The Chastity Belt (1972)

The Queen of England gives birth to twins. In order to protect the blood line one is kept and the other hidden in a pig sty and is raised to think it's mother is the pig. Lurkalot is the ... See full summary »

Director:

Bob Kellett

Writers:

Sid Colin (screenplay), Ray Galton (screenplay)

Stars:

Frankie Howerd, David Kernan, Nora Swinburne

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Frankie Howerd	...	Richard / Lurkalot
David Kernan	...	Troubadour
Nora Swinburne	...	The Mistress Of The Bed Chamber - Lady-In-Waiting
Godfrey Winn	...	The Archbishop Of All England / Archbishop Of All England
Bill Fraser	...	Sir Braggart de Bombast
Anna Quayle	...	Lady Ashfodel
Graham Crowden	...	Sir Coward de Custard
Anne Aston	...	Lobelia
Billy Walker	...	Chopper
Royce Mills	...	Knotweed
Lally Bowers	...	The Voice (voice)
Alec Pleon	...	Man-In-Stocks
Ian Trigger	...	Lucky Charm Seller
Ken Wynne	...	First Man
Jimmy Gardner	...	Little Man

Storyline

The Queen of England gives birth to twins. In order to protect the blood line one is kept and the other hidden in a pig sty and is raised to think it's mother is the pig. Lurkalot is the one raised by pigs who doesn't know his past. He makes a good living as a servant, selling chastity belts on the side. When his master's castle is lost to Sir Braggart de Bombast, Lurkalot must fight to protect his daughter, eventually travelling to the missions to bring back his master. On the mission he uncovers that his twin is Richard the Lionheart and he is of Royal stock and must bring them both back.

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Plot Keywords:

farce | chastity belt | friar | titillation | slapstick comedy | 

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Taglines:

Frankie Howerd is the Funniest Knight of the Year!

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Genres:

Comedy

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Certificate:

PG

Did You Know?

Trivia

Anne Aston receives an "introducing" credit.

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Goofs

Songwriters Ken Howard and Alan Blaikley are listed in the closing credits as Alan Howard and Ken Blaikley.

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Quotes

[Lurkalot is reciting the final part of the movies opening prologue]
Lurkalot: And so they made me a serf, a servant. And they named me Lurklalot. Because I do.

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Connections

Followed by Up the Front (1972)

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Soundtracks

A Knight For My Nights
by Ken Howard (as Alan Howard) and Alan Blaikley (as Ken Blaikley)
Sung by Eartha Kitt

User Reviews

Far from Howerd's best and it's sexist, racist humour has dated very badly

The Queen of England gives birth to twins. In order to protect the blood line one is kept and the other hidden in a pig style and is raised to think it's mother is the pig. Lurkalot is the one raised by pigs who doesn't know his past. He makes a good living as a servant, selling chastity belts on the side. When his master's castle is lost to Sir Braggart de Bombast, Lurkalot must fight to protect his daughter, eventually travelling to the missions to bring back his master. On the mission he uncovers that his twin is Richard the Lionheart and he is of Royal stock and must bring them both back.

The story to this doesn't really matter as it is simply an excuse to hang a pile of crude jokes on. In fact most of the film seems to keep adding things just to keep the film going. The jokes are ok - but it relies on innuendo and crudity too much, whole scenes are devoted to jokes involving the Kama Sutra! I know that this is a film of it's time but there are far too many jokes that smack of not just sexism but also racist overtones.

Howerd is good here - he seems to enjoy the material a lot more than in the terrible Up the Front. True most of the jokes aren't funny but he does seem at ease with the material - but it's never anywhere near his best work. The rest of the cast is made up from the basement of British TV and have the horrible task of acting out this story as straightmen. The only other good role in the film is a cameo by a young Eartha Kitt - she is really sexy here and really beautiful, unfortunately she is only the catalyst for more dirty jokes.

Overall this is a disappointment - it's not as bad as some of his other films but it's a country mile from Howerd at his best. Quite good but not Howerd's best and it's humour has dated really badly.

Details

Country:

UK

Language:

English

Release Date:

14 January 1972 (UK)

Also Known As:

The Chastity Belt

Filming Locations:

EMI-MGM {Elstree} Film Studios Borehamwood, Hertfordshire, England, UK

Company Credits

Production Co:

EMI Films, Anglo-EMI Film Distributors

Technical Specs

Runtime:

94 min

Sound Mix:

Mono

Color:

Color (Technicolor) (as Technicolor®)

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1