pretty much what it says if not on the box as such, then what it says in the title. which i suppose is a rather metaphorical way of saying that, look you see. it was so that, fairly recently, i had the chance to watch a film that i was mildly curious about, but suspected might be a bit rubbish. and it turned out to be a whole load of rubbish.
the film in question, and goodness knows who would pose such a question, is Keeping It Up Downstairs. according to the blurb (or puff piece) on the tape box, and indeed on the internet, it's supposed to be an 'Edwardian era sex comedy romp'. by mangled, wrangled, suppressed repressed British standards, i suppose it might be. except it isn't.
what's the plot? a bunch of posh people and their servants appear to spend their day getting up to all kinds of that sort of thing (intimate relations) with each other. however, these fun days are coming to an end, as the money has run out. a rather wealthy posh bloke what no one likes has designs to buy up the stately home in which they live, a move which would appear to give him the right to do that sort of thing with all of them himself. so, an effort of sorts is made to raise the money needed.
apparently it's intended as a 'parody' of a well known (in the 70s) television series called Upstairs Downstairs, hence the title i suppose. exactly how much of the "plot" echoes the premise of that series is unknown to me, and probably not a lot. so, not a parody, then. also, or further, it simply isn't funny. not one scene prompted a laugh, not even by accident. i shall take it on trust that it is indeed of an Edwardian period setting, but that would seem the only accurate aspect of the description.
but what of the 'sex comedy' aspect? you know, that sort of thing? if we are honest, or at the very least if i am honest, there's no way on earth i would have touched this film had there not been the open promise of some nudies. well, there is, kind of. one gets, i suppose, a fair chunk of female and (sadly) male upper nudity, a reasonable amount of female and (regrettably) male rear nudes and just the one (1) scene of full tilt female nudies (thankfully no male). yes, (most of) them bits (so to speak) were ok.
one starkly baffling aspect of life in Britain is the persistent censorship of all things nudies. we live in a country what has celebrated statues and paintings of people au naturale absolutely everywhere, yet dare to show off such in a film and the censors go after you. ridiculous in this internet era, yet such a mentality still prevails. in all likelihood this film exists solely to get some nudes on a cinema screen, pushing that boundary as far as was possible.
easily the single most disturbing aspect of this film (for audiences on or around my age) is the presence of no less than Willie (billed as William) Rushton as the rich bloke trying to take the house and all what comes with it. those of us who grew up in the 80s had him, along with the likes of Richard Stilgoe and Gyles Brandreth (that one) thrust on us as "guests" in children's tv shows. they were remarkably dull, stiff (not in that way) and a pain to sit through. not really the sort of person you expect to see turn up in a supposed 'sex comedy', then. for what it's worth, and yeah, spoiler, the main "humour" what this film has in store for audiences is Willie Rushton repeatedly falling into puddles or similar bodies of water.
provenance of my copy? i was rather surprised to see it sat in a charity shop. one would assume they get a fair few of these things donated, but usually anything featuring that sort of thing doesn't end up on the shelf, with it disposed of via other means. the cost was £1, but that was for three (3) tapes (discs). i picked up 48Hrs and The Outlaw Josey Wales at the same time, so it wasn't a total loss.
so, what shall i do with this tape (disc) now? actually i have no idea. probably just leave it in the pile that is my collection. or, maybe, i will give it to someone or other, so that they may endure it. every chance exists, of course, that there's someone in the world who might like it, but that's not me.
considering how little time i get to actually watch tapes (discs), one can only hope i choose somewhat more wisely when i next get chance. but, still, there was some nudies, so it wasn't a totes waste.
be excellent to each other!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
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