Who's Who (1978)

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Mike Leigh's Who's Who, originally produced for the BBC TV series, Play for Today, takes a look at a group of men who work at a London brokerage house. Giles (Adam Norton), a childish slob, lives and annoys his pernickety roommate, Nigel (Simon Chandler). The two invite lady friends and a mate from the office, the snidely lecherous Anthony (Graham Seed) to a dinner party. While Nigel frets about cooking and making a classy impression, the carefree Giles picks up an apple crumble from his mother. The party goes awkwardly, with Nigel an uptight mess as his vivaciously obnoxious date, Samantha (Catherine Hall) flirts with Anthony. Kevin (Philip Davis of Quadrophenia, who went on to appear in Leigh's Grown-Ups and High Hopes) spends his days at the office slyly mocking his co-worker, Alan (Richard Kane), who's disgusted with the slightest impropriety and obsessed with British nobility. Alan lives with his wife, April (Joolia Cappleman), who raises cats, and writes to celebrities and royals to ask them for autographed photos, which he proudly displays. He even proudly displays polite rejection notes written by their secretaries. April is perturbed when Alan comes home early from work one evening and interrupts her efforts to sell a prized cat to Miss Hunt (Geraldine James). Alan, sensing a whiff of class about the woman, presses her for details about her private life. Desmond Shakespeare (Sam Kelly of Leigh's Grown-Ups, Topsy-Turvy, and All or Nothing) is there to photograph April's cats, but is roped into a private viewing of Alan's "collection." Meanwhile, Lord (David Neville) and Lady Crouchurst (Richenda Carey) invite Francis (Jeffrey Wickham), one of the firm's higher-ups, over to discuss a tricky financial situation. ~ Josh Ralske, Rovi