Up Pompeii (film)
Up Pompeii is a 1971 British sex comedy film directed by Bob Kellett and starring Frankie Howerd and Michael Hordern. The film was shot at Elstree Film Studios, Borehamwood, England and is based on characters that first appeared in the British television sitcom Up Pompeii! (1969–1975).
Up Pompeii | |
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Theatrical poster | |
Directed by | Bob Kellett |
Produced by | Ned Sherrin |
Written by | Sid Colin |
Starring | Frankie Howerd Michael Hordern |
Music by | Carl Davis |
Cinematography | Ian Wilson |
Edited by | Al Gell |
Production company | Anglo-EMI London Associated Films |
Distributed by | MGM-EMI |
Release date | 1971 |
Running time | 90 minutes |
Country | United Kingdom |
Language | English |
Budget | £200,000[1] |
Plot
Lurcio (Frankie Howerd) becomes the inadvertent possessor of a scroll bearing all the names of the proposed assassins of Nero (Patrick Cargill). The conspirators need to recover the scroll fast, but it has fallen into the hands of Lurcio's master, Ludicrus Sextus (Michael Hordern), who mistakenly reads the contents of the scroll to the Senate. Farcical attempts are made to retrieve the scroll before Pompeii is eventually consumed by the erupting Vesuvius.
Cast
- Frankie Howerd as Lurcio
- Michael Hordern as Ludicrus Sextus
- Barbara Murray as Ammonia
- Patrick Cargill as Nero
- Lance Percival as Bilius
- Bill Fraser as Prosperus Maximus
- Julie Ege as Voluptua
- Adrienne Posta as Scrubba
- Bernard Bresslaw as Gorgo (Nero's Champion)
- Madeline Smith as Erotica
- Roy Hudd as Nero's M.C.
- Hugh Paddick as Priest
- Royce Mills as Nausius
- Rita Webb as Cassandra
- Lally Bowers as Procuria
- Aubrey Woods as Villanus
- Billy Walker as Prodigious
- Russell Hunter as Jailor
- Laraine Humphrys as Flavia
- Kenneth Cranham as 1st Christian
- George Woodbridge as Fat Bather
- Derek Griffiths as Steam Slave
- Robert Tayman as Noxius
- Carol Hawkins as Nero's Girl
- Candace Glendenning as Stone Girl
- Ian Trigger as Odius
Production
The Robert Stigwood Organisation had money in the film.[2]
A version was made for American audiences with six minutes of additional footage including a prologue and epilogue and Lurcio setting the scene.[1]
Reception
Box office
The film was the 10th most popular movie at the British box office in 1971.[3][4] By June 1972 it had earned EMI a profit of £20,000.[5]
References
- Moody, Paul (19 October 2018). EMI Films and the Limits of British Cinema. Springer. p. 104.
- City comment: Thanks to the pound Swan, Hunter; Stigwood, Robert. The Guardian 2 Aug 1972: 16.
- Peter Waymark. "Richard Burton top draw in British cinemas." Times [London, England] 30 Dec. 1971: 2. The Times Digital Archive. Web. 11 July 2012.
- Harper, Sue (2011). British Film Culture in the 1970s: The Boundaries of Pleasure: The Boundaries of Pleasure. Edinburgh University Press. p. 269.
- Moody, Paul (19 October 2018). EMI Films and the Limits of British Cinema. Springer. p. 83.