Brilliant. Very relevant in 1970 and even more so today. The story of a man who deceives and manipulates his way to being prime minister of the UK. Very funny, yet very intelligent and thought-provoking, it parodies the link between politicians and the media and the misuse of publicity. Also parodies politics, opinion polls and the media in general.
The only negative aspect was the overuse of silly Monty Pythonisms (the script was co-written by John Cleese and Graham Chapman). Now I am a huge Monty Python fan and the Pythonisms in isolation are great, but they often detracted from the serious parody.
Great acting by Peter Cook - so devious and manipulative that he should have been a politician! Denholm Elliott also shines. John Cleese, Graham Chapman and Ronnie Corbett also appear, though fairly briefly.
The only negative aspect was the overuse of silly Monty Pythonisms (the script was co-written by John Cleese and Graham Chapman). Now I am a huge Monty Python fan and the Pythonisms in isolation are great, but they often detracted from the serious parody.
Great acting by Peter Cook - so devious and manipulative that he should have been a politician! Denholm Elliott also shines. John Cleese, Graham Chapman and Ronnie Corbett also appear, though fairly briefly.