Every Home Should Have One (1978)

Memorable, crazy movie

Best movie ever!

Beautiful, moving film.

I think this is a new genre that they're all sort of working their way through it and haven't got all the kinks worked out yet but it's a genre that works for me.

Not known as much now as it was when it was released, this feature written by Marty Feldman from Herbert Kretzmer (yes, the one who wrote lyrics for the hit musical Les Miserables) has its very thin premise a breakfast cereal that will seriously spice up your sex life; porridge, in fact.Cue some cringe-inducing commercials for said product and a number of fantasies in which Marty Feldman's character places himself - from being in romantic clinches with eligible ladies to a superhero fight with the local vicar, a pious type who ogles the ladies just as much as everyone else. And the real fight between the ad man and the vicar towards the end is a lot of laugh-out-loud fun.Marty Feldman does dominate this film, such was his personality and rather weird looks. However, there is sterling support from Judy Cornwell (Marty's girlfriend), Dinsdale Landen (the vicar), Frances de La Tour (a secretary), and Penelope Keith (a Swedish lesbian), amongst others.Director Jim Clark went on to the equally dubious but not quite as funny 'Rentadick' before returning to acting; in 'Every Home Should Have One' he shows some flair in setting up the quirky and unusual, while sending up a range of genres. Of its type, this film is a real find, and a guilty pleasure - if you like this kind of thing!

Very popular in its day as a faux Carry On movie with a better script and strong idea, this farce using Marty Feldman was a huge success in 1970 - 71. His TV show was constantly on air and this opportunity to make a rude color send up of silly advertising ideas went over very well. Rather like the zany energy and ideas seen in a Richard Lester / Beatles film and a pre curser to Benny Hill nonsense, this one had the sense to have a genuinely original comedy star who possibly never bettered himself in another British film. Feldman did star in the Mel Brooks classic Young Frankenstein as well as a couple of half funny pix: The Adverture Of Sherlock Holmes Smarter Brother and The Last Remake Of Beau Geste, probably the better of the two non American films. Julie Ege (fresh from a prehistoric fur bikini epic) was hilarious as his comic foil whether she meant to be or not... which basically is excellent casting. There is a lot of very funny advertising gags and the ads and ideas presented work. In the 50s Tony Randall and Jayne Mansfield starred in a hilarious Frank Tashlin comedy also about the ridiculous ideas seen in advertising; it was called Will Success Spoil Rock Hunter which, believe it or not is more vulgar that this Brit film made 15 years later. Both highly recommended.... especially if you are studying media.

It's one of the best comedies I ever saw, made with much intelligence and much courage in a time when censorship was pretty terrible. Particularly brilliant and unforgettable: the dream scene on the beach with naked Marty and naked Swedish goddess, which is a tasty parody of the Ingmar Bergmann's movies. The German title is "Haferbrei mac-ht sexy" ("Porridge makes sexy"). Marty Fieldman, wild-haired and pop-eyed as always, is to see in many cult favorites. He became notably famous for his role as Igor, Gene Wilder's bemused hunchbacked assistant (whose hump switched shoulders from scene to scene), in director Mel Brooks' Young Frankenstein (1973).

I remember seeing this for the first time when I was about 7. Children In Need was on BBC 1 (or maybe Comic Relief) and I was allowed to sleep downstairs to watch the whole event. Anyway, I found this on the other channel at about 2.30am, and I was totally blown away by it. Not least the funky theme tune, the cartoons, those eyes, Julie Ege etc. Anyway, a couple of years later I got it on VHS...surprise surprise, the cut I'd seen on ITV had been trimmed significantly. The bit with the hot dog vendor, the fantasy sequence where Teddy imagines a fight sequence with the vicar had both been cut, with maybe some other bits. I've seen this film more than any other film, and have collected as much stuff to do with it as I can; 4 posters, lobby cards, and approximately 60 black and white stills. If anyone has anything else related to this film, please get in touch. A few things bother me though; how did Shelley Berman get involved?Why is Alan Bennett uncredited? Shelley Berman turned up in Friends a few years back, and his character's name was Kaplan, as in this film. Was Kaplan his own persona, or was this a nod to the film? Does the US cut differ any from the UK?