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Author
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Topic: Does anyone here know "Same Procedure as Last Year"?
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Claus Harding
Phenomenal Film Handler
Posts: 1149
From: Washington DC
Registered: Oct 2006
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posted February 22, 2007 01:05 PM
Greetings,
Given the many English gents in these forii, I just had to ask how many here had ever seen this little gem?
For those who don't know it, some background:
The film, also known as "Dinner for One", is about 17mins long, B/W, shot in 1962, and is a simple but sidesplitting comedy about a rich old lady celebrating her birthday.
All the friends she used to have at the dinner have died over the years, so in what has become an annual ritual, it falls to her butler to impersonate all the dinner guests. However, as he also has to toast for everyone for every course served, he gets increasingly smashed and his impersonations start coming apart at the seams.
Freddy Frinton plays the butler, May Warden plays the old lady.
It was an old music hall skit that got filmed in Germany, of all places, and the real irony of it all is that, as far as I know, it has never been shown on British TV!
The film has been an absolute staple in Denmark (my home country),the rest of Scandinavia, Germany and some other countries for decades, shown religiously every New Year's Eve.
I know it by heart, and I still laugh at it, because of Frinton's amazing performance.
But what an odd fate for such a quintessentially English piece, to be filmed in Germany and then never shown in its homeland (I am assuming BBC hasn't changed their stance on it as of this writing.)
I finally got a friend to videotape it for me, took the tape to the US and had it scan converted since I don't think it has ever been released on tape, film, or DVD.
So, with all that, have any of you seen this or heard of it?
Best,
Claus Harding.
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"Why are there shots of deserts in a scene that's supposed to take place in Belgium during the winter?" (Review of 'Battle of the Bulge'.)
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Jan Bister
Darth 8mm
Posts: 2629
From: Ohio, USA
Registered: Jan 2005
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posted March 08, 2007 11:06 PM
Yes, ohmigawd, I remember this one SO well... of course, I grew up in Germany after all, and my Dad, brother and myself did watch it on TV every New Year's Eve afternoon. ![[Smile]](smile.gif) I too have wondered lately if a film version might ever have been available, but as I clearly remember the TV show as having originated on video (albeit black-and-white video), it does seem unlikely to me. Definitely a candidate for a DVD release, though. *hope, pray*
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Call me Phoenix. *dusts off the ashes*
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