Kurt at 13:56, 3 February 2023

2023-02-03T13:56:26Z

← Older revision		Revision as of 08:56, 3 February 2023
Line 1:		Line 1:
	~~{{Use dmy dates\|date=March 2016}}~~
	{{Infobox film		{{Infobox film
	\| name = What a Whopper		\| name = What a Whopper
	\| image = "~~What_a_Whopper~~".jpg		\| image = "What a Whopper".jpg
	\| caption = Theatrical release poster		\| caption = Theatrical release poster
	\| director = [[Gilbert Gunn]]		\| director = [[Gilbert Gunn]]
Line 69:		Line 68:
	==External links==		==External links==
	*{{IMDb title\|0055615}}		*{{IMDb title\|0055615}}

	~~{{Gilbert Gunn}}~~

	[[Category:1961 films]]		[[Category:1961 films]]

Kurt: 1 revision imported

2022-09-04T18:29:03Z

1 revision imported

← Older revision	Revision as of 13:29, 4 September 2022
(No difference)

en>Ser Amantio di Nicolao: /* External links */add Category:1960s British films

2022-09-04T17:20:19Z

External links: add Category:1960s British films

New page

{{Use dmy dates|date=March 2016}}
{{Infobox film
| name = What a Whopper
| image = "What_a_Whopper".jpg
| caption = Theatrical release poster
| director = [[Gilbert Gunn]]
| producer = Edward Joseph
| writer = [[Terry Nation]]
| narrator =
| starring = [[Adam Faith]]<br />[[Sid James]]<br />[[Carole Lesley]]
| music = [[Laurie Johnson]]
| cinematography = [[Reginald H. Wyer]]
| editing = [[Bernard Gribble]]
| distributor = Regal Films International
| released = {{Film date|1961|10|17|df=y}}
| runtime = 90 minutes
| country = United Kingdom
| language = English
| budget =
}}

'''''What a Whopper''''' is a 1961 British [[comedy film]] directed by [[Gilbert Gunn]]. It was written by [[Terry Nation]], from a story by [[Jeremy Lloyd]] and [[Trevor Peacock]]. Pop singer [[Adam Faith]] stars as a writer who travels with some friends to Scotland to fake a sighting of the [[Loch Ness Monster]].

The cast includes [[Wilfrid Brambell]] as a local postman, [[Sid James]], [[Charles Hawtrey (actor, born 1914)|Charles Hawtrey]] and [[Terry Scott]]. The TV reporter [[Fyfe Robertson]] appears briefly as himself, covering the alleged sightings of the monster.

==Plot==
Struggling young writer Tony Blake (Adam Faith) is served an eviction notice by Mr Slate ([[Clive Dunn]]) from his rented room in a Chelsea house shared with other artistic types including abstract "flicking" painter Arnold (Charles Hawtrey). Tony hatches a plan to drum up interest in his rejected book on the Loch Ness Monster by faking a sighting of the creature. He and his friend Vernon ([[Terence Longdon]]), who makes electronic music, construct a phony monster, which they photograph in [[the Serpentine]], startling a tramp ([[Spike Milligan]]). The two friends and Vernon's ditzy girlfriend Charlotte 'Charlie' Pinner ([[Carole Lesley]]) decide to visit Scotland to further their ruse. Driving in a second-hand Rolls Royce hearse, they pick up a young French hitchhiker, Marie ([[Marie-France (actress)|Marie-France]]), along the way. They are pursued by Charlie's dipsomaniac father ([[Freddie Frinton]]).

Tony and his friends arrive at a Loch Ness inn, whose landlord Harry Sutton (Sid James) is trying to conceal dozens of [[poaching|poached]] salmon from two local policemen ([[Gordon Rollings]] and Terry Scott). Tony befriends the local postman (Wilfred Brambell) and other locals, who become more convinced the monster is real when they hear a monstrous roar from a speaker secretly installed by Vernon. The next day, the inn is swarming with customers and the press, much to the delight of Sutton and the locals. However, the crowd's enthusiasm wanes when Tony is unable to produce a promised photo of the monster. In the midst of these events, Vernon and Charlie decide to get married, Marie falls for Tony, and the poached salmon are inadvertently loaded into a police car.

Tony and his friends secretly make another phony monster to photograph, only to discover that several locals, in an attempt to draw business and attention back to the area, had the same idea and made their own fake monsters. The locals also discover the hidden speaker Tony used to broadcast roars, and realize they were deceived all along. An angry mob chases Tony and Marie, who try to escape by rowing across the loch, only for the real monster to rise from the loch as the film ends.

==Cast==
{{Div col}}
* [[Adam Faith]] as Tony Blake
* [[Sid James]] as Harry Sutton
* [[Carole Lesley]] as Charlotte 'Charlie' Pinner
* [[Terence Longdon]] as Vernon
* [[Clive Dunn]] as Mr. Slate
* [[Freddie Frinton]] as Gilbert Pinner
* [[Marie-France (actress)|Marie-France]] as Marie
* [[Charles Hawtrey (actor, born 1914)|Charles Hawtrey]] as Arnold
* [[Spike Milligan]] as Tramp
* [[Wilfrid Brambell]] as Postman
* [[Fabia Drake]] as Mrs. Pinner
* [[Harold Berens]] as Sammy
* [[Ewan Roberts]] as Jimmy
* [[Archie Duncan (actor)|Archie Duncan]] as Macdonald
* [[Terry Scott]] as Sergeant
* Anna Gilcrist as Grace
* [[Gordon Rollings]] as Doone
* Bernard Hunter as Legree
* [[Lloyd Reckord]] as Jojo
* [[Lance Percival]] as Policeman at Roundabout
* [[Molly Weir]] as Teacher
* [[Fyfe Robertson]] as Commentator
* J. Stevenson Lang as Crofter
* Alistair Hunter as 1st Scot
* Allan Casley as 2nd Scot
* Frank Forsyth as 3rd Scot
{{Div col end}}

==Background==
Aspiring writer [[Jeremy Lloyd]] was working as a travelling salesman of rust-proof paint in the late 1950s when he wrote a story called 'What a Whopper' about a Cockney youth who runs tours to see the Loch Ness monster. After delivering paint near [[Pinewood Studios]], he pitched the script to studio chief [[Earl St John]], who bought it.<ref>{{cite web | last=Williamson | first=Marcus | title=Jeremy Lloyd: Actor and writer who teamed up with David Croft for two | website=The Independent | date=2014-12-25 | url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/obituaries/jeremy-lloyd-actor-and-writer-who-teamed-david-croft-two-comedy-classics-are-you-being-served-and-allo-allo-9945187.html | access-date=2021-06-16}}</ref> Songwriter and actor [[Trevor Peacock]] provided ideas for the story and has an uncredited cameo as a barrow-boy. The script was reworked by Terry Nation. It was the first full film screenplay by Nation, who had started out writing for Spike Milligan, who has a cameo. ''What a Whopper'' displayed some of the strengths and flaws that would feature in Nation's subsequent television serials. Among the positives were his "ornate verbosity" (such as the postman's flowery description of the monster) and his tendency to add new complications at every opportunity, whereas the negatives included loose ends never being tied up (such as Tony's book disappearing from the story), and overt borrowing (such as the modern art parody being influenced by the recently released [[Tony Hancock]] film ''[[The Rebel (1961 film)|The Rebel]]'').<ref name="Turner2013">{{cite book|author=Alwyn W. Turner|title=Terry Nation: The Man Who Invented the Daleks|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=kMEEAwAAQBAJ|date=1 April 2013|publisher=Aurum Press|isbn=978-1-84513-687-1}}</ref>

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==External links==
*{{IMDb title|0055615}}

{{Gilbert Gunn}}

[[Category:1961 films]]
[[Category:1961 comedy films]]
[[Category:Films directed by Gilbert Gunn]]
[[Category:Films shot at Pinewood Studios]]
[[Category:Loch Ness Monster in film]]
[[Category:Films scored by Laurie Johnson]]
[[Category:Films set in London]]
[[Category:Films set in Scotland]]
[[Category:British comedy films]]
[[Category:Films with screenplays by Terry Nation]]
[[Category:1960s English-language films]]
[[Category:1960s British films]]

What a Whopper - Revision history

Kurt at 13:56, 3 February 2023

Kurt: 1 revision imported

en>Ser Amantio di Nicolao: /* External links */add Category:1960s British films