Up Pompeii (1971) - film review

Pompeii, 79 AD.  Mount Vesuvius is about to blow its top, but the locals are too preoccupied with their binging, whoring and general all-round debauchery to notice.  Lurcio is busy making the preparations for an orgy to be hosted by his master, Ludicrus Sextus, when he has a set-to with the sour-tempered centurion Bilius.  In the scuffle, Lurcio inadvertently switches one of his cucumbers for a scroll which names several conspirators who are involved in a plot to kill the Emperor Nero.  One of the would-be assassins is the proconsul Prosperus Maximus, who is incensed when he learns that the scroll has gone missing.  Realising that Lurcio and his master could give away the plot (chance would be a fine thing), Prosperus Maximus has no choice but to kill them both, with a little help from his adorable wife Voluptua...

One of the saucier BBC sitcoms, Up Pompeii was quite well regarded when it first aired on television in the early 1970s, thanks mainly to the superlative comedic talents of its star, Frankie Howerd.   Unlike many sitcoms of this period, this one did translate fairly successfully to the big screen and the lewd humour is of the standard of the original series, neither better nor worse.   This film was followed by two less respectable sequels, Up the Chastity Belt (1971) and Up the Front (1972).

The original Up Pompeii series was created by Talbot Rothwell, who is best known as the writer of the Carry On films.   Consequently, this film will appeal most to aficionados of the Carry Ons, although, be warned, the jokes are generally much smuttier (and much less funny).  Today, the jokes look as old as the period in which the story is set and you can’t help wondering just why the series was so popular.  (Did people really find jokes about cucumbers amusing back in 1971?  God, things must have been desperate.)   Howerd is a delight as the naughty slave with a one-track mind, but as for the rest... did anyone tell them that this was meant to be a comedy?   If you get three laughs out of this, you’ve done well.

© filmsdefrance.com 2009

Write a review for this film...

What do you think of this film?