Misplaced Pages

#338661

31-468: The Fast Lady is a 1962 British comedy film , directed by Ken Annakin and starring James Robertson Justice , Leslie Phillips , Stanley Baxter , Kathleen Harrison , and Julie Christie . The screenplay was by Henry Blyth and Jack Davies , based on the 1925 novel The Fast Lady by Keble Howard . It was the third in a trilogy of comedies written by Jack Davies that Annakin made for Independent Artists . Don Sharp directed second unit. "The Fast Lady"

62-456: A Keystone chase scene. Abbott and Costello Meet the Keystone Kops (1955) included a lengthy chase scene, showcasing a group of stuntmen dressed as Sennett's squad. (Two original Keystone Cops in this film were Heinie Conklin as an elderly studio guard and Hank Mann as a prop man. Sennett also starred in a cameo appearance as himself). Richard Lester 's A Hard Day's Night (1964) has

93-510: A car chase scene in the Keystone Cops' style in his comedy film Silent Movie (1976). In the late 1960s, Warner Bros.-Seven Arts pitched to create a series of animated cartoon short films based on the Keystone Cops, before being scrapped permanently following the closure of Warner’s original animation studio in 1969. The name has since been used to criticize any group for its mistakes and lack of coordination, particularly if either trait

124-418: A civil servant (Stanley Baxter), his car (a Bentley) and the girl on whom he dotes (Julie Christie) has such a degree of fresh-faced innocence that you appreciate the film's charm rather than notice the rambling plot. This Rank movie is tackled with relish by the cast: Christie is simpering and decent, Baxter is spot-on with his "gormless comic" style and James Robertson-Justice booms throughout." The Fast Lady

155-427: A comedy of disasters with a nervous instructor. Freddie then makes a deal with Murdoch and offers to teach him, but the results are equally disastrous. Unwilling to give up, and determined to prove his love for Claire, Murdoch bets her father that he can drive the car. An experienced racing driver, Chingford is convinced that Murdoch has no hope of achieving this — and bets him that he cannot. Murdoch takes Chingford for

186-456: A drive in the Bentley and loses the bet. But the tables are turned when Chingford loses Murdoch's counter-bet that Chingford cannot drive back home in less than 30 minutes. He then reluctantly allows Claire to go out with Murdoch in the car. The day comes for Murdoch's driving test. Freddie has set him up with a 'bent' examiner, but Murdoch draws the 'wrong' examiner. As the test comes to an end (and

217-452: A film's atmosphere, character, and story, and therefore, the labels "drama" and "comedy" are too broad to be considered a genre. Instead, his taxonomy argues that comedy is a type of film that contains at least a dozen different sub-types. A number of hybrid genres have emerged, such as action comedy and romantic comedy . The first comedy film was L'Arroseur Arrosé (1895), directed and produced by film pioneer Louis Lumière . Less than

248-478: A mainstream audience. The success of the American television show Saturday Night Live drove decades of cinema with racier content allowed on television drawing on the program's stars and characters, with bigger successes including Wayne's World , Mean Girls , Ghostbusters and Animal House . Parody and joke-based films continue to find audiences. While comedic films are among the most popular with audiences at

279-509: A minute long, it shows a boy playing a prank on a gardener. The most notable comedy actors of the silent film era (1895–1927) were Charlie Chaplin , Harold Lloyd , and Buster Keaton , though they were able to make the transition into “ talkies ” after the 1920s. Film-makers in the 1960s skillfully employed the use of comedy film to make social statements by building their narratives around sensitive cultural, political or social issues. Such films include Dr Strangelove, or How I Learned to Love

310-508: A revival of the Sennett gang for his Warner Brothers short subject Keystone Hotel , featuring a re-creation of the Kops clutching at their hats, leaping in the air in surprise, running energetically in any direction, and taking extreme pratfalls. The Staub version of the Keystone Cops became a template for later re-creations. 20th Century Fox 's 1939 film Hollywood Cavalcade had Buster Keaton in

341-531: A scene where the reminiscent Keystone cops chase the Beatles around the streets. In Sydney, Australia, in the 1960s, Rod Hull , Desmond Tester and Penny Spence featured in a local homage series of TV comedy shorts, Caper Cops . "It’s a direct steal of the American Keystone Kops [sic], but this is Sydney, Australia, in the late 1960s and who cares..." said creator/star Hull. Mel Brooks directed

SECTION 10

#1732877331339

372-536: A separate genre, but rather, provides a better understanding of the film. Keystone Cops Keystone Cops was the idea of Hank Mann , and they were named for the Keystone studio, the film production company founded in 1912 by Sennett. Their first film was Hoffmeyer's Legacy (1912), with Mann playing the part of police chief Tehiezel, but their popularity stemmed from the 1913 short The Bangville Police starring Mabel Normand . As early as 1914, Sennett shifted

403-673: A striptease by Julie Christie was heavily censored. The film opened at the Odeon Marble Arch in London in December 1962. It was one of the 12 most popular films at the British box office in 1963. The Monthly Film Bulletin wrote: "An attempt to please an affluent society through a brash portrayal of its current fads and fancies. Everything is here: the Twist, sentimental Scottish songs, vintage cars,

434-480: Is one of the oldest genres in film, and it is derived from classical comedy in theatre . Some of the earliest silent films were slapstick comedies , which often relied on visual depictions, such as sight gags and pratfalls, so they could be enjoyed without requiring sound. To provide drama and excitement to silent movies, live music was played in sync with the action on the screen, on pianos, organs, and other instruments. When sound films became more prevalent during

465-567: Is talked into buying a car to impress her by his friend and fellow lodger, Freddie Fox, a used car salesman and serial cad . Freddie sees a chance to ingratiate himself with Chingford and also to sell Murdoch a car. The car is a 1927 vintage Bentley 4½ Litre Red Label Speed model, painted in British Racing Green and named The Fast Lady . Murdoch has his first driving lesson in a less exciting car, an Austin A40 Farina , which proves to be

496-458: Is the name of a vintage Bentley . A loose sequel, Father Came Too! , was released in February 1964. Murdoch Troon is a proud Scot living and working for a local government authority somewhere in south London. A shy young man, his main excitement comes from cycling. After he is forced off the road by an impatient car driver, he tracks down the owner, only to find that he is Commander Chingford,

527-440: The 1920s, comedy films grew in popularity, as laughter could result from both burlesque situations but also from humorous dialogue . Comedy, compared with other film genres , places more focus on individual star actors, with many former stand-up comics transitioning to the film industry due to their popularity. In The Screenwriters Taxonomy (2017), Eric R. Williams contends that film genres are fundamentally based upon

558-584: The Bomb , Guess Who's Coming to Dinner? and The Graduate . In America, the sexual revolution drove an appetite for comedies that celebrated and parodied changing social morals, including Bob & Carol & Ted & Alice and Fanny Hill . In Britain, a camp sensibility lay behind the successful Carry On films , while in America subversive independent film-maker John Waters made camp films for college audiences with his drag queen friends that eventually found

589-534: The Clutches of the Gang (1914) with Normand, Arbuckle, and Al St. John ; and Wished on Mabel (1915) with Arbuckle and Normand, among others. Comic actors Chester Conklin , Jimmy Finlayson , and Ford Sterling were also Keystone Cops, as was director Del Lord . The original Keystone Cops were George Jeske , Bobby Dunn , Mack Riley, Charles Avery , Slim Summerville , Edgar Kennedy , and Hank Mann . In 2010,

620-463: The Keystone Cops from starring roles to background ensemble in support of comedians such as Charlie Chaplin and Fatty Arbuckle . The Keystone Cops served as supporting players for Chaplin, Marie Dressler and Mabel Normand in the first full-length Sennett comedy feature Tillie's Punctured Romance (1914); Mabel's New Hero (1913) with Normand and Arbuckle; Making a Living (1914) with Chaplin in his first pre- Tramp screen appearance; In

651-519: The United Kingdom and Ireland . The rugby commentator Liam Toland uses the term to describe a team's incompetent performance on the pitch. The phrase "Keystone cops defending" has become a catchphrase for describing a situation in an English football match where a defensive error or a series of defensive errors leads to a goal. The term was also used in American Football commentary to describe

SECTION 20

#1732877331339

682-708: The box office, there is an 'historical bias against a close and serious consideration of comedy' when it comes to critical reception and conferring of awards, such as at the Academy Awards . Film writer Cailian Savage observes "Comedies have won Oscars, although they’ve usually been comedy-dramas, involved very depressing scenes, or appealed to stone-hearted drama lovers in some other way, such as Shakespeare in Love ." According to Williams' taxonomy , all film descriptions should contain their type (comedy or drama) combined with one (or more) sub-genres. This combination does not create

713-468: The couple to get engaged. Graham Hill , John Surtees , Raymond Baxter and Dickie Davies have cameos in the race scene in Murdoch's dream. The Fast Lady is a 1927 Bentley 4½ Litre Red Label Speed model with Vanden Plas short chassis fabric body, registration number TU5987. It was sold by a specialist dealer in 2010. In the film, Claire Chingford says The Fast Lady is a 3-litre. A scene involving

744-406: The domineering and acerbic owner of a sports car distributorship. Chingford reluctantly pays for the damage to Murdoch's cycle, but more significantly, Murdoch meets Claire, Chingford's beautiful blonde daughter, and is smitten with her. She tells him she loves sports cars and would love to have one but "her great dictator" (meaning her father) won't allow it. Despite not being able to drive, Murdoch

775-401: The driving test, and an assortment of fashionable popsies. James Robertson Justice looks uncomfortable as a vacillating and over-fond father, knowing that his attempts to separate his daughter from a *haggis-headed halfwit" are sure to fail. Precedent demands that the boy from the wrong side of town marry the daughter of the local tycoon, and so does the banal script. Relief arrives momentarily in

806-488: The examiner is almost certainly going to fail Murdoch), the car is commandeered by police to chase a Jaguar car driven by escaping bank robbers. The high speed chase takes them through town and country, across a golf course (leaving in its wake a trail of disasters) and eventually the robbers are caught. The now furious examiner says that Murdoch not only fails but is "banned for life", but Chingford pooh-poohs this. Rather, he so admires Murdoch's driving skill that he will allow

837-506: The lost short A Thief Catcher was discovered at an antique sale in Michigan. It was filmed in 1914 and stars Ford Sterling , Mack Swain , Edgar Kennedy , and Al St. John and includes a previously unknown appearance of Charlie Chaplin as a Keystone Cop. Mack Sennett continued to use the Keystone Cops intermittently through the 1920s, but their popularity had waned by the time that sound films arrived. In 1935, director Ralph Staub staged

868-563: The play of the New York Jets against the New England Patriots in the 2012 Butt Fumble game, with sportscaster Cris Collinsworth declaring "This is the Keystone Cops", after the Jets gave up 21 points in 51 seconds. According to Dave Filoni , supervising director of the animated television series Star Wars: The Clone Wars , the look of the police droid is based on the appearance of

899-522: The shape of a chase reminiscent of the Keystone Cops , punctuated by the untimely ascent of Frankie Howerd from a manhole." Variety wrote "A thin idea is pumped up into a reasonably brisk, amusing situation comedy, which is helped by a cast of experienced farceurs. In dialog, the pic is short on wit but there is enough slapstick fun." The Radio Times Guide to Films gave the film 3/5 stars, writing: "Despite driving up too many B roads, this story of

930-501: Was exhibited after a great deal of energy and activity. For example, in criticizing the Department of Homeland Security 's response to Hurricane Katrina , Senator Joseph Lieberman claimed that emergency workers under DHS chief Michael Chertoff "ran around like Keystone Kops, uncertain about what they were supposed to do or uncertain how to do it." In sport, the term has come into common usage by television commentators, particularly in

961-496: Was issued on Region 2 DVD in the UK on 2 February 2004. A high definition restoration from the original film elements was released on DVD and Blu-ray by Network on 24 February 2020. Comedy film The comedy film is a film genre that emphasizes humor . These films are designed to amuse audiences and make them laugh. Films in this genre typically have a happy ending , with dark comedy being an exception to this rule. Comedy

The Fast Lady - Misplaced Pages Continue

#338661