Rising Damp (1980)

Sadly Over-hyped

Although it has its amusing moments, in eneral the plot does not convince.

Amazing worth wacthing. So good. Biased but well made with many good points.

Story: It's very simple but honestly that is fine.

Rising Damp has always been regarded one of ITVs better sitcoms of the 1970s even though the series was full of casual racism.As soon as the series ended, work started on a feature film spin off and this is the dismal effort.Of course the producers were not helped by the premature death of actor Richard Beckinsale who played one of the main characters. He is replaced by Christopher Strauli who plays a new character, art student Alan and a new tenant in Rigsby's house.The main part of the film is seedy Rigsby attempting to keep fit as he is envious of African chief Philip's success at the rugby field. Rigsby hopes if he can beat Philip at boxing he can win the affections of Miss Jones. (Ironically Leonard Rossiter who died at a relatively young aged was a top ranked amateur squash player.)The final part of the movie is Denholm Elliott playing suave new tenant Seymour who may be not all he seems to be but Rigsby thinks he is a gent because Seymour went to public school. Then Seymour starts to woo Miss Jones much to Rigsby's chagrin.The film is episodic because it is three episodes stitched together. I think Henry McGee played the part in the television show better than Elliott here because his character revealed a nasty vile side, especially when he talked to Philip.The film has several dream sequences including a Grease pastiche and a reference to the Cinzano ads which Leonard Rossiter was famous for at the time with Joan Collins.The film just fails to capture the essence of the television sitcom, it comes across as crass and unfunny. Despite Rossiter doing sterling work as Rigsby, the script and direction were poor.

I just recently heard there was a Rising Damp movie, and as a fan of the series, I was excited. I'm watching it now, and I find it ridiculous. I've already heard these jokes. Besides, the change of set from old, rundown house to a rather nice rundown house takes away from the atmosphere. Rigsby, Philip and Ruth reprise their roles, but watching this movie is like experiencing summer theater of a play after seeing it on Broadway. A sad, pathetic shadow of itself. I think perhaps if I hadn't seen the series, this would be acceptable. Also, I'm a big fan of Richard Beckinsale, and his absence is felt so deeply. Why did they feel the need to completely replace him? At least they slightly changed the character from a medical student to an art student, but Beckinsale's lines were given to him, making it slightly distasteful.

RISING DAMP is a classic comedy which starred Leonard Rossiter as a landlord who rented his flat out to three people : Miss Jones a rather plain woman who Rigsby has the hots for and a couple of students Alan and Philip . It should be pointed out that Philip is black and Rigsby is while not exactly racist rather condescending to anyone different from his little Englander mentality .As with a great number of successful ITV sit-coms RISING DAMP was made into a feature length movie , though it should be pointed out this seems rather belated since it was made in 1980 with most of the other cinema versions of ITV sitcoms being produced in the early 1970s . It should also be mentioned that in the TV series Alan was played by Richard Beckinsale who died before this movie went into production so his role as Alan is played by Christopher Strauli with the other three regular cast members reprising their rolesNo attempt is made to change or modify the strong points of the television series and everybody stays in character mainly because much of the screenplay is directly lifted from the TV series , bits like the draught blowing into Miss Jones ear and the love wood which featured in an episode of the TV series . There is a thin plot featuring a guest called Seymour played by Denholm Elliot which does give the opportunity of showing what a sycophantic snob Rigsby really is and for not changing the formula the film version deserves some credit . Check out the film version of GEORGE AND MILDRED to see what a really bad adaptation looks like

This film derives from a Long Running ITV sitcom by the same name.The Sitcom lasted for half a decade roughly and brought to our screens Rigsby,Phillip,Alan,Mrs Jones & Vienna.Then in 1980 The film version hit the Cinemas.Now when it did,sadly Richard Beckinsale had passed away & was replaced by Only when i laugh actor Chris Strauli.I myself felt this gave the film a different feel.I would have preferred if it wasn't shot as Richard was a key character.Thats like having the porridge film without Godber or Mackay!The Film did have some classics moments definitely but it felt a bit De-Ja-Vu! Many parts were seen before in the TV Series. Now if you saw the movie first rather than the Series you would get a different feeling about it then the series fan!Saying that Leonard is definitely on top form and makes the movie,just like in the TV series.The Film has recently had a new lease of life on DVD and is usually on Terrestrial over a quiet weekend.It is a cracking good film,but for Rigsby fans you may feel that youv'e seen it similarly before.Saying that though its worth a buying/watching7.8/10