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	\| name = Splitting Heirs		\| name = Splitting Heirs

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	* {{Letterboxd film\|splitting-heirs}}		* {{Letterboxd film\|splitting-heirs}}
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	~~{{Robert Young}}~~

	[[Category:1993 films]]		[[Category:1993 films]]

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Added 1 {{Bare URL inline}} tag(s) using a script. For other recently-tagged pages with bare URLs, see Category:Articles with bare URLs for citations from August 2024

New page

{{short description|1993 film by Robert Young}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=September 2022}}
{{Infobox film
| name = Splitting Heirs
| image = Splitting Heirs.jpg
| caption = Theatrical release poster.
| director = [[Robert Young (director)|Robert Young]]
| producer = {{ubl|Simon Bosanquet|[[Redmond Morris]]}}
| writer = [[Eric Idle]]
| starring = {{plainlist|
* [[Rick Moranis]]
* Eric Idle
* [[Barbara Hershey]]
* [[Catherine Zeta-Jones]]
* [[John Cleese]]}}
| music = [[Michael Kamen]]
| cinematography = [[Tony Pierce-Roberts]]
| editing = [[John Jympson]]
| studio = Prominent Features
| distributor = {{ubl|[[United International Pictures|UIP]] (UK/International)|[[Universal Pictures]] (US/Canada)}}
| released = {{Film date|df=y|1993|04|02|UK|1993|04|30|US}}
| runtime = 87 minutes
| country = United Kingdom
| language = English
| budget =
| gross = $5 million (US/UK)
}}

'''''Splitting Heirs''''' is a 1993 British [[black comedy]] film directed by [[Robert Young (director)|Robert Young]] and starring [[Eric Idle]], [[Rick Moranis]], [[Barbara Hershey]], [[Catherine Zeta-Jones]], [[John Cleese]] and [[Sadie Frost]]. It features music by [[Michael Kamen]]. It was entered in the [[1993 Cannes Film Festival]].<ref name="festival-cannes.com">{{cite web |title=Festival de Cannes: Splitting Heirs |url=http://www.festival-cannes.com/en/archives/ficheFilm/id/2584/year/1993.html |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110916100927/http://www.festival-cannes.com/en/archives/ficheFilm/id/2584/year/1993.html |archive-date=September 16, 2011 |accessdate=22 August 2009 |work=festival-cannes.com}}</ref>

==Plot==
The film centers on the [[aristocracy|aristocratic]] family of the Dukes of Bournemouth, upon which misfortune has fallen throughout history, leading its members to believe that the family is cursed. The most recent heir, Thomas Henry Butterfly Rainbow Peace, was left in a restaurant as an infant in the 1960s; by the time his parents remembered him, he had disappeared. Meanwhile, in the 1990s Tommy Patel has grown up in an Asian/Indian family in [[Southall]], never doubting his ethnicity despite being taller than anyone else in the house, fair-haired, blue-eyed, light-skinned—and not liking curry. From the family corner shop he commutes to the City where he works for the Bournemouth family's stockbroking firm, handling multimillion-pound deals.

Tommy is given the job of acting as host to the visiting American representative of the firm, Henry Bullock, who turns out to be the son of the head of the firm, the present Duke. They become friends and the friendship survives Henry becoming the new Duke when his father dies. Circumstantial evidence shows that the true Bournemouth heir is actually Tommy; we see a series of family portraits each of which captures something of Tommy's facial characteristics, and his Indian mother tells him the story of his adoption. He consults the lawyer who dealt with his adoption, Raoul P. Shadgrind, who says Tommy has no hope of proving his claim, but plants the idea of him obtaining his rightful place in the family by getting Henry out of the way; Shadgrind himself then engineers a variety of 'accidents' in the belief that he will share in the spoils as Tommy's partner. Love interest is provided by Tommy's and Henry's (shared at the same time) lover, later the new Duchess and their (shared at different times) mother, the dowager Duchess. The final resolution of everyone's doubts and misconceptions leaves everyone living "happily ever after – "well, for a bit, at least..."

==Cast==

{{Cast listing|
* [[Rick Moranis]] as Henry
* [[Eric Idle]] as Tommy
* [[Barbara Hershey]] as Duchess Lucinda
* [[Catherine Zeta-Jones]] as Kitty
* [[John Cleese]] as Shadgrind
* [[Sadie Frost]] as Angela
* [[Stratford Johns]] as Butler
* [[Brenda Bruce]] as Mrs. Bullock
* [[William Franklyn]] as Andrews
* Charubala Chokshi as Mrs. Patel
* [[Jeremy Clyde]] as 14th Duke
* Richard Huw as Brittle
* [[Eric Sykes]] as Jobson the Doorman
* Bridget McConnel as Nanny
}}

==Reception==
The film received negative reviews. [[Vincent Canby]] of ''[[The New York Times]]'' praised the film, calling it "a genial entertainment in the [[Monty Python]] tradition, a series of madly illogical sequences that even include something a screen card identifies as 'Hindu Dream Sequence.'"<ref>{{cite web |last=Canby |first=Vincent |date=1 May 1993 |title=Review/Film; Trying to Kill One's Way To a Title |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1993/05/01/movies/review-film-trying-to-kill-one-s-way-to-a-title.html |accessdate=6 September 2013 |work=[[The New York Times]]}}</ref>

Dave Kehr of the ''[[Chicago Tribune]]'' wrote, "As farce, the film never acquires the necessary speed or cleverness. A cruelly protracted scene in which a bucknaked Idle is forced to hide in Jones' closet when Moranis comes calling gives you plenty of time to wonder whether the [[Nautilus (fictional submarine)|Nautilus]] franchise is still available for England."<ref>{{cite web |last=Kehr |first=Dave |date=30 April 1993 |title='Splitting Heirs' Has An Air Of Desperation About It |url=http://articles.chicagotribune.com/1993-04-30/entertainment/9304300585_1_splitting-heirs-restaurant-cook-director-robert-young |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171016175626/http://articles.chicagotribune.com/1993-04-30/entertainment/9304300585_1_splitting-heirs-restaurant-cook-director-robert-young |archive-date=October 16, 2017 |accessdate=6 September 2013 |work=[[Chicago Tribune]]}}</ref> In the ''[[Deseret News]]'', Chris Hicks described the film as "sleazy" and "desperate".<ref>{{cite web |author=Hicks |first=Chris |date=9 May 1993 |title=Film review: Splitting Heirs |url=https://www.deseret.com/1993/5/9/20088694/film-review-splitting-heirs |accessdate=6 September 2013 |work=[[Deseret News]]}}</ref>

Michael Wilmington of the ''[[Los Angeles Times]]'' said, "All the actors are fun to watch, particularly Moranis, who's playing a little swiftie this time, instead of one of his usual nerds. But the only really withering comic turn is supplied by Cleese, as Shadgrind the lawyer."<ref name=":0">{{cite web |last=Wilmington |first=Michael |date=1 May 1993 |title=MOVIE REVIEW : Idle's 'Splitting Heirs' Is Funny Despite Its Limits |url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1993-05-01-ca-29623-story.html |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151208212539/https://articles.latimes.com/1993-05-01/entertainment/ca-29623_1_idle-movies-splitting |archive-date=December 8, 2015 |access-date=6 September 2013 |work=[[Los Angeles Times]]}}</ref> Wilmington concluded though the film has laughs, "it doesn't have the brilliance of the old Pythons. It doesn't pulse, rage, knock your socks off."<ref name=":0" />

[[Roger Ebert]] of the ''[[Chicago Sun-Times]]'' gave the film a mixed review, believing much of the humor would be lost on American audiences.<ref name=":1">{{cite web |last=Ebert |first=Roger |date=30 April 1993 |title=Splitting Heirs Movie Review & Film Summary (1993) |url=https://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/splitting-heirs-1993 |accessdate=6 September 2013 |website=RogerEbert.com}}</ref> Though he said Hershey's performance was the film's highlight, he stated Idle and Moranis were miscast and should have switched roles.<ref name=":1" />

[[Rotten Tomatoes]] gives the film a rating of 7% from 14 reviews.<ref>https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/splitting_heirs {{Bare URL inline|date=August 2024}}</ref>

===Box office===
The film grossed £1.3 million ($1.9 million) in the United Kingdom.<ref>{{cite magazine|magazine=[[Screen International]]|date=14 January 1994|page=50|title=UK films and co-productions}}</ref> It performed poorly in the United States and Canada with a gross of just $3.2 million.<ref>{{cite news |date=May 4, 1993 |title=Weekend Box Office : 'Proposal' Still Doing Indecent Business |work=[[Los Angeles Times]] |url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1993-05-04-ca-30744-story.html |access-date=14 July 2012}}</ref><ref>{{Mojo title|splittingheirs}}</ref>

==Home media==
The film has been released on VHS in the United States and Britain. A [[DVD region code#1|Region 1]] DVD has been released in the United States, and a [[Nordic countries|Nordic]] edition [[DVD region code#2|Region 2]] DVD was released in 2010.<ref>{{Cite web |title=En arving for mye |url=http://cdon.no/film/en_arving_for_mye-11717151 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160312215915/http://cdon.no/film/en_arving_for_mye-11717151 |archive-date=2016-03-12 |website=cdon.no}}</ref> A Blu-ray was released through Mill Creek Entertainment on 19 October 2021.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Splitting Heirs – Retro VHS|url=https://www.millcreekent.com/products/splitting-heirs|access-date=18 November 2021|website=Mill Creek Entertainment|language=en}}</ref>

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==External links==
* {{IMDb title|id=0108207|title=Splitting Heirs}}
* {{TCMDb title|id=91109|title=Splitting Heirs}}
* {{Rotten Tomatoes}}
* {{Letterboxd film|splitting-heirs}}
* {{AllMovie title|46158|Splitting Heirs}}

{{Robert Young}}

[[Category:1993 films]]
[[Category:1993 black comedy films]]
[[Category:1990s sex comedy films]]
[[Category:1990s comedy thriller films]]
[[Category:British black comedy films]]
[[Category:British sex comedy films]]
[[Category:Films about murder]]
[[Category:Films about royalty]]
[[Category:Films set in the 1960s]]
[[Category:Films set in the 1990s]]
[[Category:Films with screenplays by Eric Idle]]
[[Category:Films directed by Robert Young]]
[[Category:Universal Pictures films]]
[[Category:Films scored by Michael Kamen]]
[[Category:1990s English-language films]]
[[Category:1990s British films]]

Splitting Heirs - Revision history

Kurt at 17:09, 2 September 2024

Kurt: /* External links */

Kurt: 1 revision imported

en>Qwerfjkl: Added 1 {{Bare URL inline}} tag(s) using a script. For other recently-tagged pages with bare URLs, see :Category:Articles with bare URLs for citations from August 2024