Kurt: /* External links */

2023-01-24T22:39:17Z

External links

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	==External links==		==External links==
	*{{IMDb title\|0059929}}		*{{IMDb title\|0059929}}

	~~{{Michael Winner}}~~

	[[Category:1965 films]]		[[Category:1965 films]]

Kurt at 22:36, 24 January 2023

2023-01-24T22:36:36Z

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	{{short description\|1965 film by Michael Winner}}		{{short description\|1965 film by Michael Winner}}
	~~{{Use British English\|date=June 2015}}~~
	~~{{Use dmy dates\|date=June 2015}}~~
	{{Infobox film		{{Infobox film
	\| name = You Must Be Joking!		\| name = You Must Be Joking!
	\| image = ~~"You_Must_Be_Joking"_~~(1965).~~jpg~~		\| image = You Must Be Joking! (1965 film).webp
	\| image_size =		\| image_size =
	\| caption = Theatrical release poster		\| caption = Theatrical release poster

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2023-01-24T22:27:35Z

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

2022-09-04T17:20:49Z

External links: add Category:1960s British films

New page

{{short description|1965 film by Michael Winner}}
{{Use British English|date=June 2015}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=June 2015}}
{{Infobox film
| name = You Must Be Joking!
| image = "You_Must_Be_Joking"_(1965).jpg
| image_size =
| caption = Theatrical release poster
| director = [[Michael Winner]]
| producer = [[Charles H. Schneer]]
| based_on =
| screenplay = [[Alan Hackney]]<br />Jan Read<br />from a story by [[Michael Winner]]
| starring = [[Michael Callan]]<br />[[Lionel Jeffries]]<br />[[Denholm Elliott]]
| music = [[Laurie Johnson]]
| cinematography = [[Geoffrey Unsworth]]
| editing = [[Bernard Gribble]]
| studio = Ameran
| distributor = [[Columbia Pictures Corporation]] (UK)
| released = 3 August 1965 (London)
| runtime = 100 minutes
| country = United Kingdom
| language = English
| budget =
| gross =
}}'''''You Must Be Joking!''''' is a 1965 black and white British [[comedy film]] directed by [[Michael Winner]] and starring [[Michael Callan]], [[Lionel Jeffries]], and [[Denholm Elliott]].<ref>YOU MUST BE JOKING!
Monthly Film Bulletin; London Vol. 32, Iss. 372, (Jan 1, 1965): 140.</ref>

The format of the film, four people each doing six tasks linked to a [[scavenger hunt]], allows for 24 otherwise somewhat unconnected comedy vignettes, which jointly create the story line. The items (purportedly representing British identity) include flying ducks for the wall, an English rose, the [[Spirit of Ecstasy]] from a [[Rolls-Royce]] car, an electric hare from a [[greyhound racing|greyhound race]] and the [[Lutine Bell]].

==Plot==
Major Foskett, a [[British Army]] psychologist, assembles four soldiers for a testing task: Sergeant Major McGregor (complete with [[kilt]] and [[bearskin]]), Captain Tabasco, Sergeant Clegg (a father of nine), Staff Sergeant Mansfield and [[United States Air Force]] Lieutenant Morton. They have their initiative tested in a [[scavenger hunt]].

Their first task is to escape a maze. Tabasco orders up a helicopter to take him out and two others take a ride, but Clegg is left in the maze.

They are instructed to obtain six items, supposedly symbols of the British way of life. The reward for the winner is to be fast-tracked for promotion and a ten-day, all-expenses-paid trip around the world for two. Among the feats to be accomplished within 48 hours are escaping from a maze, retrieving a rare rose and the [[Hood ornament|mascot]] from a [[Rolls-Royce Limited|Rolls-Royce]] motorcar, and procurement of a lock of hair and an autograph from a popular French singer. The final challenge involves the famous [[HMS Lutine (1779)#The Lutine Bell|''Lutine'' bell]] from the Underwriting Room of [[Lloyd's of London#Miscellaneous|Lloyd's of London]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://explore.bfi.org.uk/4ce2b78e4a96b |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120713132314/http://explore.bfi.org.uk/4ce2b78e4a96b |url-status=dead |archive-date=2012-07-13 |title=You Must Be Joking! | BFI | BFI |publisher=Explore.bfi.org.uk |access-date=2014-03-08}}</ref><ref name="tvguide1">{{cite web|url=http://movies.tvguide.com/you-must-be-joking/review/110092 |title=You Must Be Joking! Review |publisher=Movies.tvguide.com |access-date=2014-03-08}}</ref> MacGregor arrives at the finish line by [[parachute]], Tabasco comes in an ambulance, Clegg digs his way in from below. Morton arrives last (by car), but is declared the winner and resigns.

General Lockwood is arrested for misuse of the requisition system. Foskett is arrested for conspiracy to steal the Lutine Bell.

==Cast==
* [[Michael Callan]] - Lieutenant Timothy Morton
* [[Lionel Jeffries]] - Sergeant Major Sidney McGregor
* [[Denholm Elliott]] - Captain Fitzroy Tabasco
* [[Wilfrid Hyde-White]] - General Lockwood
* [[Bernard Cribbins]] - Sergeant Clegg
* [[Terry-Thomas]] - Major Foskett
* [[James Robertson Justice]] - Librarian
* [[Gabriella Licudi]] - Annabelle Nash
* [[Leslie Phillips]] - Young husband, Mr Walters
* [[Gwendolyn Watts]] - Young wife, Mrs (Ducks) Walters
* [[Patricia Viterbo]] - Sylvie Tarnet a pop singer
* [[Lee Montague]] - Staff Sergeant Mansfield
* [[Irene Handl]] - Elderly Woman
* [[Richard Wattis]] - Parkins
* [[Miles Malleson]] - Salesman
* [[Clive Dunn]] - Doorman at Tv Studio
* [[Tracy Reed (English actress)|Tracy Reed]] - Poppy Pennington
* [[James Villiers]] - Bill Simpson
* [[Graham Stark]] - McGregor's Suez comrade
* [[Ronald Howard (British actor)|Ronald Howard]] - Cecil
* [[Arthur Lowe]] - Husband
* [[Joan Benham]] - Wife
* [[Lance Percival]] - Shifty Man
* [[Peter Bull]] - Ferocious Man in Library
* [[Peter Barkworth]] - Recording Studio Manager
* [[Norman Vaughan (comedian)|Norman Vaughan]] - Norman Stone
* [[Jon Pertwee]] - Greyhound Stadium storeman
* [[Peter Gilmore]] - Private (gardening duty in greenhouse)
* [[Ed Bishop]] - US Air Force Soldier at Checkpoint - (uncredited)
* [[Richard Caldicot]] - M.O.D. official - (uncredited)
* [[Damaris Hayman]] - Fan Club Employee - (uncredited)
* [[John Horsley (actor)|John Horsley]] - Lloyd's Director - (uncredited)
* [[Victor Brooks (actor)|Victor Brooks]] - commissionaire - (uncredited)
* [[Peter Barkworth]] - Television Studio Director - (uncredited)
* Dave Watts keyboards - Ricky Ticky Taylor Pop Star

==Production==
The film was based on an original story by Michael Winner which was inspired by a real army initiative test where soldiers were asked to get as far away as possible from their camp at Catterick. He hired Alan Hackney, who had written several [[Boulting Brothers]] screenplays, to write the script.<ref>Winner loc 1562 of 5856</ref>

While looking for finance, Winner was approached to make a film with the [[Dave Clark Five]], but Winner did not like the idea. [[Charles H. Schneer]] liked the Hackney script and agreed to make it under a deal he had with Columbia and Winner says he suggested [[John Boorman]] take over the Dave Clark movie. Winner said Columbia insisted that Michael Callan play a lead role. Winner called the actor "a nice fellow who didn't sell the film in America and didn't help it in England either."<ref>Winner loc 1567 of 5856</ref>

Winner hired a cameraman who felt they could not film in the locations that had been chosen, so Winner replaced him with [[Geoff Unsworth]]. [[Johnny Speight]] did some uncredited writing on the film.<ref>Winner loc 1573 of 5856</ref>

==Reception==
Winner says the film received good reviews but was not popular at the box office.<ref>Winner loc 1609 of 5856</ref>

*''[[TV Guide]]'' called the film: "Lunacy and laughs galore, with director Winner's gimmicky style much in evidence."<ref name="tvguide1"/>
* Hal Erickson wrote in ''[[The New York Times]]'': "Director [[Michael Winner]] was still in his 'mad mod' period when he lensed the wacky goings-on of'' You Must be Joking?'' His ''[[Death Wish (film series)|Death Wish]]'' pictures of the 1970s were in 1965 as remote as another galaxy."<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.nytimes.com/movies/movie/118002/You-Must-Be-Joking-/overview |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140306032927/http://www.nytimes.com/movies/movie/118002/You-Must-Be-Joking-/overview |url-status=dead |archive-date=2014-03-06 |department=Movies & TV Dept. |work=[[The New York Times]] |author=Hal Erickson |title=You-Must-Be-Joking- – Trailer – Cast – Showtimes |author-link=Hal Erickson (author) |date=2014 |access-date=2014-03-08}}</ref>

==References==
{{reflist}}
{{cite book|first=Michael|last=Winner|title=Winner Take All: A life of Sorts|year=2004|edition=Kindle}}

==External links==
*{{IMDb title|0059929}}

{{Michael Winner}}

[[Category:1965 films]]
[[Category:1965 comedy films]]
[[Category:British comedy films]]
[[Category:1960s English-language films]]
[[Category:Films directed by Michael Winner]]
[[Category:Films scored by Laurie Johnson]]
[[Category:Films set in England]]
[[Category:Films set in London]]
[[Category:Films shot in London]]
[[Category:Military humor in film]]
[[Category:Films produced by Charles H. Schneer]]
[[Category:Films with screenplays by Michael Winner]]
[[Category:Films about the British Army]]
[[Category:Greyhound racing films]]
[[Category:1960s British films]]

You Must Be Joking! (1965 film) - Revision history

Kurt: /* External links */

Kurt at 22:36, 24 January 2023

Kurt: 1 revision imported

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