Hugh Paddick Movies
- 1990
A genial spoof of the Indiana Jones film series, the weekly British children's program Jackson Pace: The Great Years focused on a teenaged explorer-adventurer. Keith Allen starred as Jackson Pace, whose exploits took him all over the world and brought him in contact with a colorful array of beautiful ladies and sinister villains. Nothing, of course, was meant to be taken seriously -- nor could it have been, given the series' meager budget and modest production values. Written by veteran teen-show scrivener Daniel Peacock (who also played a key supporting role), Jackson Pace: The Great Years was originally telecast from October 11 to November 15, 1990. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Keith Allen, Daniel Peacock, (more)
- 1987
Surviving an assassination attempt, the Prince Regent (Hugh Laurie) concludes that he'd be more popular if learned to give decent speeches to the masses. To that end, the Prince hires a pair of noted thespians, Keanrick (Hugh Paddick) and Mossop (Kenneth Connor), to give him elocution lessons. But Edmund Blackadder (Rowan Atkinson) and Baldrick (Tony Atkinson) have reason to suspect that the two actors are really anarchists. "Sense and Senility" was first telecast on October 8, 1987. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Rowan Atkinson, Tony Robinson, (more)
- 1974
Bill Fraser and Raymond Huntley star in the raucous British farce That's Your Funeral. Fraser and Huntley play Bullstrode and Holroyd, rival undertakers. The animosity between the two is amplified when drug traffickers attempt to use coffins and hearses to smuggle their wares. David Battley and John Ronane co-star in the sitcomish goings-on. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1971
- PG
The British farce Naughty Knights was originally shipped out as Up the Chastity Belt. Raucuous comedian Frankie Howerd, who laid waste to Roman history in the zany TV series Up Pompeii, is the star. The film's medieval adventures, involving a noble knight and his stupid serf, are punctuated by ample displays of female breasts, abdomens and thighs. As in Howerd's earlier projects, the supporting cast plays straight while the star makes snide, anachronistic comments directly at audience. This soft-core nonsense is perhaps best appreciated by fans of Frankie Howard; his suprisingly stellar supporting cast includes Bill Fraser, Anna Quayle and Eartha Kitt. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1971
Actor Frankie Howerd reprises his role from the British TV series Up Pompeii, in the tradition of the hugely popular Carry On series. The rest of the cast comes from these two series as well. There is a plot to kill the Emperor Nero (Patrick Cargill), and his loyal slave Lurcio (Howard) unwittingly comes into possession of a scroll which lists the names of the plotters. While he remains in the dark about it, both Nero's men and the original assassins pursue Lurcio, with many zany antics, through the streets (and orgies) of ancient Rome. Much of the humor comes in asides directed to the audience. ~ Clarke Fountain, All Movie Guide
- 1969
The genesis of the British sitcom Wink to Me Only was "View by Appointment," an episode of the BBC anthology Comedy Playhouse. Hugh Paddick and Beryl Reid starred as long-married couple Sydney and Rene Jelliot. To say that the Jelliots were "weird" was an understatement, but they were no weirder than the surreal story lines which distinguished the series. Six half-hour episodes of Wink to Me Only were telecast from June 11 to July 16, 1969. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Hugh Paddick, Beryl Reid, (more)
A year after helming The Dirty Dozen, director Robert Aldrich took on this controversial drama based on the play of the same name by Frank Marcus. Beryl Reid stars as soap opera star June, an alcoholic lesbian who spends most of her time with her younger lover, Alice (Susannah York). When vindictive television executive Mercy Croft (Coral Browne) takes a liking to Alice, she arranges to have June's character, Sister George, killed off the show. Drunk and paranoid, June struggles to keep it together or risk losing Alice. Because of its exploration of a subject as taboo as homosexuality, The Killing of Sister George earned an X rating. ~ Matthew Tobey, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Beryl Reid, Susannah York, (more)
- 1965
In this British comedy, a group of aged travelers on vacation in France have many fun encounters. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- 1964
The innocuous title We Shall See obscures the fact that this British melodrama is perhaps the earliest "killer bee" effort. The film gets under way when Alva Collins (Faith Brook), the mentally unbalanced wife of airline pilot Evan Collins (Maurice Kaufmann), is subjected to the stings of thousands of bees. Whoever was responsible for this knew full well that Alva was allergic to the tiny scourges, thus suspicion immediately falls upon her husband. After this lively opening, the film settles down to business as Scotland Yard searches for the bee-happy assailant. We Shall See was one of several 1960s British programmers produced by Merton Park Productions and based on the works of suspense novelist Edgar Wallace. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
In the British farce School for Scoundrels, Ian Carmichael plays a naïve young loser, Henry Palfrey, who is anxious to get ahead in the world. He enrolls in a "school" that specializes in teaching one-upmanship -- the slogan is "How to win without actually cheating." Through fair means and foul, Henry learns how to come out top dog in any situation, with such experts as (the real-life) Stephen Potter (Alastair Sim) as his guide. A perceptive series of comic blackouts exposing the essential hypocrisy in all walks of life, School for Scoundrels was based on the book by Potter. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Ian Carmichael, Terry-Thomas, (more)
