Category Archives: British Slapstick

1964, British Slapstick, Comedy, Kanopy streaming, Slapstick

A Shot in the Dark (1964)

From KANOPY:

Peter Sellers returns as the hapless Inspector Clouseau in this hysterical comedy which introduces Herbert Lom as the long-suffering Dreyfus, and Burt Kwouk as Cato. Mistakenly assigned to a high-profile case, Clouseau finds himself falling for the prime suspect — a beautiful maid named Maria (Elke Sommer), whose talent for being in the wrong place at the wrong time rivals Clouseau’s. But as the body count grows higher, Clouseau must find the real culprit quickly, or his career will be finit!

From Kanopy you can stream this 1 hour 42 minute old classic British comedy.

Recently, I reviewed a 2006 remake of this film called “The Pink Panther” starring Steve Martin.  In comparing the new version with the old 1964 version starring Peter Sellers,  my personal belly laugh count was a bit higher with the newer version.

Try both,  the plots of each film differ from one another.

2007, Acceptable for teenagers, Accidental Death, Amazon Prime, Amusing banter, Bathroom Humor, Blackmail, British Comedy, British Slapstick, Coarse manners, Comedy, Drug trip, Eccentric cast of characters, Embarrassing episodes, Exaggeration Comedy, Father-daughter relations, Gay theme, Good Brother - Bad Brother, Jealousy, Mother-son relations, Nudity, Often downright silly, Romance, Satire, Uncategorized

Death at a Funeral (2007)

From Amazon Prime:

As the mourners at a British country manor struggle valiantly to “keep a stiff upper lip,” a dignified funeral devolves into a hilarious, no-holds barred debacle of misplaced cadavers, indecent exposure, and shocking family secrets. This classic farce blows the lid off the proverbial coffin as “the film’s delicious comic flourishes are served up by an outstanding cast” 

From Amazon Prime you can stream this 1.5 hour comedy film.

Although there is an American 2010 all-Black version of this film, the Amazon version is the British 2007 all-White version.

British slapstick is not for everyone. For example, there is at least one  outlandish scene (this one involving human excrement) that could seem distasteful.   Nor is it certain that the treatment of a gay theme from 15 years ago would be  completely acceptable in 2022. These days the extensive nudity will probably not raise an eyebrow.

Among the British actors that might seem familiar, there are:

  • Matthew Macfadyen (Howard’s End, MI-5) as the grieving son Daniel.
  • Peter Dinklage (the dwarf actor in Game of Thrones) as  Peter, who claims to be the lover of the deceased father.
  • Alan Tudyk (Arrested Development) as Simon, who spends most of the time in a drug-induced haze.
  • Rupert Graves (Inspector Lestrade in Sherlock ) as Robert.
  • Peter Vaughan (Maester Aemon in Game of Thrones ) as Uncle Alfie, who spends most of the time on the toilet.
  • Peter Egan ( Martin Hughes in Unforgotten) as Victor.

Possibly not as funny as Monty Python.

 

Amazon Prime, Amazon Prime Brit Box, British Slapstick, Netflix Streaming

Rowan Atkinson

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From IMDB:

Rowan Sebastian Atkinson was born on 6 January, 1955, in Consett, Co. Durham, UK, to Ella May (Bainbridge) and Eric Atkinson. His father owned a farm, where Rowan grew up with his two older brothers, Rupert and Rodney. He attended Newcastle University and Oxford University where he earned degrees in electrical engineering. During that time, he met screenwriter Richard Curtis, with whom he wrote and performed comedy revues

Here we list whatever free streamable non-animated Rowan Atkinson comedies we could find. Many streaming sources charge a fee to download some of these comedies.

  • “Mr. Bean” (1992) from Amazon.
  • “Mr. Bean in Handy Bean” (2018) from Amazon.
  • “Dead on Time” (1983) from Amazon.
  • “Johnny English Reborn” (2011) from Netflix.
  • “Johnny English” (2003) from Netflix.
  • “Black Adder Season One” (1983) from Amazon.
  • “Black Adder Season Two” (1986) from Amazon.
  • “Black Adder Season Three” (1987) from Amazon.
  • “Black Adder Season Four” (1989) from Amazon.
  • “Black Adder Special” (1988) from Amazon Brit Box.
  • “Black Adder Goes Fourth” (1989) from Amazon Brit Box.
  • “The Thin Blue Line Season One” (1995) from Amazon.
  • “The Thin Blue Line Season Two” (1996) from Amazon.

That should keep you busy laughing.

1995, Amazon Prime, British Slapstick

Mister Bean (1995)

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From Amazon Prime:

Life is a difficult challenge for Mr Bean, who despite being a grown adult, has trouble completing even the simplest of tasks. Thankfully, his perseverance is usually rewarded, and he finds an ingenious way around the problem. British sitcom created by Rowan Atkinson and Richard Curtis, and starring Atkinson as the title character.

From Amazon you can stream 14 episodes of season 1 of this British comedy TV series. Each episode lasts about 25 minutes.

Rowan Atkinson is a master of British slapstick comedy. Each episode contains 3 skits. If you are a fan of this type of comedy, I can almost guarantee you will have quite a few belly laughs.

2011, Acceptable for teenagers, British Slapstick, Comedy, Conspiracy, Eccentric Detective, Lot's of Fun, MI5, Netflix Streaming

Johnny English Reborn (2011)

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From IMDB:

Johnny English goes up against international assassins hunting down Chinese Premier Xiang Ping.

From Netflix you can stream this 1 hour 41 minute British slapstick film.

If you enjoy British slapstick or have ever seen a Johnny English film and have not yet seen the Reborn version then you are in for a treat. Granted that slapstick is not everyone’s cup of tea, but yours truly howled with laughter throughout the film.

In good slapstick timing is everything. In many instances you can see what is coming which sometimes adds to the humor (or should I say “humour”).  Cast of characters include:

  • Mister Bean or should I say Rowan Atkinson as Johnny.
  • Gillian Anderson (of X-Files fame) as Pamela.
  • Dominic West as the perfidious Simon Ambrose. Mr. West has an impressively long resumé.
  • Pik Sen Lim (Who?  In fact she played in “Doctor Who”) as the cleaning lady assassin or Killer Cleaner.  Her resumé is also immense. You probably have seen her in one of her many roles even though just as probably no one knows her name.
  • Queen Elizabeth.

Even though I may have seen it somewhere in the dim past (is 2011 really that long ago?),  the second viewing was just as much fun.