login

dvds > Sir Henry at Rawlinson End £7.49

synopsis

Sir Henry at Rawlinson End - Starring Vivian Stanshall


Sir Henry at Rawlinson End was the creation of Vivian Stanshall, founder of the 1960's Bonzo Dog Doo Dah Band. Conceived as a radio serial on the John Peel Show it evolved into a stage play, book, record, and film.
The film, directed by Steve Roberts, stars Trevor Howard as the bucolic Sir Henry - the "brandy-baffled rhinoceros fuherer of Rawlinson End", Sheila Reid as his wife Florrie, Patrick Magee as the evil defrocked vicar and JG Devlin as Scrotum, Sir Henry's "wrinkled old retainer", and of course, Vivian Stanshell as Henry's brother, Hubert Rawlinson, and the narrator.
Other roles include Denise Coffey as Mrs. E, Harry Fowler as local spiv Buller Bullethead, Jeremy Child as the chinless Peregrine Maynard and Suzanne Danielle as the beautiful, mute, Candice Rawlinson.
The film is full of classic one-liners such as: "If I had all the money I'd spent on drink, I'd spend it on drink"; "Generally speaking, if I've eaten something I don't want to see it again"; and "Fetch me my antlers, no, not those antlers, the ones I use to deface the Reader's Digest". And visuals: for meals Sir Henry sensibly sports a sou'wester, his son plays snooker on horseback in the billiard room, and his marriage bed is furnished with a barbed-wire divide.

The film centres around the eccentric Sir Henry's attempts to exorcise the ghost of his brother, Humbert, along with the 'help' of his barmy family and servants.

"Sir Henry at Rawlinson End" is a comic masterpiece" - NME

" This extraordinary film is one of the most haphazard British comedies I've seen. It is also a long time since I've laughed so much." The Guardian

"Impossible to do justice to the film's arrant and quite unique lunacy." The Financial Times

"Imagine a more Gothic kind of Fawlty Towers." Evening Standard

"Vivian Stanshall has pieced together a shambolic poem, stuffed with extraordinary one-liners, with the sad, manic skeleton necessary to all great comedy; a satire tempered with nostalgia...Trevor Howard relishes the role of Sir Henry as if shooting for an Oscar" Time Out Film Guide

"[On Vivian Stanshall] One of the most talented, profilgate, bizarre, absurd, infuriating, unfathomable and magnificent Englishmen ever to have drawn breath." Stephen Fry

Digitally Remastered

Bonuses
Commentary track with Director Steve Roberts and actors Sheila Reid and Jeremy Childs
Script of unshot scenes
Facts & Trivia
Picture Gallery
Trailer & Original poster


dvd information

Cast: Trevor Howard, Patrick Magee, Vivian Stanshall, Denise Coffey, JG Devlin, Harry Fowler, Sheila Reid, Michael Crane, Liz Smith
Producer(s): Tony Stratton-Smith
Director(s): Steve Roberts
Format: Colour
Region: 2 (PAL)
Discs: 1
Classification: 12
Running Time: 73 minutes
Studio: Charisma Films
Average Customer Review:

Customer Reviews

Word - Admin DigitalClassics
“a magnificent monument to it’s author’s poetic imagination and Dadaist humour”
Time Out - Admin DigitalClassics
“the missing link between Monty Python and ‘Withnail & I’…Stanshall’s characteristically pithy, poetically punning script is one of the film’s outstanding pleasures…”
The List - Admin DigitalClassics
“Obscure,literate, charming and sophisticated…a lost gem of British cinema: an absurd, confident, witty satire…”
Bizarre - Admin DigitalClassics
No.1 All Time Freakiest Film “The best film ever made or possibly the worst…the performances are stunning throughout especially Trevor Howard…”
Guardian Guide - Admin DigitalClassics
“.....one of the most unhinged and unsettling comedies ever made…an acquired taste but one worth acquiring…”
The Big Issue - Admin DigitalClassics
“The movie equivalent of cheese before bed, this film guarantees nightmares but in a good way”
Plan B magazine - Admin DigitalClassics
“.......Sir Henry makes you proud to be British........”
DVD Review - Admin DigitalClassics
“Sir Henry at Rawlinson End stands as a remarkable epitaph to (Stanshall’s) astonishing command of the English language.”

people who bought this product also bought...