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	The exterior action takes place in a number of recognisable London locations: the area around [[Portobello Road]] street market in Notting Hill; a [[houseboat]] colony near [[Cheyne Walk]] in Chelsea; [[Bowater House]] in Knightsbridge; the [[Playboy Club]] in [[Park Lane]]; and the old [[Unilever]] milk depot in [[Wood Lane]]. A wide range of period British vehicles is featured: Otley drives an [[Jaguar E-Type\|E-Type Jaguar]], a [[Ford Anglia]] and an early 1960s passenger coach, and his disastrous driving test, which turns into an epic car chase, involves a driving-school [[Vauxhall Viva]] and a [[Ford Zephyr]].		The exterior action takes place in a number of recognisable London locations: the area around [[Portobello Road]] street market in Notting Hill; a [[houseboat]] colony near [[Cheyne Walk]] in Chelsea; [[Bowater House]] in Knightsbridge; the [[Playboy Club]] in [[Park Lane]]; and the old [[Unilever]] milk depot in [[Wood Lane]]. A wide range of period British vehicles is featured: Otley drives an [[Jaguar E-Type\|E-Type Jaguar]], a [[Ford Anglia]] and an early 1960s passenger coach, and his disastrous driving test, which turns into an epic car chase, involves a driving-school [[Vauxhall Viva]] and a [[Ford Zephyr]].

	The film, whose interiors were shot at [[Shepperton Studios]], marked the directorial debut of [[Dick Clement]]. He and [[Ian La Frenais]], famous at the time for writing ''[[The Likely Lads]]'', wrote the script.~~{{citation needed\|date=November 2020}}~~		The film, whose interiors were shot at [[Shepperton Studios]], marked the directorial debut of [[Dick Clement]]. He and [[Ian La Frenais]], famous at the time for writing ''[[The Likely Lads]]'', wrote the script.

	[[Don Partridge]] co-wrote and performed the title music, "Homeless Bones", which was also released as the B-side of his single "Colour My World" (1969).~~{{citation needed\|date=November 2020}}~~		[[Don Partridge]] co-wrote and performed the title music, "Homeless Bones", which was also released as the B-side of his single "Colour My World" (1969).

	==Awards==		==Awards==

Kurt at 01:23, 17 February 2023

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	~~{{Use dmy dates\|date=April 2016}}~~
	~~{{Use British English\|date=April 2016}}~~
	{{Infobox film		{{Infobox film
	~~\| name = Otley~~		\| image = Otley (1969_film).jpg
	\| image = ~~Otley_~~(1969_film).jpg
	\| caption = British theatrical poster		\| caption = British theatrical poster
	\| director = [[Dick Clement]]		\| director = [[Dick Clement]]

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External links

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	[[Category:1960s English-language films]]		[[Category:1960s English-language films]]
	[[Category:1960s British films]]		[[Category:1960s British films]]
			[[Category:British comedy films]]

Kurt: 1 revision imported

2023-01-25T20:20:38Z

1 revision imported

← Older revision	Revision as of 15:20, 25 January 2023
(No difference)

en>Sc2353: removed Category:British spy films; added Category:British spy comedy films using HotCat

2022-11-13T23:55:07Z

removed Category:British spy films; added Category:British spy comedy films using HotCat

New page

{{Use dmy dates|date=April 2016}}
{{Use British English|date=April 2016}}
{{Infobox film
| name = Otley
| image = Otley_(1969_film).jpg
| caption = British theatrical poster
| director = [[Dick Clement]]
| producer = Bruce Cohn Curtis
| writer = [[Ian La Frenais]]<br>Dick Clement
| based_on = the novel ''Otley'' by [[Martin Waddell]]
| starring = [[Tom Courtenay]]<br>[[Romy Schneider]]
| music = [[Stanley Myers]]
| cinematography = Austin Dempster
| editing = [[Richard Best (film editor)|Richard Best]]
| studio = Highroad Productions<br>Bruce Cohn Curtis Films, Ltd.
| distributor = [[Columbia Pictures]]
| released = {{film date|df=y|1969|5|22|UK}}{{film date|1969|3|11|NYC}}
| runtime = 91 minutes
| country = United Kingdom
| language = English
}}

'''''Otley''''' is a 1968 British [[comedy film|comedy]] [[thriller film]], starring [[Tom Courtenay]] and [[Romy Schneider]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.bfi.org.uk/films-tv-people/4ce2b6b25ac56|title=Otley (1968)|publisher=BFI}}</ref> It was adapted by [[Dick Clement]] and [[Ian La Frenais]] from a book by [[Martin Waddell]], and released by [[Columbia Pictures]].<ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=FszeCwAAQBAJ&q=otley+1968+denis+gifford&pg=PT1060|title=British Film Catalogue: Two Volume Set - The Fiction Film/The Non-Fiction Film|first=Denis|last=Gifford|date=1 April 2016|publisher=Routledge|isbn=9781317740629|via=Google Books}}</ref>

==Plot==
[[Tom Courtenay]] plays Gerald Arthur "Gerry" Otley, a charming but feckless young drifter who scrapes a living from selling antiques in trendy 1960s London. Gerry's responsibility-free life suddenly takes a serious turn, when he finds himself caught up in a round of murder, espionage and quadruple crossing. He is mistaken for a spy; is kidnapped and detained several times; and becomes romantically involved with a foreign agent ([[Romy Schneider]]) working for British Intelligence.

==Cast==
* [[Tom Courtenay]] .... Gerald Arthur Otley - "Gerry"
* [[Romy Schneider]] .... Imogen
* [[Alan Badel]] .... Sir Alec Hadrian
* [[James Villiers]] .... Hendrickson
* [[Leonard Rossiter]] .... Johnson
* [[Freddie Jones]] .... Philip Proudfoot
* [[Fiona Lewis]] .... Lin
* [[James Bolam]] .... Albert
* [[James Cossins]] .... Geffcock
* [[James Maxwell (actor)|James Maxwell]] .... Rollo
* [[Edward Hardwicke]] .... Lambert
* [[Ronald Lacey]] .... Curtis
* [[Phyllida Law]] .... Jean
* [[Geoffrey Bayldon]] .... Inspector Hewett
* [[Frank Middlemass]] .... Bruce (as Frank Middlemas)
* [[Barry Fantoni]] .... Larry

==Production==
The exterior action takes place in a number of recognisable London locations: the area around [[Portobello Road]] street market in Notting Hill; a [[houseboat]] colony near [[Cheyne Walk]] in Chelsea; [[Bowater House]] in Knightsbridge; the [[Playboy Club]] in [[Park Lane]]; and the old [[Unilever]] milk depot in [[Wood Lane]]. A wide range of period British vehicles is featured: Otley drives an [[Jaguar E-Type|E-Type Jaguar]], a [[Ford Anglia]] and an early 1960s passenger coach, and his disastrous driving test, which turns into an epic car chase, involves a driving-school [[Vauxhall Viva]] and a [[Ford Zephyr]].

The film, whose interiors were shot at [[Shepperton Studios]], marked the directorial debut of [[Dick Clement]]. He and [[Ian La Frenais]], famous at the time for writing ''[[The Likely Lads]]'', wrote the script.{{citation needed|date=November 2020}}

[[Don Partridge]] co-wrote and performed the title music, "Homeless Bones", which was also released as the B-side of his single "Colour My World" (1969).{{citation needed|date=November 2020}}

==Awards==
The film in 1970 won the [[Writers' Guild of Great Britain Award]] as ''Best British Comedy Screenplay''.<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0064775/awards?ref_=tt_awd |title=Awards |website=IMDb.com |access-date=2020-02-03}}</ref>

==Reception==
[[Vincent Canby]] of ''[[The New York Times]]'' wrote, "Like Otley, the movie is a bad risk. Everything in it is borrowed and badly used—actors (Tom Courtenay, Alan Badel), situations (the triumph of the fraudulent fool) and even settings, including a rather handsome Thames houseboat that reminded me wistfully of '[[The Horse's Mouth (film)|The Horse's Mouth]].' 'Otley' is the kind of movie that allows you to think about other movies, in those great gaps of time between the setting up of a gag and the moment when it is ritualistically executed."<ref>Canby, Vincent (12 March 1969). [https://www.nytimes.com/1969/03/12/archives/screen-otley-arrives-from-britaintom-courtenay-picture-opens-at.html "Screen: 'Otley' Arrives From Britain".] ''[[The New York Times]]''. 42.</ref> [[Gene Siskel]] of the ''[[Chicago Tribune]]'' wrote that the film was so boring it "could put [[Sominex]] out of business"<ref>Siskel, Gene (4 January 1970). "[https://www.newspapers.com/clip/38539518/ Last Year's 20 Biggest Bombs from Filmland]". ''[[Chicago Tribune]]''. Section 5, p. 1.</ref> and admitted to walking out on it, reporting, "I took the [[Chicago Transit Authority|CTA]] to see 'Otley' at the Coronet theater in [[Evanston, Illinois|Evanston]]. The film began at 6:15 p. m. I returned home on the 7 p. m. train."<ref>Siskel, Gene (26 November 1969). "[https://www.newspapers.com/clip/38539608/ Short Subjects]". ''[[Chicago Tribune]]''. Section 2, p. 5.</ref> ''[[Variety (magazine)|Variety]]'' wrote that "the film has an uneasy lack of a point of view and fails to focus viewer's attention on any particular character or plotline philosophy. The frantic, intentionally incoherent episodes are sometimes amusing, but too often suffer from unoriginality."<ref>"Film Reviews: Otley". ''[[Variety (magazine)|Variety]]''. 22 January 1969. 6, 24.</ref> [[Judith Crist]] described it as "a bright, breezy, light-handed but never lightheaded spies-and-counterspies story".<ref name="TVG NC">Crist, Judith. ''This Week's Movies''. TV Guide, North Carolina Edition, 9–15 December 1972, pg A-4</ref> Jack Ibberson of ''[[The Monthly Film Bulletin]]'' was also positive, calling it a "vastly entertaining comedy-thriller" with "uniformly excellent" performances.<ref>{{cite journal |last=Ibberson |first=Jack |date=July 1969 |title=Otley |journal=[[The Monthly Film Bulletin]] |volume=36 |issue=426 |page=142 }}</ref>

==References==
{{reflist}}

==External links==
* {{IMDb title|0064775|Otley}}

{{Clement and La Frenais}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Otley (Film)}}
[[Category:1969 films]]
[[Category:British comedy thriller films]]
[[Category:British spy comedy films]]
[[Category:Columbia Pictures films]]
[[Category:Films set in London]]
[[Category:Films shot in London]]
[[Category:1960s comedy thriller films]]
[[Category:1960s spy comedy films]]
[[Category:Films scored by Stanley Myers]]
[[Category:Films with screenplays by Dick Clement]]
[[Category:Films directed by Dick Clement]]
[[Category:Films with screenplays by Ian La Frenais]]
[[Category:1969 comedy films]]
[[Category:1960s English-language films]]
[[Category:1960s British films]]

Otley (film) - Revision history

Kurt: /* Production */

Kurt at 01:23, 17 February 2023

Kurt: /* External links */

Kurt: 1 revision imported

en>Sc2353: removed Category:British spy films; added Category:British spy comedy films using HotCat