The Secret Policeman's Third Ball (1987)

User Rating:

5.9/10   

Director:

Ken O'Neill

Writer:

Terence Dackombe (contributing writer)

Genre:

Comedy | Documentary | Music

Cast

Joan Armatrading	...	Herself
Chet Atkins	...	Himself
Jackson Browne	...	Himself
Kate Bush	...	Herself
John Cleese	...	Jim Cleese
Robbie Coltrane	...	Himself
Phil Cool	...	Himself
Duran Duran	...	Themselves
Ben Elton	...	Himself
Stephen Fry	...	Himself
Peter Gabriel	...	Himself
Bob Geldof	...	Himself
David Gilmour	...	Himself
Lenny Henry	...	Himself
Bob Hoskins	...	The Secret Policeman (voice)
Nik Kershaw	...	Himself
Mark Knopfler	...	Himself
Hugh Laurie	...	Himself
Nick Mason	...	Himself
Youssou N'Dour	...	Himself
Emo Philips	...	Himself
Lou Reed	...	Himself
Ruby Wax	...	Herself

Runtime:

96 min

Country:

UK

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Certification:

UK:18

Company:

Elephant House

Movie Connections:

Follows The Secret Policeman's Other Ball (1982)

comedy show turned mainstream pop ... and it wasn't worth it.

In 1976, John Cleese brought together the alumni of Cambridge and Oxford Universities, who by then had carved out success in television with "Monty Python's Flying Circus", "The Goodies", and the 1960 Cambridge stage show, "Beyond the Fringe" to create a comedy show to benefit Amnesty International, an organization that helps victims of oppression and political imprisonment in other countries. Gradually, Cleese's comedy shows began to be integrated with rock music. Reportedly, after "The Secret Policeman's Other Ball" was released as a movie in 1982, Cleese told Amnesty that he would not take part in any of the Amnesty shows unless the focus of the shows had changed to comedy. Amnesty still wanted to do a show with the big names in the music industry, hence "The Secret Policeman's Third Ball."

I am not going to write that I hate it completely because there are some good bits including comedy routines by Lenny Henry ("Chef") and Ben Elton, as well as two comedy sketches by Stephen Fry and Hugh Laurie. The first of the two, a sketch about a man wanting to buy a hedge sounds self explanatory, but Fry and Laurie kept the humor in it by messing up their lines (I get the feeling that they did this on purpose so that the rock audience could be entertained somewhat). John Cleese makes an appearance in the second Fry/Laurie sketch where he accepts an award for lifetime achievement (Basically, the sketch lampoons his refusal to be involved with the show). All of the aforementioned comedians reunite in The Secret Policeman's Biggest Ball two years later, along with Robbie Coltrane, who had a funny dressing room scene with the unbearable hostess, Ruby Wax. Also appearing was Emo Philips. If any of the performers of the earlier shows watched this, I'm sure they would be as disappointed as I was with the over-emphasis on music and not enough comedy.

If you're a fan of Monty Python, don't buy this video. It only cheapens the integrity of the previous Amnesty shows. Go ahead and watch this if you're a fan of Kate Bush, Peter Gabriel, or any other musician listed in the credits. Because of the apparent comedy influence still left in the Amnesty shows (as well as the brief appearance by John Cleese), I give this a 4 out of 10.