Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #11643 in DVD
• Released on: 2002-06-11
• Rating: Unrated
• Aspect ratio: 1.66:1
• Formats: Anamorphic, Color, DVD-Video, Widescreen, NTSC
• Original language: English
• Number of discs: 1
• Running time: 96 minutes

Amazon.com
Writers Jeremy Lloyd and David Croft managed something quite clever with this, the film version of the 1970s sitcom Are You Being Served? The idea of this cheery collection of comedy stereotypes--the pompous one, the vulgar one, the camp one, the shifty one, and so on--being confined within a department store was a master stroke, as it allowed any kind of situation to arise without the plot having to exceed the restrictions imposed by the set. How, then, to keep the same theme for the big screen without just offering the television series writ large? Simple: send the whole cast on holiday together but make sure they can't leave their hotel, a state of affairs contrived easily enough by throwing a guerilla uprising into the plot. So it is, then, that the staff of Grace Bros. descends on the Costa Plonka while the store is closed for refurbishment. There are all the usual jokes involving knickers, boobs, toilets, and gay sex (sometimes all at once), adding up to a good slice of nostalgic fun for anyone who was there when lapels really were that wide. --Roger Thomas

From the Back Cover
While the store floor is being remodeled, the staff of Grace Brothers is treated to a continental holiday at Don Bernardo's Palace Hotel in Costa Plonka where they tangle with the local cuisine, swap cheeky lust letters and are caught in the middle of an armed rebel insurrection. Join Mr. Humphries (John Inman), Mrs. Slocombe (Mollie Sugden), Captain Peacock (Frank Thornton), Mr. Lucas (Trevor Bannister), Miss Brahms (Wendy Richard), Mr. Grainger (Arthur Brough), Mr. Rumbold (Nicholas Smith), Mr. Harman (Arthur English) and Young Mr. Grace (Harold Bennett) as the bullets and knickers fly!
Andres Sachs ('Manuel' from Fawlty Towers) co-stars in this hilarious feature-length 1977 movie version of the beloved BBC television series that has become one of the most popular British comedies in PBS history!

Customer Reviews

I Was Served a Fun Movie!
I've been watching the reruns of this show for many years and I still find myself smiling or chuckling in every episode. The movie didn't disappoint even though some of the gags were rehashed from the TV version. Somethings are funny more that just the first time you see or hear them. Good quality dvd.

It Doesn't Work Without the Audience
Really the script isn't bad. It's very much on par with most of the TV episodes, although it is a shame that so many of the jokes are recycled. Pacing is a huge problem for the movie, whereas it never was for the TV show. Maybe the director had never worked in a "sitcom" format? A fast-and-furious AYBS script, when slowed down to the pace and timing of the typical freature film, loses a lot of its charm. We're given far to much time to think about the holes in the plot.
The single biggest problem, however, is the lack of a live audience for the antics. When watching the show, hearing the audience's reactions, and watching the actors respond to them live, is a big part of what keeps the show fresh and funny. The lack of a live audience keeps the movie stale and decidedly un-funny. It's too bad, because I think most of the new jokes written for the film would have worked brilliantly on the small screen. Here, they are wasted.

P.S. In response to another review: I really don't think Mr. Humphries is any more openly gay in this script than in the TV episodes. While some of the jokes may have been more risque than would have been allowable on British television of the era, none of them clearly imply that he's anything more than a sissy and a mother's boy. He's not interested in women, but not necessarily gay.

Funny Video....
I love the series and this was a extra added attraction. I gave it to someone who had never seen the series and they liked it a lot--- thought it very funny. Lots of inuendos, as per the series.