Up the Front (1972)

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General		Extras
Category	Comedy	None
Rating
Year Of Production	1972
Running Time	85:03
RSDL / Flipper	No/No	Cast & Crew
Start Up	Menu
Region Coding	4	Directed By	Bob Kellett
Studio Distributor	Universal Pictures Home Video	Starring	Frankie Howerd Bill Fraser William Mervyn Linda Gray Jonathan Cecil Madeline Smith Nicholas Bennett Mike Grady Dora Bryan Stanley Holloway Veronica Clifford Peter Greenwell Barrie Gosney
Case	?
RPI	$9.95	Music	Peter Greenwell

Video		Audio
Pan & Scan/Full Frame	None	English Dolby Digital 2.0 (224Kb/s)
Widescreen Aspect Ratio	1.78:1
16x9 Enhancement
Video Format	576i (PAL)
Original Aspect Ratio	1.85:1	Miscellaneous
Jacket Pictures	No
Subtitles	None	Smoking	Yes
		Annoying Product Placement	No
		Action In or After Credits	No

    Frankie Howerd's best remembered TV series is Up Pompeii!, which commenced on the BBC in 1969. It was one of a number of UK TV series which were translated to the big screen during the next decade. The adventures of the Roman slave Lurcio must have been a success in the cinema in 1971, because by the end of the following year two sequels were released. Up the Chastity Belt was set in Mediaeval times, with Howerd playing Lurkalot. The final sequel was Up the Front, set in World War One and chronicling the exploits of Lurk, former underfootman to Lord Twithampton (William Mervyn). Hypnotised by both The Great Vincento (Stanley Holloway) and the charms of Fanny (Madeline Smith) into joining up, Lurk finds himself in France. Unfortunately, he is under the command of Sergeant-Major Groping (Bill Fraser), who just happens to have been Lord Twithampton's butler.

    Lurk finds himself behind enemy lines, and when he has the German Master Plan tattooed on his backside, he must avoid the Germans and present the Plan to General Burke.

    I think Frankie Howerd was at his best in front of an audience, where he could indulge in his witty ad libs and feed off the audience's laughter. He spends much of the film talking directly to camera, but there is no response. I found myself wishing that someone had dubbed a laughter track onto the soundtrack. You would have to do that, because after a bright start this film degenerates into witless farce. Howerd seems to be trying his best, but the rest of the cast seem to have just turned up for their pay packets. Lance Percival hams it up badly as a German spy, Bill Fraser is all twitches and tics as the villainous Groping, and there's even a guest appearance by Zsa Zsa Gabor as Mata Hari, daaah-link. Stanley Holloway plays the drunken hypnotist, and really looks drunk. Peter Bull is wasted as a German officer. Of note is the recruiting officer who signs Lurk up: Bob Hoskins, in his film debut. Also contributing to the dull feel of the film is that it seems to have been shot entirely in the studio.

    There's plenty of double-entendre but precious little genuine wit in this movie. I wish that the powers that be would release the earlier entries in this series (already available on DVD in the UK together on a single disc), plus the original TV series, which was one of the best of a golden era in British television comedy. This one is for Howerd completists only.

Video

    The film is presented in an aspect ratio of 1.78:1, not far from the original 1.85:1. The framing looks a little tight, so perhaps it has been cropped as well. It is 16x9 enhanced.

    I have now reviewed a number of these low-priced barebones releases from Universal and Studio Canal of British films, and I have to say that this one gets the best transfer of the lot. The probable cause is that the source material is in near perfect condition. It is as sharp as you could expect, with plenty of detail. Contrast is quite good. The colour rendition is the weak point of the transfer. While flesh tones are realistic, reds tend to be too heavily saturated. Witness the uniform worn by General Burke (Robert Coote) in the ball sequence. It is far too red and looks ready to burst out all over the screen. Black levels are very good, except during low light levels, where there is plenty of noise and the black looks more like a muddy brown.

    The only film to video artefacts are the telecine wobble visible during the opening credits, and some slight edge enhancement. You would not notice these unless you were looking for them.

    There are practically no film artefacts at all. I did notice some very rare flecks, but that was all. There is a pleasing amount of film grain visible.

    The disc is single-layered and there are no subtitles.

Video Ratings Summary

Sharpness
Shadow Detail
Colour
Grain/Pixelization
Film-To-Video Artefacts
Film Artefacts
Overall

Audio

    The sole audio track is Dolby Digital 2.0 mono.

    Dialogue is perfectly rendered throughout, even when Bill Fraser is mumbling away. You can hear every entendre and double-entendre with complete clarity. There are a few explosions and other sound effects that show up the basic mono sound, but there is no obvious hiss or distortion.

    One sequence, from 34:30 for about three minutes where Lurk sits writing a letter oblivious to the continual entrance and exit of the British and German troops behind him, suffers from poor audio sync. I feel confident that this is due to inept looping of the dialogue, as in the next scene the sync is back to normal.

    The music score by Peter Greenwell is rudimentary, with a few patriotic sounding tunes and the German national anthem thrown in for good measure.

Audio Ratings Summary

Dialogue
Audio Sync
Clicks/Pops/Dropouts
Surround Channel Use
Subwoofer
Overall

    None whatsoever.

    The UK Region 2 appears to be identical to the Region 4, though the cover art is different.

    This belongs down the back (of your video storage unit).

    The video transfer is almost exemplary.

    The audio transfer is very good.

    No extras.

Video
Audio
Extras
Plot
Overall