. The film is very fast-paced and the script contains lots of lines that, while not particularly hilarious on paper, translate into hilarity on the screen. Overall, this is a great farce with Ronnie Corbett playing the part he looks born to play. It's one of my all-time favourite comedies and is a must-see for fans of the CARRY ON films, Benny Hill or British stage farces.

I wasn't expecting much from this film, but I was pretty surprised at the laughs it got from me. The film is quite dated in a 70's sex farce way, but that also works well in its favour for retro buffs and Carry On fans. The pace is a little plodding to begin with, but picks up well after 20 minutes and really carries a fast pace through to the end. The plot (like it's important) centres around dodgy * being sent to a bank by accident with predictably hilarious consequences... British viewers will also have fun spotting the large amount of well known names in the film (Ronnie Corbett, Arthur Lowe, David Swift, Frank Thornton, A bloke from On the Buses etc), who all put in good comedy turns. Plus, being a sex farce, you also get to see Valerie Leon and Margeret Nolan running round in their smalls. Bonus! Definately one to watch with a beer on a bank holiday monday... A good 7.