Ah, the more things change the more they bloody well stay
the same… smart guy market researches and manipulates both establishment and
general voting public alike in a drive to the top, all in an age before social
media optimisation, big data news filtering and the collapse of trust.
Devised and produced by David Frost under the pseudonym
"David Paradine", the script was completed by Peter Cook, John
Cleese, Graham Chapman, and Kevin Billington, who also directed. It’s very
knowing as you’d expect from these denizens of sixties satire who set the
controls for the heart of a system that was largely run by people they’d gone
to college with.
Indeed, Peter Cook later admitted to basing the character
of Michael Rimmer on Mr Frost himself. None more self-referential and, indeed,
a modern viewing of the film imparts it with all due benefits of doubt accrued
by its major players in subsequent years: it’s got That Was The Week That Was pedigree, Beyond the Fringe all the way through to Python and Peter’s post-mortem confirmation as a national treasure.
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| Fraser, Cook and Elliott on WorthingPier |
After the film, he was not convinced by his own
performance but it’s his lack of nuanced expression that now seems to work very
well as this coldly avuncular murderer and shaker: he takes everything in equal
measure and has a plan for every eventuality based on a shrewd appreciation of
the amorality all around him: we get the corruption we deserve.
The film is mostly funny around its lead character and not
because of him as a host of top-notch character actors make their mark and a
“guest appearance” by renowned playwright, Harold Pinter threatens to steal the
show.
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| Valerie Leon and Arthur Leers... |
It is however, hard to upstage Arthur Lowe and he’s the
one to watch from the get-go as lazily abusive ad agency boss Ferret sitting in
his complacent office ogling his secretary Tanya’s knicker line (unsurprisingly
it’s Valerie Leon who is, overall, rather splendid). An agitated customer
arrives and is followed in by a wide-eyed smart young man with a half-smile.
The customer thumps Ferret and leaves as the young man reveals himself to be
Michael Rimmer, sent to perform a time and motion study on the bureau.
He follows the nervous staff around, watching the finance
director totting up the betting odds, following Pumer (John Cleese) into the
gents and then catching him practising his ballroom dancing. There’s lots of
time wasted in the company and before long Ferret’s test-match and skirt watching
has to stop as he’s demoted to the bottom (not the one he likes) and retained
only in order that he may repay the huge sums he’s wasted.
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| Time and motion... |
I think the boys are trying to make a point… and it still
resonates.
Rimmer takes over and then, impressed with Peter Niss
(Denholm Elliott) a man from the biggest market research competitor, head hunts
him to help undermine them. He uses shock tactics to catch attention and at the
same time undermine faith in established mores, using research to show that the
population is enjoying more sex than it actually is or that Britain is a nation
of Buddhists.
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| Stephen Hench is Talking to You.. |
Naturally manipulation of public opinion leads him to
politics and he cosies up to the leader of the opposition, Tory Tom Hutchinson (Ronald
Fraser) at a reception held at London Zoo – how very modern! He can help him win,
and in scenes not a million miles away from The
Resistible Rise of Arturo Ui, he coaches Hutchinson on tone, body language
and emotional control.
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| Corbett and Cleese out polling |
Michael decides he must take a wife and selects the
pretty fit, Olympic equestrian Patricia Cartwright (Vanessa Howard, fit and
pretty) who is soon won over by his empty charm and the two marry at Budleigh
Moor (get it?).
But as Michael makes his way higher and higher, Patricia
is left to alone a lot with Peter who attempts to lure her away… there’s one
especially excruciating scene in which Patricia exercises her frustrations away
as Niss looks on shifting uncomfortably in his seat.
The film was timed for release before the 1970 General
election but some nervousness on behalf of the distributors prevented this… job
done chaps!! As it turned out the film
was spot on and the Tories beat Wilson (temporarily) with, in this case
Hutchinson romping to victory.
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| Marriage on the Moor |
Rimmer instils some radical thinking in the new
government with mocked up weaponry a far cheaper alternative to the development
of the actual capabilities and a secret invasion of Swiss banks allowing the UK
to pretend it has discovered North Sea Gold.
Tragedy soon occurs though when Hutchinson falls to his
doom after holding a large chunk of gold over his head on a drilling platform…
did he fall or was that a helping hand from Rimmer?
There’s no stopping him now as the party looks for a new
leader, Patricia returns to the winning horse and novel ideas are put in to
play that seem to promise more democracy whilst at the same time ensuring its
doom. Referenda my friends… you can’t ask the public all the time; they’d much
rather someone else made the decisions, good or bad…
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| Patricia exercises and Niss misses out |
Dusty verdict:
Michael Rimmer is clearly a jolly jape for the ruling satirical classes and
it’s not often that political humour stands the test of time. IN this case,
some of the jokes have only ripened in the age of social-media enhanced
political campaign and big data thought control. Mr Rimmer is all too
believable in the age of President Trump and a British government including
Boris Johnson.
Peter Cook’s sly style has also stood the test of time
and his vacuity only makes the character of Rimmer more believable: a
post-Blair/post-Cameron man of PR and spin with little discernible core belief.
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| Just a stroll on the beach... |
There’s superb support especially from Arthur Lowe and some
of our finest character actors, Roland Culver, Dennis Price, Ronnie Corbett,
Michael Bates and a sexy Diana Coupland! I also love the idea of an Election Grandstand – a TV programme
with more airtime than news to break… very prescient!
The film is now available from Warner Archives on DVD and
is close to Cook’s better work of the sixties such as the excellent Bedazzled (made with long-time partner,
Budleigh Moore).
