Dick Emery was another 'seventies comedian very well admired at the time, and like all the British regulars, managed a TV show (BBC) which had many of his own characters at his disposal, featuring in sketches. This film was able to highlight some of them (Especially the Mandy Dunnit one, who gave the film its title with her catchphrase).
The plot is fairly okay, about a clever conman (Emery) and his pal (Fraser) who, much like the tricksters who sell London Bridge to anyone who's daft enough, try out the same scams. As the opener shows, they 'set up' the marriage of an Italian to Princess Anne. Naturally, when the scam's exposed, all too late of course and £500,000 less, the Italians have employed their mafia chums to get the two tricksters. In the meantime, Emery tries another scam that of selling a dog to an unwise American tourist couple - even though he's £250,000 better off - he just can't resist it being the confident 'confidence trickster' he is. This lands him in court, Fraser's nicely holding the money for him when he comes out of prison. Fraser has hidden the loot in a Swiss bank account and in the meantime, the mafia have caught up with the pair, actually knock down a building on top of them, leaving Fraser dead and Emery to just escape, to try to find the money with the last clue/words Fraser had to say ("On the back of...").
After chasing around clues and red herrings, he eventually finds out the Swiss bank account number is tattooed on to the bottom of one of 'Casanova' Fraser's girlfriends - along with another three girlfriends who have more numbers on their behinds also! The mafia realise they have bungled, in killing Fraser and now state to their minions that Emery has to be kept alive, to enable the money to be recovered, before he's wasted.
Of course, retrieving the tattoos is going to be difficult and this is where all manner of scrapes from Emery happen in the film but he manages it. Though he falls foul of the local hoodlum, Sid Sabbath (played well by Derren Nesbitt) because one of the girls with a tattoo is his sister!
This sets up Sabbath to issue his orders to kill Emery as well as the mafia on his tail! And in turn, the mafia wipes out nearly every man in Sabbath's firm, leaving Sabbath to think it's Emery who's wiped his men out!
Sabbath himself is finally killed by the mafia, the latter catch up with Emery but after his pleading, realise his con-man talents can help them and he's given a new lease of criminality with the best support!
It was a watchable film, amusing but no more than that. Probably not worth buying, but had a fair plot and welcome on TV at least. Some things seem strange, like Fraser as a casanova, with especially ladies a lot younger than himself and without meaning to be too personal far too ugly for such a portrayal (I don't know if it's jealousy!) but then again, this is meant to be farce!
The plot is fairly okay, about a clever conman (Emery) and his pal (Fraser) who, much like the tricksters who sell London Bridge to anyone who's daft enough, try out the same scams. As the opener shows, they 'set up' the marriage of an Italian to Princess Anne. Naturally, when the scam's exposed, all too late of course and £500,000 less, the Italians have employed their mafia chums to get the two tricksters. In the meantime, Emery tries another scam that of selling a dog to an unwise American tourist couple - even though he's £250,000 better off - he just can't resist it being the confident 'confidence trickster' he is. This lands him in court, Fraser's nicely holding the money for him when he comes out of prison. Fraser has hidden the loot in a Swiss bank account and in the meantime, the mafia have caught up with the pair, actually knock down a building on top of them, leaving Fraser dead and Emery to just escape, to try to find the money with the last clue/words Fraser had to say ("On the back of...").
After chasing around clues and red herrings, he eventually finds out the Swiss bank account number is tattooed on to the bottom of one of 'Casanova' Fraser's girlfriends - along with another three girlfriends who have more numbers on their behinds also! The mafia realise they have bungled, in killing Fraser and now state to their minions that Emery has to be kept alive, to enable the money to be recovered, before he's wasted.
Of course, retrieving the tattoos is going to be difficult and this is where all manner of scrapes from Emery happen in the film but he manages it. Though he falls foul of the local hoodlum, Sid Sabbath (played well by Derren Nesbitt) because one of the girls with a tattoo is his sister!
This sets up Sabbath to issue his orders to kill Emery as well as the mafia on his tail! And in turn, the mafia wipes out nearly every man in Sabbath's firm, leaving Sabbath to think it's Emery who's wiped his men out!
Sabbath himself is finally killed by the mafia, the latter catch up with Emery but after his pleading, realise his con-man talents can help them and he's given a new lease of criminality with the best support!
It was a watchable film, amusing but no more than that. Probably not worth buying, but had a fair plot and welcome on TV at least. Some things seem strange, like Fraser as a casanova, with especially ladies a lot younger than himself and without meaning to be too personal far too ugly for such a portrayal (I don't know if it's jealousy!) but then again, this is meant to be farce!