The Secret Policeman's Third Ball (1987)

Director:

Ken O'Neill

Writer:

Terence Dackombe (contributing writer)

Release Date:

September 1987 (UK)

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

Directed by
Ken O'Neill

Writing credits (in alphabetical order)
Terence Dackombe		contributing writer

Produced by
Neville Bolt	....	producer
Tony Hollingsworth	....	producer

Cinematography by
Stephen Foster

Film Editing by
John Hackney

Music Department
Steve Parr	....	music producer

Other crew
Lynne Hazelden	....	assistant: Ken O'Neil and Neville Bolt

Production Companies

• Elephant House

Distributors

• Shout! Factory (2009) (USA) (DVD)

Runtime:

96 min

Country:

UK

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Certification:

UK:18

Company:

Elephant House

Movie Connections:

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

Watch this for the music, not the comedy...and certainly NOT for Monty Python

I have seen the Secret Policeman films billed as "Monty Python" films, but none of them featured all the troop. The first had most, the second only a couple and this one was no better. In fact, John Cleese (the brains and driving force behind the first concert) was only on hand for a 'guest appearance'. Overall, instead of a focus on comedy (like the initial Secret Policemen performances), this one is mostly on pop music--with mostly lesser comedians to provide the secondary focus. Now the comedy isn't completely bad--it's nice to see Lenny Henry, Ben Elton, Stephen Fry and Hugh Laurie when they were younger. But this is mostly NOT their 'A-material'. And some of the comedy consists of unfunny interviews by Ruby Wax of the musicians--as, I said before, the focus really is on the music. But, if you are NOT there to hear Mark Knopfler and Chet Atkins, Bob Geldoff, Lou Reed and the rest of the musicians, some highlights of the comedy include a neat skit where Henry impersonates a blind blues musician. And, to put some perspective on how unfunny the rest is, Emo Philips is among the funnier acts. But, with him, Knopfler and the rest, you will no doubt recognize that this British production is almost equally American this time. And, as a result of all the changes, it hardly seems to be a descendant from the first Amnesty benefit film. Overall, a bit better than the last film in the series but not much....