Dinner for One (1963)

Very good movie overall, highly recommended. Most of the negative reviews don't have any merit and are all pollitically based. Give this movie a chance at least, and it might give you a different perspective.

Great example of an old-fashioned, pure-at-heart escapist event movie that doesn't pretend to be anything that it's not and has boat loads of fun being its own ludicrous self.

Exactly the movie you think it is, but not the movie you want it to be.

A clunky actioner with a handful of cool moments.

Really I can't tell how often I have seen this skit on TV already. I remember seeing it when I was 5 years old, which now is some 30 years in the past, and I never grew tired of it. I now even have a DVD copy of it and occasionally show it to friends who didn't see it yet at parties. It's always an instant hit and everybody laughs themselves to tears!Freddie Frinton is exceptional in playing the butler having to ordeal the 'same procedure as every year', which means drinking all the drinks of the four deceased friends of Ms. Sophie during each course of the meal. Even the 'non-funny' moments, in a very smart way, are being made funny by Frinton through his top-notch performance. You can even see May Warden having to hold her breath as not to laugh during this skit. The whole sketch is extremely well-paced, good thought out and even today gives many people a good view on our often narrow minded society through a very simple and unprovocative thematic. Strange but true...People who don't laugh at this sketch or don't like it should be banned on a diet of films about suicide and murder! Go see this as you won't regret it! 11+/10!!!

This short is definitely one of the funniest short films ever created. It is easy to consider it a simple, stupid slapstick with a guy acting drunk, and/or making fun of old people, but then you miss the point. This is not primarily about drunkenness or age, it is about British conservatism. And maybe that's why the British people never cared much for it, while other Europeans love it.Note that Miss Sophie is not suffering from senile dementia. She knows exactly what she wants: She wants things to be just like they always were. The poor James does his best to fulfill her wishes, and as he gradually drops out of his role, while miss Sophie still insists that everything should be done after the "same procedure as every year" things get truly hilarious.The sketch actually exists in two different versions, one slightly shorter than the other (11 or 14 minutes). The shorter one has better planned close-up shots, while the longer includes the "Must I?" questions, which clarifies that miss Sophie knows very well what she is doing. So both have strong points.No matter what version you see, you are likely to enjoy it... unless you are British, I guess. It is a British humor gem about British conservatism.

I have been trying to see this for some years as I saw Freddie Frinton perform it on stage c 1955 where it was a standard routine of his stage act. As a television program it probably seems very stagy and dated for UK tastes but it is great that a classic piece of comedy has been preserved. I still remembered the names of the guests - Admiral Von Schneider etc from when I was 9. Good to see it again. Frinton's drunk was always a classic and I think he appeared in a number of films in the background doing just that. I do not know if May Warden appeared with him on stage but she was a regular character actress in the 60's. It would be interesting to know how many TV airings it has had in Germany. I do not think it has ever been shown in the UK.

During preparations for Thanksgiving a few years back, my dad noticed that no one had made any candied yams. Fine, we bought a can, warmed them up and set them out. Nobody touched them, pa included. "Why," we asked, "did you insist on the yams?" Simple--tradition. With Thanksgiving you need candied yams.And with New Years in central Europe, you need "Dinner for One." That people here love it, is clear. *Why* they love it is an absolute mystery. I honestly believe that it is enjoyed primarily because it is tradition -- it is beloved, so people love it. Being married to a German, I have now seen this short at least five times; I *have* laughed during it. Of course, I can pretend to like yams, too.The film relies entirely on the clownish antics of the protagonist, Freddie Frinton, as he steadily drinks himself into oblivion. Purely pie-in-the-mush humor here, with gags that were old when the film was made forty years ago. Neither is Frinton a genius of physical comedy, his timing truly hit-and-miss in the skit.If you are from central Europe, you have already seen this film. Otherwise, spare yourself the bother.