Spike Milligan Movies

Based on the best-selling novel by Irish comedian Spike Milligan, Puckoon is a political satire about a town cut in half by the partitioning of Northern Ireland and the Irish Free State in 1924. The action takes place in a town known as Puckoon where an ordinary fellow named Dan Madigan wakes up one day to find barbed-wire fences running right through his neighbors' houses. All at once, Madigan's friends begin altering their personalities to suit the side of the fence they've found themselves on. So it's up to Madigan, the last sane man in town, to restore order. Originally written in 1963, Puckoon is considered the forerunner of anti-humor comedy which became the staple of shows like Monty Python and Saturday Night Live. ~ Connor McMadden, All Movie Guide

This colorful spoof of pirate movies had all the makings of a classic farce and yet sank straight to Davy Jones' locker at the box-office, for despite it's all-star international cast of famous comedians, and despite the fact that it was largely co-written by "Monty Python"-veteran Graham Chapman and former "Fringie" Peter Cook, the darned thing just wasn't funny. The sketches center around the core story of the dread pirate Yellowbeard's quest for a fabulous treasure, the map for which is tattooed on the head of his prissy son, who wants nothing to do with ships and pirate shenanigans. This was the final film of bug-eyed, beloved comedian Marty Feldman, who died of heart-failure before production finished. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

Mel Brooks produced, directed, wrote, and starred in this episodic comedy in the spirit of Monty Python and the 1957 studio travesty The Story of Mankind. The film is divided into five sequences that play like blue-toned Eddie Cantor vaudeville sketches -- "The Dawn of Man," "The Stone Age," The Spanish Inquisition," "The Bible," and "The Future." Also included is a Brooksian depiction of The Last Supper and a long-winded sequence about the French Revolution. The film starts with a 2001: A Space Odyssey parody, narrated by Orson Welles, in which a collection of ape-men learn to stand erect (in more ways than one). The Stone Age reveals the origins of both the first homo sapien and homosexual marriages. Brooks then appears in an Old Testament sequence as Moses, descending from Mount Sinai with three heavy stone tablets bearing the 15 Commandments; after he drops one of these tablets, the laws of God become 10 Commandments. The Roman period picks up with Brooks as Comicus, attempting to get a gig as a "stand-up philosopher" at Caesar's Palace. The Spanish Inquisition is a musical production number with monks torturing Jews to lively Broadway musical strains. The final French revolution section is a broad parody of The Man in the Iron Mask story. The film closes with coming attractions of "History of the World, Part II" that features a rousing Star Wars parody (anticipating Space Balls) called "Jews in Space" that includes a jaunty theme song. ~ Paul Brenner, All Movie Guide

Kermit attempts an "international extravaganza" in honor of The Muppet Show being broadcast in 108 countries, bringing in representatives of each nation. As always, things do not go smoothly. Guest star Spike Milligan joins the Muppets for a rendition of "It's a Small World", and Fozzie's attempt at singing "Oklahoma" takes on a strange Japanese twist. ~ Tracie Cooper, All Movie Guide

Beau Geste, the classic adventure story of a young man's dangerous journeys as part of the French Foreign Legion, becomes the subject of broad parody in this slapstick comedy. The original tale, best known to film lovers from William Wellman's 1939 classic, tells of several brothers who join the Foreign Legion after claiming responsibility for the mysterious disappearance of an invaluable family heirloom. Eventually, brothers Beau and Digby find themselves in conflict with their vicious commander, leading to a potential mutiny. The plot here is similar, with Michael York assuming Gary Cooper's role as Beau, and first-time director Marty Feldman co-starring as Digby. However, following the lead of former collaborator Mel Brooks, Feldman plays strictly for laughs, loading the story with jokes ranging from the satirical to the vulgar. A cast of notables keeps things lively, with Peter Ustinov and Ann-Margret mocking their own images as the sadistic commander and lusty Geste stepmother. ~ Judd Blaise, All Movie Guide

That matchless British farceur Spike Milligan stars in The Great McGonagall. The story concerns indigent Scotsman William McGonagall, who aspires to become Poet Laureate of Great Britain. McGonagall might have a better chance of accomplishing this if he had any talent, but he is hilariously inept. The plot is abandoned somewhere in the middle of the film in favor of a series of virtually unrelated comic episodes. Peter Sellers, Spike Milligan's onetime Goon Show cohort, steals the show in drag as a sexually voracious Queen Victoria! ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Richard Lester's adaptation of The Three Musketeers was only the latest of many when released in 1974, but it arrived with a spirit all its own, one influenced as much by Lester's '60s work as the Alexandre Dumas classic. Even so, it followed the plot of Dumas' novel fairly closely, its liberties in interpretation taken elsewhere. Coming off the success of Cabaret, Michael York plays D'Artagnan, the provincial, would-be swashbuckler who travels to Paris to make his name. There he encounters the eponymous heroes: cynical Athos (Oliver Reed), dashing Aramis (Richard Chamberlain), and arrogant Porthos (Frank Finlay). The trio introduces him to the world of court intrigue as they work to protect the Queen (Geraldine Chaplin) from the schemes of the villainous Richelieu (Charlton Heston) and his followers, Rochefort (Christopher Lee) and Milady (Faye Dunaway). Lester shot the film in conjunction with its sequel, The Four Musketeers. Originally intended as a single film, the split prompted a lawsuit from the cast demanding payment for both films. ~ Keith Phipps, All Movie Guide

If you've never sampled the off-the-beam humor of British comic-giant Spike Milligan, by all means look up Adolf Hitler: My Part in His Downfall. Milligan stars as a long-in-tooth Army rookie, going through basic training in the early war years. "God smiles on the incompetent" seems to be the message here, as Milligan escapes certain death at several junctures thanks to his ingrained stupidity. Also appearing are Carry On stalwart Jim Dale and Dad's Army regular Arthur Lowe. Based on Milligan's own novel, Adolf Hitler: My Part in His Downfall was released worldwide by United Artists. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

In this pre-Monty Python parody of private-eye movies by Graham Chapman and John Cleese, someone has stolen nerve gas that paralyzes victims from the waist down. Now the bumbling boys at Rentadick, Inc. must find them before it is too late. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

A collection of English humor in the form of sketch film are provided on this film which was assisted by comedians Feldman and Chapman. ~ All Movie Guide

Comic actor Ronnie Barker starred in all six half-hour episodes of this British anthology series. The gimmick was that each installment was penned by a different comedy writer, among them The Goon Show's Spike Milligan, Monty Python's John Cleese, and Barker himself, writing pseudonymously as Gerald Wiley. One episode, "The Removal's Person," eventually matriculated into the weekly series Clarence -- nearly 17 years later. Six Dates With Barker was carried over London Weekend Television in 1971. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

The specter of atomic warfare raises its head once again in this bizarre 1969 black comedy, directed by Richard Lester and hatched from the mind of twisted British comic Spike Milligan. England lays in ruins after World War III, and a number of dazed survivors try to carry on as if nothing is wrong, even when one woman (Rita Tushingham) announces that she is seventeen months pregnant, and others begin to mutate into parrots, wardrobes, and bed-sitting rooms. The often slapstick comedy provides a surreal foreground for the bleak, devastated settings, portions of which were filmed in actual, environmentally blasted industrial areas in Wales. The comedy duo of Dudley Moore and Peter Cook appear as hapless government officials, while Marty Feldman makes his screen debut in a film that could best be described as England's answer to Dr. Strangelove. ~ Don Kaye, All Movie Guide

The TeleGoons was one of several efforts to transfer the classic British radio comedy series The Goon Show to television. In this instance, the original radio scripts were used, albeit trimmed from 30 to 15 minutes per episode, and three of the most stalwart "Goons" -- Spike Milligan (who wrote the show), Peter Sellers, and Harry Secombe -- lent their comic talents, or rather, their comic verbal talents, since only the actors' voices were used. The sketches were acted out with a troupe of puppets, all of whom bore a striking resemblance to the three aforementioned performers. All the familiar Goon characters, from Bluebottle to Eccles, were in attendance on the 26-episode The TeleGoons, which was shown on BBC1 from October 5, 1963 to August 1, 1964. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide