Not Now, Comrade * (1976, Leslie Phillips, Roy Kinnear, June Whitfield, Windsor Davies, Don Estelle) – Classic Movie Review 13,198

The 1976 British farcical comedy film Not Now, Comrade stars Leslie Phillips, Roy Kinnear, June Whitfield, Windsor Davies, Michele Dotrice, Don Estelle and Ian Lavender. ‘Delightful comedy gem’ or ‘foolish farrago’?

A lovely cast is game for it but largely wasted in the fairly woeful farcical shenanigans taking place in this Ray Cooney scripted and co-directed comedy about a Russian ballet dancer called Rudi Petrovyan (Lewis Fiander) who defects to the West, hides out with stripper Barbara Wilcox (Carol Hawkins), and is hidden away at the country home of unsuspecting English naval commander Rimmington (Leslie Phillips).

Celebrated British farceurs pop up to surprisingly little effect in this loosely related sequel to Ray Cooney’s 1973 Not Now, Darling, though without them this would be next to nothing. Leslie Phillips, Roy Kinnear (the gardener), June Whitfield (Mrs Rimmington), Windsor Davies (the constable) and Don Estelle (Hargreaves) have the best of it, and make the best of it.

Ray Cooney’s script is based on his 1964 stage play Chase Me, Comrade, based, awkwardly you might say, on Rudolf Nureyev’s 1961 defection, as that was no laughing matter. It premiered in 1964 at the Theatre Royal, Windsor, and became a Whitehall farce, running 765 performances between 1964 and 1966.

Don Estelle sings Not Now’ (lyrics by Sammy Cahn, music by Walter Ridley).

Not as successful at the box office as its predecessor, it put an end to the series of Not Now films.

The cast are Leslie Phillips as Commander Rimmington, Roy Kinnear as Hoskins, Windsor Davies as Constable Pulford, Don Estelle as Bobby Hargreaves, Michele Dotrice as Nancy Rimmington, Ray Cooney as Mr Laver, June Whitfield as Janet Rimmington, Carol Hawkins as Barbara Wilcox, Lewis Fiander as Rudi Petrovyan, Ian Lavender as Gerry Buss, Richard Marner as 1st Russian official, and Michael Sharvell-Martin as 2nd Russian official.

© Derek Winnert 2024 – Classic Movie Review 13,198

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