The distributors appear to have released this film in several different markets, under a variety of names, and cut it to several different playing times. Presumably they felt it was worthy of more success than it had so far received, and would achieve this if they found the right combination. The version I have is I believe one of the shortest, with a running time of only 72 min. This may have led to a greater tautness and increased appeal, but I would agree that the film has been underrated. It will never be a memorable film - it is only a fairly typical B movie from the 70's - but it is a very pleasant little comedy that deserves to escape the oblivion appropriate for most such films, and even today it would make an admirable half for a new home video dual feature DVD release. Basically it is a situation and manners comedy, intended as a send up of Victorian morality, coupled with a little eye candy incorporated to increase the appeal to the audiences for which it was originally intended. The humour is very light but not quite farcical, and it often leads to the viewer reflecting on whether the ways in which we generally do things today are really an improvement on those that were followed in Victoria's time.
It is not necessary to summarise a film before passing comments on whether or not it is worth viewing but in this instance the very predictable story does not include any real spoilers, and a summary may be helpful. The hero, Jack Tanner, is a young heir of a well to do family with no apparent responsibilities for earning his own living, but with possibly over active hormones. He has set his mind on bedding and wedding (in that order) Alice, a typical Victorian ice maiden brought up to believe that any outward display of femininity is unbecoming. Repeated rebuffs lead him to pamper his hormones by visiting the establishment of a traditional Madam, beautifully played by Diana Dors. He becomes quite friendly with her and receives the (in)valuable advice that the traditional ways of courting such a lady will never succeed - instead he must be strong, rough and aggressive. He buys himself a home with this in mind, oblivious of the fact that it was a former madhouse and unaware that the block in which it is situated is riddled with passages that serve as the hidden home of Jack the Ripper. Our hero is something of an amateur engineer (in Victorian days this was regarded as a very fine interest for a gentleman of leisure) and he makes various installations in his new home that are designed to help him follow the advice he has been given When ready, he invites Alice round for afternoon tea, serves her cucumber sandwiches, and woos her in the conventional way for the period. After this fails, he introduces Alice to some of his recent inventions which quickly capture her and put her entirely at her hosts mercy. However he does not realise that Jack the Ripper has found a way into his home and has become fascinated by his board full of electrical circuit breakers. The Ripper starts to play with these, generating spectacular sparks and some hilariously unpredictable results which at one point have both Jack and Alice suspended upside down from Jack's very high Victorian ceiling. These somewhat lurid events quickly and completely thaw Alice's icyness and, despite some trepidation when he receives a visit from the local Peelers at a most inconvenient time, Jack is able to escape the arrest he probably deserved. Sue Longhurst is delightful as Alice; even when caught in the most undignified and embarrassing situations she remains calm and in apparent control, making Ollie Soltoft as Jack look like a bumbling schoolboy. Her performance is in perfect keeping with the way in which Victorian women, despite their limited social status were in practice so often the power behind the throne. I am sure the producers objective was simply to produce an enjoyable comedy and that any serious social comment is coincidental. However it would be easy to see this film as portraying the point in western history where the inferior status of women in society that had existed for so many centuries began to crack, and women began the long road towards achieving the equal status they expect today.
A secondary story line has Jack's butler courting Alice's maid in a more conventional way and whilst the humour becomes a little predictable it is maintained right to the end which, in true Harlequin romance style, features the double wedding of both happy couples. In all, this provides pleasant late night viewing requiring no intellectual input. Although the film is not a great work, it has succeeded through capturing the flavour of its period. Rather unusually for films of this genre I found that I did not forget it immediately after viewing, and I have since enjoyed watching it on several other occasions.
It is not necessary to summarise a film before passing comments on whether or not it is worth viewing but in this instance the very predictable story does not include any real spoilers, and a summary may be helpful. The hero, Jack Tanner, is a young heir of a well to do family with no apparent responsibilities for earning his own living, but with possibly over active hormones. He has set his mind on bedding and wedding (in that order) Alice, a typical Victorian ice maiden brought up to believe that any outward display of femininity is unbecoming. Repeated rebuffs lead him to pamper his hormones by visiting the establishment of a traditional Madam, beautifully played by Diana Dors. He becomes quite friendly with her and receives the (in)valuable advice that the traditional ways of courting such a lady will never succeed - instead he must be strong, rough and aggressive. He buys himself a home with this in mind, oblivious of the fact that it was a former madhouse and unaware that the block in which it is situated is riddled with passages that serve as the hidden home of Jack the Ripper. Our hero is something of an amateur engineer (in Victorian days this was regarded as a very fine interest for a gentleman of leisure) and he makes various installations in his new home that are designed to help him follow the advice he has been given When ready, he invites Alice round for afternoon tea, serves her cucumber sandwiches, and woos her in the conventional way for the period. After this fails, he introduces Alice to some of his recent inventions which quickly capture her and put her entirely at her hosts mercy. However he does not realise that Jack the Ripper has found a way into his home and has become fascinated by his board full of electrical circuit breakers. The Ripper starts to play with these, generating spectacular sparks and some hilariously unpredictable results which at one point have both Jack and Alice suspended upside down from Jack's very high Victorian ceiling. These somewhat lurid events quickly and completely thaw Alice's icyness and, despite some trepidation when he receives a visit from the local Peelers at a most inconvenient time, Jack is able to escape the arrest he probably deserved. Sue Longhurst is delightful as Alice; even when caught in the most undignified and embarrassing situations she remains calm and in apparent control, making Ollie Soltoft as Jack look like a bumbling schoolboy. Her performance is in perfect keeping with the way in which Victorian women, despite their limited social status were in practice so often the power behind the throne. I am sure the producers objective was simply to produce an enjoyable comedy and that any serious social comment is coincidental. However it would be easy to see this film as portraying the point in western history where the inferior status of women in society that had existed for so many centuries began to crack, and women began the long road towards achieving the equal status they expect today.
A secondary story line has Jack's butler courting Alice's maid in a more conventional way and whilst the humour becomes a little predictable it is maintained right to the end which, in true Harlequin romance style, features the double wedding of both happy couples. In all, this provides pleasant late night viewing requiring no intellectual input. Although the film is not a great work, it has succeeded through capturing the flavour of its period. Rather unusually for films of this genre I found that I did not forget it immediately after viewing, and I have since enjoyed watching it on several other occasions.
