Directed by Malcolm Mowbray • 1984 • United Kingdom
Starring Maggie Smith, Michael Palin, Bill Paterson
Harkening back to the classic Ealing comedies, this shrewd social satire (scripted by Alan Bennett) features marvelous performances from Maggie Smith and Michael Palin as Joyce and Gilbert Chilvers, a husband and wife living through the stringent food rationing of post–World War II England. When the ambitious Joyce sees a chance to improve her social station by stealing an illegally raised pig (“Pork is power!”), she convinces the compliant Gilbert to abduct the swine. Suddenly the pair find themselves thrust into the black-market meat business—but they’ll have to dodge a vigilant food inspector (Bill Paterson) if they hope to truly bring home the bacon.
Up Next in Comedies
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Number, Please?
Directed by Hal Roach and Fred Newmeyer • 1920 • United States
A young, heartbroken man goes to the amusement park, only to see the girl he lost with a new man.
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An Eastern Westerner
Directed by Hal Roach • 1920 • United States
In this two-reeler from 1920, a fast and furious parody of western films, Harold Lloyd stars as an East Coast boy shipped off to a ranch; Mildred Davis, who would later become Lloyd’s wife, costars. It is presented here with a new score composed and c...
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The Rocket from Calabuch
Directed by Luis García Berlanga • 1956 • Spain
Starring Edmund Gwenn, Valentina Cortese, Juan CalvoIn one of Luis García Berlanga’s gentlest comedies, an aging American scientist (Oscar winner Edmund Gwenn) goes incognito, trading in his career as a prominent atomic-bomb expert for a tranquil ...
