6.6
Two Britons—inventor Hengist Pod, and Horse, a brave and cunning fighter—are captured and enslaved by invading Romans and taken to Rome. One of their first encounters in Rome leaves Hengist being mistaken for a fighter, and gets drafted into the Royal Guard to protect Cleopatra.
Sid James
Marc Antony
Kenneth Williams
Caeser
Jim Dale
Horsa
Amanda Barrie
Cleopatra
Joan Sims
Calpurnia
Kenneth Connor
Hengist Pod
Charles Hawtrey
Seneca
Julie Stevens
Gloria
Brian Oulton
Brutus
Michael Ward
Archimedes
Francis de Wolff
Agrippa
Victor Maddern
Segeant-Major
Sheila Hancock
Senna Pod
Jon Pertwee
Soothsayer
Gertan Klauber
Marcus
Warren Mitchell
Spencius
David Davenport
Bilius
Tanya Binning
Virginia
Tom Clegg
Sosages
Peter Gilmore
Galley Master
Michael Nightingale
Ancient Briton
Ian Wilson
Small Messenger
Peter Jesson
Seth
Brian Rawlinson
Hessian Driver
E. V. H. Emmett
Narrator (voice)
Wanda Ventham
Pretty Bidder (uncredited)
Mark Hardy
Guard at Caesar's Palace (uncredited)
Percy Herbert
Guard (uncredited)
Norman Mitchell
Heckler (uncredited)
Jill Goldston
Citizen (uncredited)
Director
Gerald Thomas
Author
Talbot Rothwell
April 10, 2024
7
A pretty paranoid Caesar (Kenneth Williams) is anything but the hero of legend. Luckily, he has the brave "Hengist" (Kenneth Connor) to protect him. He is a captured Briton who has sworn to protect his master - except, well, it's a bit of mistaken identity and he's really just an useless inventor who is even more yellow than his boss. Conspiracies abound at the court of the eponymous and flirtatious, milk-bathing, queen (Amanda Barrie) and with Mark Antony (Sid James), Agrippa (Francis De Wolff) and Seneca (Charles Hawtrey) all plotting away to stay alive, take control of the empire, seduce anyone/everyone - it's an ideal courtly scenario for the gang to get up to some high jinx. "Infamy, infamy - the've all got it infamy!" has got to be one of the most famous lines in the English language and this joyful depiction of all things phnaa phnaa works well for ninety minutes. It looks good, there's some effort gone into the quite witty and clever writing, the costumes and the sets (clearly made of polystyrene). The ensemble effort delivered by the team, aided as always by the sparingly used but on-form Joan Sims as the put upon Calpurnia, reminded me of why, at times, this series of films was worth watching. Amongst the best, I'd say.
Status:
Released
Original Language:
English
Budget:
$0.00
Revenue:
$0.00