Ooh... You Are Awful (1972) Reviews

• Classic Emery characters and jokes..

  DavidHB2006-08-06

  If you are a fan of Dick Emery then this will appeal to you. I was 10 when this film first came out so it was the normal thing on television to see the kind of jokes and cheeky innuendo that was typical of the 70's. And of course we get to see a lot of bums as Charlie(Emery) looks for tattoos on the girls bums that added together give him a swiss bank account where his partner in crime stashed the cash after they conned an Italian by getting him to pay up front for a supposed wedding to Princess Ann! The best joke has to be where he told Pat Combes what happened to his partners ashes.. I wont say , watch the film..I think it was a classic for Emery fans, maybe now, the jokes appear a bit dated, but I love it. Similar jokes alongside the Carry On films..but this has a proper story..

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• This Film Made The Headmaster Blush!

  ShadeGrenade2006-08-10

  Over the years, many television comedians have tried to make the jump into movies, with varying degrees of success. Morecambe & Wise made three vehicles, but never seemed to find the right one. Peter Cook and Dudley Moore fared somewhat better with 'Bedazzled' ( 1967 ), but went downhill from there. More recently, Harry Enfield came unstuck in 'Kevin & Perry Go Large', and the less said about Rik Mayall and Ade Edmondson's 'Guest House Paradiso' the better. In 1972, Dick Emery starred in this racy comedy, written specially for him by his regular writers, John Warren and John Singer. It cast him as 'Charlie Tully', a Cockney con man with a unique talent for getting the rich to part with their money. They believe everything he says. With his friend Reggie Campbell-Peek ( Ronald Fraser ), they swindle £500,000 out of an Italian millionaire by pretending to be representatives of the British Royal Family. Naturally, said millionaire is not happy and calls on the Mafia. Charlie is arrested at Heathrow Airport and months later emerges from jail to find Reggie has deposited the money in a Swiss bank. Before he can tell him more, he is killed when part of a building collapses on him. Not only is the Mafia after Charlie but also London gangsters headed by Sid Sabbath ( Derren Nesbitt ), an outfit which, according to Charlie 'makes the Kray Twins look like The Beverley Sisters'. Charlie tracks down four of Reggie's old girlfriends, each of whom has a portion of the name of the bank and account number tattooed on her posterior. Each murder attempt on Charlie is thwarted by the 'London Family', who want him alive long enough to find out where the money is... I have fond memories of the first time I saw this. It was December 1974 and, as a traditional end-of-term treat, we got a film at school. I don't know who selected this, obviously someone must have thought it would be cosy family entertainment. The draughty dinner hall was full of red faces ( mostly the teachers ) which got redder as the film, with its cartoon violence, female nudity ( including Liza Goddard ) and over-ripe innuendo, progressed. Of course we dirty-minded kids loved every wicked minute of it! Warren and Singer's inventive script gives Emery full rein to display his talents for multi-characterisation ( old favourites such as 'Mandy', 'Lampwick', 'Hettie The Spinster' appear. Pity room was not found for 'The Rev. Chislet' and 'Bovver Boy' ), and is helped by Cliff Owen's glossy direction. Christopher Gunning's music is good too, at times you can pick out snatches of the 'Poirot' theme to be! The excellent supporting cast included Ronald Fraser, Pat Coombs, Derren Nesbitt, Cheryl Kennedy ( nice bum, Cheryl ) and Norman Bird amongst others. Yes, its dated and sexist, but still good fun. The only negative point would be the somewhat flat ending in which Charlie, dressed as a priest, tries to sell the Sistine Chapel to a couple of American tourists. I would have liked something more akin to the finale of 'The Italian Job'. It is strange though that this film did not lead to others for the star. He resumed his television series, and stayed with it until his death in 1983.

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• Great cinema outing for Emery's brand of humor

  BritishFilms12003-05-04

  Dick Emery is in all his memorable guises in this film about two con-men who con the Mafia out of a fortune, then must find out which girl has the bank account number on her backside [the number which his dead accomplice Ronald Fraser hid the cash after Emery went to jail for conning US tourists]. The film boasts a great collection scenes for Emery with Ronald Fraser, Derren Nesbitt, Pat Coombs, Cheryl Kennedy, Liza Goddard and Brian Oulton. It is also interesting to see the British cinema come up with a great comedy at the time their own successful generation of comic films was coming to an end.

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• Jo & co make an ass of themselves

  ian j bell2002-04-04

  A real hoot as barefaced on artist Charlie Tully (Dick Emery) goes on the run after pulling a fast one on the Mafia. To cop it all, old pal Reggie has gone and bedded Jo Mason, nubile sister of London gangster Sid Sabbath. Reggie stashes their money in a Swiss account before tattooing the number on his girlfriend's bottom, only to find his own number is well and truly up. Learning of his friend's plight Charlie sets to work for his share of the cash, donning an array of disguises as he makes the best of a bum deal. It's seaside humour all the way as he ticks off the gags one by one on his way to claiming back the loot. But of course, not everything goes according to plan. "I'm not that sort of girl," Jo Mason primly warns his bogus solicitor. Then again, however ... a share of the spoils calls her bluff, and as she bares all for the camera a quick peep at her bare bottom proves very costly as her psychotic brother catches him at it, leaving him more than just the Mafia to worry about. This is one the Carry On team would have killed for. Enjoy

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• Typical 'seventies Emery-style romp

  naseby2008-09-24

  Dick Emery was another 'seventies comedian very well admired at the time, and like all the British regulars, managed a TV show (BBC) which had many of his own characters at his disposal, featuring in sketches. This film was able to highlight some of them (Especially the Mandy Dunnit one, who gave the film its title with her catchphrase). The plot is fairly okay, about a clever conman (Emery) and his pal (Fraser) who, much like the tricksters who sell London Bridge to anyone who's daft enough, try out the same scams. As the opener shows, they 'set up' the marriage of an Italian to Princess Anne. Naturally, when the scam's exposed, all too late of course and £500,000 less, the Italians have employed their mafia chums to get the two tricksters. In the meantime, Emery tries another scam that of selling a dog to an unwise American tourist couple - even though he's £250,000 better off - he just can't resist it being the confident 'confidence trickster' he is. This lands him in court, Fraser's nicely holding the money for him when he comes out of prison. Fraser has hidden the loot in a Swiss bank account and in the meantime, the mafia have caught up with the pair, actually knock down a building on top of them, leaving Fraser dead and Emery to just escape, to try to find the money with the last clue/words Fraser had to say ("On the back of..."). After chasing around clues and red herrings, he eventually finds out the Swiss bank account number is tattooed on to the bottom of one of 'Casanova' Fraser's girlfriends - along with another three girlfriends who have more numbers on their behinds also! The mafia realise they have bungled, in killing Fraser and now state to their minions that Emery has to be kept alive, to enable the money to be recovered, before he's wasted. Of course, retrieving the tattoos is going to be difficult and this is where all manner of scrapes from Emery happen in the film but he manages it. Though he falls foul of the local hoodlum, Sid Sabbath (played well by Derren Nesbitt) because one of the girls with a tattoo is his sister! This sets up Sabbath to issue his orders to kill Emery as well as the mafia on his tail! And in turn, the mafia wipes out nearly every man in Sabbath's firm, leaving Sabbath to think it's Emery who's wiped his men out! Sabbath himself is finally killed by the mafia, the latter catch up with Emery but after his pleading, realise his con-man talents can help them and he's given a new lease of criminality with the best support! It was a watchable film, amusing but no more than that. Probably not worth buying, but had a fair plot and welcome on TV at least. Some things seem strange, like Fraser as a casanova, with especially ladies a lot younger than himself and without meaning to be too personal far too ugly for such a portrayal (I don't know if it's jealousy!) but then again, this is meant to be farce!

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