Pleasure at Her Majesty's (1976) (TV)

Directors:

Roger Graef
Jonathan Miller

Writers:

Graham Chapman
Eric Idle
(more)

Release Date:

February 1978 (USA)

Genre:

Documentary | Comedy

Plot Keywords:

Joke | Absurdism | Comedy Team | Stand Up Comedian | Surrealism

Cast

Alan Bennett	...	Various
John Bird	...	Various
Eleanor Bron	...	Various
Tim Brooke-Taylor	...	Various Characters
Graham Chapman	...	Various
John Cleese	...	Pet Shop Customer / The Pope / Various
Carol Cleveland	...	Various
Peter Cook	...	E.L. Wisty / Various
John Fortune	...	Various
Graeme Garden	...	Various
Terry Gilliam	...	Various
Barry Humphries	...	Edna Everage
Neil Innes	...	Various
Des Jones	...	Various
Terry Jones	...	Various
Jonathan Lynn	...	Michelangelo / Various
Jonathan Miller	...	Various
Dudley Moore	...	Narrator
Bill Oddie	...	Various Characters
Michael Palin	...	Pet Shop Owner

Directed by
Roger Graef
Jonathan Miller

Writing credits (in alphabetical order)
Alan Bennett
Graham Chapman
Peter Cook
Michael Frayn
Barry Humphries
Eric Idle
Neil Innes
Terry Jones
Jonathan Miller
Bill Oddie
Michael Palin

Produced by
Roger Graef	....	producer
Peter Luff	....	stage producer
David Simpson	....	stage producer
John Cleese	....	producer (uncredited)

Cinematography by
Steven Shaw		(as Steve Shaw)
Charles Stewart
Ernest Vincze

Film Editing by
Thomas Schwalm

Sound Department
Iain Bruce	....	sound
Ritchie Gold	....	performance sound
Eoin McCann	....	sound
Peter Rann	....	sound

Music Department
Neil Innes	....	composer: additional music
Bill Oddie	....	composer: additional music

Other crew
Charles Elsesser	....	production team
Jan Elson	....	production team
John Mister	....	production team
Jana Whitten	....	production team

Production Companies

• Amnesty International

Distributors

• New Line Cinema (1978) (USA) (theatrical)
• Richard Price TV Associates Ltd.
• Shout! Factory (2009) (USA) (DVD)

Also Known As:

Runtime:

UK:74 min | USA:85 min

Country:

UK

Language:

English

Color:

Black and White | Color

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

Australia:M | UK:12 (re-release) | UK:A

Filming Locations:

Her Majesty's Theatre, Haymarket, St. James's, London, England, UK

Company:

Amnesty International

Trivia:

This was the film version of the Amnesty International stage show "A Poke In The Eye (With A Sharp Stick)".

Quotes:

Alan Bennett:[dictating a telegram into the telephone] I want to end it if I may, "NORWICH".
[pause]
Alan Bennett:"NORWICH", yes. Well, it's an idiomatic way of saying, "Knickers Off Ready When I Come Home". You see, it's the initial letters of each word.
[pause]
Alan Bennett:Yes, I know "knickers" is spelt with a "K". I was at Oxford, it was one of the first things they taught us.

Movie Connections:

Followed by The Secret Policeman's Private Parts (1984)

Uneven but very funny record of the meeting of comic minds

It was the meeting of the giants of British comedy from the 1960's and 1970's, Monthy Python(minus Eric Idle), Fringe (minus Dudley Moore),The Goodies, Dame Edna, Elenor Bron, Neil Innes... pretty much everyone other than the Goons performing in the first of the Amensty International events that were later the stuff of legend in the Secret Policeman's Balls. The legends of comedy performing the classics of comedy to mixed results.

The show is funny. Of that there is no doubt but its strangely put together. Mixing both on stage material with the performers backstage it shows you stuff that no other film of the events does. Its mostly wonderful stuff always bringing smiles if not down right laughs to the viewer but whom ever put it together chopped up the bits in a very awkward way so that you get the Peter Cook piece on being a miner broken in parts by backstage talk or the lecture on comedy inter-cut with Jonathan Miller talking about the bit on stage. Its nice for a documentary, but not as a record of a comedy performance in that it kills the timing.

The film also suffers from the fact that the film was shot in an almost archaic style of one or two cameras in one position filming all of the action. There are almost not cut aways only a shift in focus or a turn of the camera to follow the action. Its quaint, but they never considered how it might look years later with changes in camera technique.

The problem of time ravaging the print is a serious one. Although the running time is 75 minutes the print I saw runs several minutes shorter and is extremely scratchy. Its sad that a cultural document like this wasn't better cared for. I would love to see all the footage shot (especially the backstage stuff) but my guess is that its probably gone or in in such poor condition there could never be a restoration. Then again considering how some of the later Policema's Ball films of more recent vintage are also in bad shape and are now missing entire performances we should feel lucky to have what we have.

If you want 70 odd minutes of mirth see the film. And if you can buy it, the money goes to a good cause.