Rising Damp (1980)

Stingy English landlord Rigsby manages to scam his lodgers Cooper, an arts student, and Philip, an African jock, making both pay for a room they must share. However Rigsby's favorite lodger... See full summary »

Director:

Joseph McGrath (as Joe McGrath)

Writer:

Eric Chappell (screenplay)

Stars:

Leonard Rossiter, Frances de la Tour, Don Warrington

3 wins.

Cast

Complete credited cast:
Leonard Rossiter	...	Rigsby
Frances de la Tour	...	Miss Ruth Jones (as Frances De La Tour)
Don Warrington	...	Philip Smith
Christopher Strauli	...	John
Denholm Elliott	...	Charles Seymour
Carrie Jones	...	Sandra
Glynn Edwards	...	Cooper
John Cater	...	Bert
Derek Griffiths	...	Alec
Ronnie Brody	...	Italian Waiter
Alan Clare	...	Accordionist
Pat Roach	...	Rugby Player
Jonathan Cecil	...	Boutique Assistant
Bill Dean	...	Workman

Storyline

Stingy English landlord Rigsby manages to scam his lodgers Cooper, an arts student, and Philip, an African jock, making both pay for a room they must share. However Rigsby's favorite lodger, miss Jones, now flirts with both boys rather then the old goat, despite his pitiful attempts to be generous. Crossed by her still overprotective dad, she actually prefers an affair with slick veteran Seymour, who is really only interested in her money.

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Plot Keywords:

landlord | towel | push ups | public humiliation | picnic | 

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Genres:

Comedy | Romance

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Details

Country:

UK

Language:

English

Release Date:

2 May 1980 (UK)

Also Known As:

A Bed of Roomers

Filming Locations:

Notting Hill, London, England, UK

Company Credits

Production Co:

British Lion Film Corporation, Cinema Arts International Production, ITC Entertainment

Technical Specs

Runtime:

98 min

Sound Mix:

Mono (RCA Sound System)

Color:

Color

Did You Know?

Trivia

The film is essentially an opening-up of creator Eric Chappell's original 1971 stage-play "The Banana Box".

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Quotes

Rigsby: Permissive society? There's no such thing. I should know I've looked for it.

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Connections

References Saturday Night Fever (1977)

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Soundtracks

Santa Lucia
(uncredited)
Traditional
Arranged by Philip Martell

User Reviews

Damp squib

Leonard Rossiter and Frances de la Tour carry this film, not without a struggle, as the script was obviously hurriedly cobbled together out of old episodes. When it came out, this must have been a real disappointment as it's also done on a bus ticket budget. Attempts to move it out of the house - which is jarringly unrecognisable, a bad job all round there - with a picnic, fantasy sequences, rugby and a boxing match in the local gym simply don't work. Most of these are just character-light setups for a solitary not-particularly good gag. That said, the interplay of Rossiter and de la Tour (and anybody else with him) is mostly hilarious; they even manage to make a soda syphon gag work, but you can see the struggle with recycling a literally uninspired script that changes plot half way through. Don Warrington has very little to do except 'be black', and due to the random script hacks Christopher Strauli changes character at least twice. And in the end, as he often did in the TV series (though you might not remember - read the scripts), Eric Chappell lets you down with a 'time's up' ending. Were they that cynical, or just too desperate to be in the film business? Rossiter and de la Tour are always funny but as a film, it's a terrible postscript to a fondly remembered TV series. RIP.