Leofwine_draca RISING DAMP is another big screen adaptation of a popular British TV series from the 1970s. Inevitably this makes it feel like an extended version of a random episode from the show, or perhaps like watching three back-to-back. There are two main problems with this film: the first is that the best jokes have been copied from the TV series, and the second is that Richard Beckinsale had died, and Christopher Strauli is a poor imitator by comparison.That RISING DAMP is still funny lies in the talent of Leonard Rossiter to make his Rigsby such an engaging character, even though you'd hate him if any other actor played him. Rossiter's quick wits keep him a lively and entertaining presence, and his repartee with a spirited Don Warrington, although a little politically incorrect these days, is still highly amusing. Frances De La Tour carries on her tradition of being amusingly scatty, and Denholm Elliott appears in a sub-plot to draw in audiences. The end result is middling, but watchable for fans of British comedy.

wez croft To begin with, I'm a massive fan of Rising Damp on the small screen and I've watched every episode countless times. When I first saw the movie I was quite eager to see all the original cast reunited (except from Richard Beckinsale who died tragically, he was a great actor).If you are a big fan of the old TV episodes, then I would genuinely find absolutely nothing new here whatsoever. I was watching this movie with my jaw on the floor because I was stunned at how much of the scripts and scenes have been recycled from the TV series! Virtually everything that occurs in this movie is just re-done. I'm only glad that other writers of classic comedies didn't have this way of getting their shows on the big screen. Maybe if the writers thought of an original story instead of repeating old scripts word for word then this could have been so much better. Don't bother.

matthew-58 According to dai-tyler from Staffordshire, I am not qualified to comment on this film because I didn't see it the first time round. Well, I'm going to ignore that because I think dai is ignoring the fundamental criticism people are making of this film. We are not saying the television series wasn't brilliant, it was absolutely brilliant. We are not saying the performances of the actors are inadequate, they are certainly anything but. The fact is that this film is an almost complete rehash of the same jokes and scenes that were used in the TV series. I would rather watch the TV series any day. I can only assume from his comments that dai never saw the TV series that spawned the film, because the original vintage was so much better.Watching the film, I feel rather sorry for the great Leonard Rossiter and Frances de la Tour, as they really deserved more from this script than the same scenes they had played in the TV series. The best thing about the film is Denholm Elliott playing the part Henry McGee played in the TV series, only Elliott gives a more credible performance than McGee. Not for the first time in his acting career, nor the last, Elliott arrives in a supporting role and becomes the best reason to watch.

Oct "Rising Damp" is now generally regarded as the finest sitcom produced by ITV, the BBC's main commercial rival, during its 50 years on air. Granted, that is not a hard title to win. But the claustrophobic saga of a boarding house where a stingy, nervy, clumsily lecherous landlord, two students and a fluttery but oddly alluring spinster play out an endless round-dance of mutual attraction is one of the perennial, timeless joys of British TV.Like most hit comedies of the 1970s, "Rising Damp" earned a big-screen adaptation. The main cast stayed intact, except that Christopher Strauli subbed for the late Richard Beckinsale. Unfortunately Joe McGrath, a comedy specialist used to altogether broader material (Peter Cook and Dudley Moore, The Goons) directed. Farce is played up at the expense of quieter and subtler pleasures. McGrath, who helmed "The Magic Christian" and "The Great McGonagall", goes for a quick fire approach which Eric Chappell's screenplay-- like so many of these filmed sitcoms, it smells of three TV episodes scrambled together-- does not inhibit. Feeling one must open up the action and exploit a marginally larger budget, Chappell lets the film slip away too much from the house. To aficionados, even seeing the back garden and the street are a little shocking. However, scenes in pubs and restaurants echo the original, and the chief pleasure, Leonard Rossiter as Rupert Rigsby, is undimmed. Some well-loved schticks, such as Rigsby blowing in Miss Jones's ear after being told it's an erogenous zone, are reprised.Rossiter broke the rules of modern screen acting. He mugged, twitched, grimaced, muttered semi-audibly and shamelessly hogged the camera, instead of underplaying stone-facedly and letting his confreres share the work. Yet he gets away with it every time, simply because Rigsby is a towering character in the great tradition of British "downer" comedy: the frustrated middle-aged male fantasist who is not quite up to living in the real world. That line began with Will Hay and ran through Hancock, Harold Steptoe, Captain Mainwaring and Basil Fawlty to Rigsby, with Derek Trotter and Victor Meldrew to come.Guest star Denholm Elliott is a smooth ex-RAF conman after the gorgeous Miss Jones's modest savings. He may seem like another cinematic concession, but he is not unlike Peter Bowles's theatrical charmer of a lodger in the series. Elliott's underplaying is in fitting and masterful contrast to the spluttering sycophantic Rigsby. Don Warrington, the black student "chief's son with ten wives" patronised and envied by Rigsby, is gloriously suave, though victim of a disconcerting plot twist at the end.This potted version is not the best of its breed, but for condensing Rossiter's tour de force it is worth catching.