The Ups and Downs of a Handyman (1976)

A young handyman and his wife (Barry Stokes, Penny Meredith) move to a small village and set up business. There, the handyman encounters numerous strange characters, including a local ... See full summary »

Director:

John Sealey

Writers:

Derrick Slater (screenplay), John Sealey (original idea)

Stars:

Barry Stokes, Gay Soper, Sue Lloyd

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Barry Stokes	...	Bob
Gay Soper	...	Maisie
Sue Lloyd	...	The Blonde
Bob Todd	...	Squire Bullsworthy
Chic Murray	...	P. C. Knowles
Robert Dorning	...	Newsagent
Valerie Leon	...	Redhead
Penny Meredith	...	Margaretta
Helli Louise	...	Newsagent's Daughter
John Blythe	...	Farmer Elgin
Harold Bennett	...	Gasper
Julia Bond	...	Polly (as Julie Bond)
Jeannie Collings	...	Mrs Wain
Alexandra Dane	...	Mrs Knowles
Ava Cadell	...	Schoolgirl

Storyline

A young handyman and his wife (Barry Stokes, Penny Meredith) move to a small village and set up business. There, the handyman encounters numerous strange characters, including a local constable (Chic Murray) more inept than a squadcar full of Keystone Kops; an elderly magistrate (Bob Todd) whose primary passion is spanking young women; a schoolmistress (Sue Lloyd) with a closetful of kinks; and more predatory housewives than the young man can handle.

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Plot Keywords:

spanking | male frontal nudity | handyman | keystone kops | voyeurism | 

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Taglines:

Always Handy - the odd job man whose services are constantly in demand!

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Genres:

Comedy

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Certificate:

R

Details

Country:

UK

Language:

English

Release Date:

November 1976 (USA)

Also Known As:

The Happy Housewives

Filming Locations:

Surrey, England, UK

Company Credits

Production Co:

K.F.R. Productions

Technical Specs

Sound Mix:

Mono

Color:

Color

Did You Know?

Trivia

Sue Lloyd and Bob Todd receive "guest star" credits.

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Goofs

In the last shot of the bathroom sequence a crew member's hand can be briefly seen touching actress Mrs Wain's backside, directing her to move out of the way of the camera.

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Connections

Featured in Twisted Sex Vol. 19 (1998)

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Soundtracks

The Ups and Downs of a Handyman
Music and Lyrics by Vic Elms
Theme song sung by Barry Stokes

User Reviews

A modern version of a Victorian erotic postcard

This film has recently been given what I would describe as a sneak showing on a local TV channel. It was shown at a normal evening viewing time and was just listed as a British comedy, with no mention of sex-comedy or adult film to be found in my program guide. I believe the best British comedies, such as "Passport to Pimlico", are unmatched and I decided to watch it. I was quite startled to find that it was an unabashed and totally uninhibited sex comedy, with at least as much nudity as in any other film I remember seeing. I was recently amused to read a newspaper report about an author who has published a book listing nude appearances in films, and detailing their duration and the anatomical features displayed. I found it very hard to credit that someone should spend their time creating such a reference work, or that having done so they could find anyone willing to spend money buying it. However the article was quite serious and the author, when interviewed, reported that he could process most films very quickly - the only one which had taken him a considerable time to review fully had been "Showgirls". It appears that he has never seen this film which features far more nudity than "Showgirls"!

This film is a farce, comparable in many ways with the British "Carry On" series of films. It is probably best regarded as a more modern replacement for the Victorian erotic postcards that used to be so popular a century ago. The main story is of a young couple who have to move to a small country town where work is not plentiful. The husband attempts to make a living as the local handyman, but his shop window advertisement somehow conveys a message to the lonely women who see it, that he is offering other types of services. His role is supplemented by a series of kinky characters including an elderly man who enjoys spanking girls (a very Victorian theme), an amateur glamour photographer looking for models, and an incredibly inept policeman, all are portrayed outrageously to create a comedy with very broad humour. There is no real acting as all the characters are caricatures, but the film is reasonably well made and - if you are prepared to watch this type of humour - is enjoyable to view at least once. My personal view is that such films are far less socially harmful than most of the unnecessarily violent action/adventure films which today hardly ever raise the public's eyebrows. However anyone buying it, or seeing it in a cinema or on TV should be aware of what to expect. Viewers with other expectations are likely to class it as an example of the ultimate turkey.

Normally this would be a film which would leave a viewer with nothing to think about, but in my case I found myself facing the weighty question of whether this film is likely to be released again soon as one half of a two feature DVD for home viewing; and if so what could be chosen as a suitable companion film to pair with it? Perhaps "Can you keep it up for a week?" might have made a possible pairing; but although this is in my view a much less successful film, it has somehow already made DVD status on its own.