Director Robert Fuest's screenplay floats plenty of good ideas at the audience. The only problem is that most of them don't quite come off. This bizarre result is not usually the fault of the screenplay itself but in most cases can traced home to the extremely poor playing of the three principals, namely Wendy Craig, Francis Matthews and John Wood. No doubt Craig, Mathews and Wood would argue that there was nothing wrong with their acting, and that it was Fuest's bum direction that was at fault. Against this, I would argue that the rest of the cast is fine! In fact, the best scenes are those with Clive Dunn (as an ex- Nazi architect) and Barry Fantoni (a delightfully obnoxious "singer") in which the principals either don't appear or play very subordinate roles.
The film is beautifully photographed by Billy Williams. It has also been very lavishly produced. In fact it uses an extraordinarily large number of sets, most of which are fantastically decorated in pop art style.
The film is beautifully photographed by Billy Williams. It has also been very lavishly produced. In fact it uses an extraordinarily large number of sets, most of which are fantastically decorated in pop art style.