Up the Chastity Belt (1971)

User Rating:

4.8/10   

Director:

Bob Kellett

Writers:

Sid Colin (writer)
Ray Galton (writer)

Genre:

Comedy

Tagline:

Frankie Howerd is the Funniest Knight of the Year!

Plot:

The Queen of England gives birth to twins. In order to protect the blood line one is kept and the other...

Plot Keywords:

Chastity Belt | King Richard I | Magnet | Sequel | Actor Playing Multiple Roles

Cast

Frankie Howerd	...	Lurkalot / Richard the Lionheart
Graham Crowden	...	Sir Coward de Custard
Bill Fraser	...	Sir Braggart de Bombast
Roy Hudd	...	Nick the Pick
Hugh Paddick	...	Robin Hood
Anna Quayle	...	Lady Ashfodel
Eartha Kitt	...	Scheherazade
Royce Mills	...	Knotweed
Anne Aston	...	Lobelia
Lance Percival	...	Reporter
Godfrey Winn	...	Archbishop of all England
Nora Swinburne	...	The Mistress of the Bed Chamber / Lady-in-Waiting
David Kernan	...	Troubador
Lally Bowers	...	The Voice (voice)
David Battley	...	Yokel

Also Known As:

Naughty Knights
The Chastity Belt (USA)

Runtime:

94 min

Country:

UK

Language:

English

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

UK:AA (original rating) | USA:PG | UK:PG

Filming Locations:

Elstree Film and TV Studios, Borehamwood, Hertfordshire, England, UK

Company:

Anglo-EMI

Quotes:

[Lurkalot is making up some potion in his Laboratory as he speaks to the naive, mentally deficient Knot Weed De Custard]
Knotweed: [pointing] What's that?
Lurkalot: That is my latest batch of home made Aphrodisiac.
Knotweed: Well. What's that?
Lurkalot: Aphrodisiac? Well it you know. Gets you going.
Knotweed: Going where?
Lurkalot: Look. This is for people you see who want to, but they can't. And they take some of this you see, and they can. Like Rattlesnakes.
Knotweed: Do What?
Lurkalot: [exasperated] Rattle.

Movie Connections:

Spin off from "Up Pompeii" (1969)

Soundtrack:

Troubadour's song

Dull spin off

A dull spin off of Up Pompei is what we get here Howerd plays Lurk-a-Lot (Get it?) in his usual persona (titter ye not etc.) which would be fine if the jokes weren't so predictable (men charging door with battering ram door being opened, men crashing through window etc.) and plain not funny in places. Up Pompei always worked best as a half hour blast the spin off film failing to maintain the gag count through feature length. This film suffers from being the left overs of what wasn't a great idea for a film in the first place.

The usual cast from the other Up... films (Up Pompei and Up the Front) put in appearances in this as well as a guest roll from Eartha Kitt but none really stand out as that good. I'm a big fan of classic British comedy but this is far from classic, if your looking for Howerd at his best then you have to look to his original TV series or in film one of the two Carry On's in which he appeared Doctor and Up The Jungle (not to be confused with this series of films it was a Carry On where Howerd presumably replaced the unavailable Kenneth Williams in a rare film of the series in which he doesn't appear).

Of the three Up..... films this is the weakest, watch the original TV series of Up Pompei and avoid this spin off even the biggest Howerd fans will i think struggle with this 4/10