Rentadick
Encyclopedia
Rentadick is a 1972 British
comedy film
directed by Jim Clark
and starring James Booth
, Richard Briers
, Julie Ege
, Ronald Fraser
and Donald Sinden
. It is a spoof spy/detective picture, involving the the attempts to protect a new experimental nerve gas.
The original script for the film was written by Graham Chapman
and John Cleese
, both of Monty Python
. However, the producers made enough changes to the duo's material (including commissioning additional material from John Fortune
and John Wells) that Chapman and Cleese successfully instigated action to have their names removed from the finished print. This left the film with a very peculiar credit; the only on-screen writing credit for Rentadick is given over to Fortune and Wells, who are explicitly credited only with "additional dialogue".
Cinema of the United Kingdom
The United Kingdom has had a major influence on modern cinema. The first moving pictures developed on celluloid film were made in Hyde Park, London in 1889 by William Friese Greene, a British inventor, who patented the process in 1890. It is generally regarded that the British film industry...
comedy film
Comedy film
Comedy film is a genre of film in which the main emphasis is on humour. They are designed to elicit laughter from the audience. Comedies are mostly light-hearted dramas and are made to amuse and entertain the audiences...
directed by Jim Clark
Jim Clark
James "Jim" Clark, Jr OBE was a British Formula One racing driver from Scotland, who won two World Championships, in 1963 and 1965....
and starring James Booth
James Booth
James Booth was an English film, stage and television actor and screenwriter. Though handsome enough to play leading roles, and versatile enough to play a wide variety of character parts, Booth naturally projected a shifty, wolfish, or unpredictable quality that led inevitably to villainous roles...
, Richard Briers
Richard Briers
Richard David Briers, CBE is an English actor whose career has encompassed theatre, television, film and radio.He first came to prominence as George Starling in Marriage Lines in the 1960s, but it was in the following decade when he played Tom Good in the BBC sitcom The Good Life that he became a...
, Julie Ege
Julie Ege
Julie Ege was a Norwegian actress and model.Ege was born in Høyland, Sandnes; she was a Miss Norway and Miss Universe contestant and a Penthouse Pet. In 1967, she moved to England as an au pair to improve her English and also studied at a language school....
, Ronald Fraser
Ronald Fraser
Ronald Fraser was an English character actor, who appeared in numerous British films of the 1950s, 1960s and 1970s whilst also appearing in many popular TV shows.-Background:...
and Donald Sinden
Donald Sinden
Sir Donald Alfred Sinden CBE is an English actor of theatre, film and television.-Personal life:Sinden was born in Plymouth, Devon, England, on 9 October 1923. The son of Alfred Edward Sinden and his wife Mabel Agnes , he grew up in the Sussex village of Ditchling, where their home doubled as the...
. It is a spoof spy/detective picture, involving the the attempts to protect a new experimental nerve gas.
The original script for the film was written by Graham Chapman
Graham Chapman
Graham Arthur Chapman was a British comedian, physician, writer, actor, and one of the six members of the Monty Python comedy troupe.-Early life and education:...
and John Cleese
John Cleese
John Marwood Cleese is an English actor, comedian, writer, and film producer. He achieved success at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe and as a scriptwriter and performer on The Frost Report...
, both of Monty Python
Monty Python
Monty Python was a British surreal comedy group who created their influential Monty Python's Flying Circus, a British television comedy sketch show that first aired on the BBC on 5 October 1969. Forty-five episodes were made over four series...
. However, the producers made enough changes to the duo's material (including commissioning additional material from John Fortune
John Fortune
John Fortune is a British satirist, comedian writer and actor, best known for his work with John Bird and Rory Bremner on the TV series Bremner, Bird and Fortune. He was educated at Bristol Cathedral School and King's College, Cambridge, where he was to meet and form a lasting friendship with John...
and John Wells) that Chapman and Cleese successfully instigated action to have their names removed from the finished print. This left the film with a very peculiar credit; the only on-screen writing credit for Rentadick is given over to Fortune and Wells, who are explicitly credited only with "additional dialogue".
Main cast
- James BoothJames BoothJames Booth was an English film, stage and television actor and screenwriter. Though handsome enough to play leading roles, and versatile enough to play a wide variety of character parts, Booth naturally projected a shifty, wolfish, or unpredictable quality that led inevitably to villainous roles...
- Simon Hamilton - Richard BriersRichard BriersRichard David Briers, CBE is an English actor whose career has encompassed theatre, television, film and radio.He first came to prominence as George Starling in Marriage Lines in the 1960s, but it was in the following decade when he played Tom Good in the BBC sitcom The Good Life that he became a...
- Miles Gannet - Julie EgeJulie EgeJulie Ege was a Norwegian actress and model.Ege was born in Høyland, Sandnes; she was a Miss Norway and Miss Universe contestant and a Penthouse Pet. In 1967, she moved to England as an au pair to improve her English and also studied at a language school....
- Utta Armitage - Ronald FraserRonald FraserRonald Fraser was an English character actor, who appeared in numerous British films of the 1950s, 1960s and 1970s whilst also appearing in many popular TV shows.-Background:...
- Major Upton - Donald SindenDonald SindenSir Donald Alfred Sinden CBE is an English actor of theatre, film and television.-Personal life:Sinden was born in Plymouth, Devon, England, on 9 October 1923. The son of Alfred Edward Sinden and his wife Mabel Agnes , he grew up in the Sussex village of Ditchling, where their home doubled as the...
- Jeffrey Armitage - Tsai ChinTsai Chin (actress)Tsai Chin , also known as Irene Chow, is a Chinese-born actress living in England.-Early life, family & education:Chin was born to Peking Opera actor Zhou Xinfang in 1936. She spent her early life in Shanghai. She had two short marriages which both ended in divorce. Her brother is Michael...
- Madam Greenfly - Kenneth CopeKenneth CopeKenneth Cope is an English actor. He is most famous for his roles as Marty Hopkirk in Randall and Hopkirk , Jed Stone in Coronation Street and Ray Hilton in Brookside.- Career :...
- West - John WellsJohn WellsJohn Wells may refer to:People* John C. Wells , British linguist, phonetician and Esperantist* Jonathan Wells , real name John Corrigan Wells...
- Owltruss - Spike MilliganSpike MilliganTerence Alan Patrick Seán "Spike" Milligan Hon. KBE was a comedian, writer, musician, poet, playwright, soldier and actor. His early life was spent in India, where he was born, but the majority of his working life was spent in the United Kingdom. He became an Irish citizen in 1962 after the...
- Customs officer - Winnie Holman - Maid
- Patsy Crowther - Old Lady
- Patricia QuinnPatricia QuinnPatricia Quinn, Lady Stephens is a Northern Irish actress best known for her role as Magenta in the film The Rocky Horror Picture Show . Hers were the red lips that appeared in the film's opening song "Science Fiction/Double Feature"...
- Chauffeuse - Michael RothwellMichael RothwellMichael Rothwell is an American sailor. He won a silver medal in the Tornado class with David McFaull at the 1976 Summer Olympics in Montreal.-References:* at sports-reference.com...
- Removal Man - Michael Sharvell-MartinMichael Sharvell-MartinMichael Sharvell-Martin was a British television and stage actor.-Early life:He was born as Michael Ernest Martin in Herne Bay, Kent, and trained in stage management at the Bristol Old Vic Theatre School. His acting debut was in 1965 at the Everyman Theatre, Cheltenham...
- Removal Man - Richard BeckinsaleRichard BeckinsaleRichard Arthur Beckinsale was an English actor, best known for his roles as Lennie Godber in the popular BBC sitcom Porridge and Alan Moore in the British sitcom Rising Damp....
- Hobbs - Derek GriffithsDerek GriffithsDerek Griffiths is a British actor who appeared in numerous British children's television series in the 1960s to 1980s and more recently has played parts in TV drama.- Career :...
- Henson - Leon Sinden - Police Inspector
- Penelope KeithPenelope KeithPenelope Anne Constance Keith, CBE, DL is an English actress.Having started her television career in the 1950s, Penelope Keith became a household name in the United Kingdom in the 1970s when she played Margo Leadbetter in the sitcom The Good Life...
- Reporter