What a Carve Up! (1961)

Pretty Good

Just perfect...

Fantastic!

One of the worst ways to make a cult movie is to set out to make a cult movie.

Very funny British comedy from the early 60's,i finally managed to get myself a copy and i don't know why it isn't more readily available in the UK as i would have thought any films starring Sid James were highly sought after, as his still very popular with modern audiences his famous for having the dirtiest laugh in show business no one has equalled him for that. Sid James and Kenneth Conner play two friends Sid and Ern who are called to a will reading as Erns great uncle Gabrielle has died.They have to travel to Yorkshire where their destination leads them to a spooky old mansion house which was owned by the late uncle Gabrielle. During the reading of the will all the guests who are Erns other relatives are told they are not going to inherit anything.The guests are all very disappointed but realise that they will have to spend the rest of the night at the house as there is no way of getting home till the morning. Then during the night the guests are being killed off one by one,but who is the killer? What a carve up mixes comedy with light horror,the story itself is not that original but the jokes and humour are. I hadnt seen this film for years,but having just watched it again its as funny as i remember it.

This is a movie which falls between categories. It's not a British full-blooded farce of the type that the Carry-On series exulted in. That said, it does indeed come the same stable as that cinematic equivalent of naughty seaside postcard humour. And even though it strives to emulate The Cat and the Canary genre, it is a rather weak candidate for the comedy-thriller category. It has some of the United Kingdom's prize comic actors of the time - Syd James, Kenneth Connor etc. Ray Cooney had a primary hand in the screenplay but even with his string of vehicles for Brian Rix and London's Whitehall Theatre the only thing that gets carved up are the reputations of some usually funny actors. Hackneyed - yes. A white knuckle ride - definitely not.One element of the study of spectator ship is the use of locations in films. What made me return to the film in recent times was its Yorkshire scenes. I have been interested in this county as a movie set. There are many of examples of it being used this. I would welcome knowing which places, if any, were used for this purpose in the film.In summary: an enjoyable enough film that nowadays will be mainly watched for its social and geographical settings.

I've finally managed to get my hands on a copy of this movie, after searching websites, video stores, and many a failed bid on eBay. And although it's a while since I last watched it, this movie is as good, if not better, than I remember.Sid James gets the best lines, and delivers them with the consummate ease of a true professional. Kenneth Connor is a bit like his roles in the early Carry On's - but he was very good in them. Throw in a wonderfully sinister Donald Pleasance, the typically statuesque and beautiful Shirley Eaton, and a host of other suitable strange and quirky characters, all locked in a creepy mansion where the guests begin dropping like flies one by one. It all adds up to a marvelous romp - not so much scary as very creepy, very suspenseful, and very, very funny.

Anyone who has seen this poor movie may be interested to know that a fantastic novel came out of it. Written by Jonathon Coe, "What A Carve Up" is a strong satire on 1980's Thatcherite Britain, following the exploits, fair and foul of the Winshaw family. Using the movie to link together several plot strands, most importantly the schlock horror climax, the novel follows each familial member in their definitively antisocial exploits in the fields of arms dealing, the politics of the NHS, tabloid journalism, the art world, and intensive farming, ensuring each gets their comeuppance in imaginative style. The novel would have made a far better, though unlikely, movie, and is absolutely worth reading for anyone with an interest in the original movie, politics at their most raw, or great English Literature.