Peter Cook Movies
Cambridge-educated Peter Cook was, along with Dudley Moore, David Frost and Jonathan Miller, one of the founders of the irreverent British comedy troupe "Beyond the Fringe." When the group came to Broadway (an event celebrated on a near-nightly basis on such TV programs as The Jack Paar Program and The Ed Sullivan Show), Cook shared a Tony award with his fellow Fringers. Together with longtime collaborator Dudley Moore, Cook split off into a two-man act. The towering Cook and diminutive Moore co-starred in such cheeky British comedies as The Wrong Box (1968) and The Hound of the Baskervilles (1968), usually writing all their own material. The best of their filmic collaborations was Bedazzled, a breezily sacrilegious update of the "Faust" legend. While they remained friends, Cook and Moore eventually decided that they'd fare better as "singles." Cook continued to write for and appear in such films as Supergirl (1984), The Princess Bride (1986) and Great Balls of Fire (1989), and also co-starred with Mimi Kennedy on the 1981 American TV sitcom The Two of Us. Peter Cook died of a gastrointestinal hemorrhage at the age of 57. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
Falling somewhere between the Beyond the Fringe school and the Monty Python league, Bedazzled is an irreverent Faust take-off, written by and starring Peter Cook and Dudley Moore (Moore also composed the music). Moore plays a short-order cook at a London Wimpyburger restaurant, who falls hopelessly in love with waitress Eleanor Bron. About to commit suicide, the broken-hearted Moore is approached by Satan (Peter Cook). The Fallen Angel offers to purchase Moore's soul in exchange for seven wishes--the first of which is squandered when Satan buys Moore an ice cream bar (something over which the two stars quarrel throughout the film). Enticed by living personifications of the Deadly Sins--Raquel Welch, wearing next to nothing, is "Lillian Lust"--Moore allows Satan to grant him his heart's desire, utilizing the magic words, "Julie Andrews!" But with each wish, Satan, being Satan, can't help but gum up the works with a double-cross. The desperate Moore ultimately wishes to be allowed to spend the rest of his life with Eleanor in an environment with no other men--whereupon Satan transforms both Eleanor and Moore into nuns! Finally Satan has a change of heart, allowing Moore and Eleanor to fall in love in more orthodox surroundings and permitting Moore to regain his soul. Satan hopes that God will appreciate this good deed and allow him to re-enter Heaven. But God doesn't buy this; He's satisfied with Satan remaining mankind's "necessary evil". ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Peter Cook, Dudley Moore, (more)
- 1966
You've seen the Disney classic, now experience the tale of Alice in Wonderland as never before in this live-action adaptation of the timeless tale from the BBC and director Jonathan Miller. Capturing all of the menace and wonder of Lewis Carroll's age-old classic while injecting the story with a pinch of subversive Victorian gothic satire, this surreal updating of the children's fantasy classic features an all-star cast including Sir Michael Redgrave, Sir John Gielgud, Leo McKern, Peter Cook, Peter Sellers, and Alan Bennett. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Anne-Marie Mallik
- 1966
Years before the story proper in The Wrong Box gets under way, a "tontine" is drawn up on behalf several young British boys. Each of the boys' parents had placed 1000 pounds in a pool, to be invested and expanded upon. The resultant fortune will go to the last surving member of the tontine. A series of montages depicts the various demises of the heirs (our favorite occurs when one of them is inadvertently beheaded while being knighted by Queen Victoria). Finally, only two of the tontine participants are left: aged brothers Ralph Richardson and John Mills. On his last legs, Mills is determined that Richardson will not outlive him, and to that end attempts to kill his brother; each attempt fails spectacularly, with the doddering Richardson none the wiser. Standing to benefit from the tontine are Mills' dimwitted med-student son Michael Caine and Richardson's greedy nephews Peter Cook and Dudley Moore. When Richardson is supposedly killed in a train wreck, Cook and Moore don't want the authorities to find out, so they appropriate what they think is their uncle's corpse and ship it home in a box. Thus it is that Caine finds the body of a perfect stranger on his doorstep. The farcical complications begin flying about thick and fast from this point onward. Among the participants in this wacky gigglefest are such formidable talents as Peter Sellers, Tony Hancock, Wilfred Lawson, Thorley Walters, Norman Rossington, Irene Handl and Cicely Courtenedge. Based on a novel by Robert Louis Stevenson, The Wrong Box is a delightful harkback to the glory days of Britain's Ealing comedies. We were so wrapped up in the story that we didn't even notice all those TV antennae sprouting up on the rooftops of Victorian London. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- John Mills, Ralph Richardson, (more)
During the 1960s, comic actors Peter Cook, Dudley Moore, Alan Bennett, and Jonathan Miller created the stage show Beyond the Fringe. Decades after the end of the show's successful run, a filmed record of the production was discovered. Originally recorded for television broadcast, this particular edition of the show offers footage that was not aired during the premiere broadcast. Included are the classic skits "Man Bites God," "One Leg Too Few," and "Aftermyth of War." ~ Perry Seibert, All Movie Guide
