Rising Damp (film)
| Rising Damp | |
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UK theatrical poster by Tom Beauvais
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| Directed by | Joseph McGrath |
| Produced by | Roy Skeggs |
| Screenplay by | Eric Chappell |
| Based on |
Rising Damp by Eric Chappell |
| Starring | |
| Music by | David Lindup |
| Cinematography | Frank Watts |
| Edited by | Peter Weatherly |
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Release date
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Running time
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98 minutes |
| Country | United Kingdom |
Rising Damp is a 1980 comedy film based on the British situation comedy Rising Damp, which aired on ITV from 1974 to 1978. The television series was, in turn, adapted from Eric Chappell's stage play The Banana Box. Chappell adapted the play to television, and wrote the screenplay for this feature film. The film's director was Joseph McGrath.
Leonard Rossiter plays Rupert Rigsby, the middle-aged landlord of a decrepit townhouse. Rigsby has fallen for his only female tenant, Ruth Jones (Frances de la Tour). Ruth, however, prefers Philip, who is much younger, more attractive, and more sophisticated than either Rigsby or her. Philip (Don Warrington) is not especially interested in Ruth, but he eggs Rigsby on in order to humiliate him.
In adapting the television series to film, the setting was changed from Yorkshire to inner-city London.
For her performance as Ruth Jones, Frances da la Tour received an Evening Standard British Film Award in the category of "Best Actress".
A reviewer for Time Out wrote that the film "[demonstrates] that moderately droll TV boarding-house sitcoms ought not to be stretched to 98 minutes."
David Parkinson wrote in the Radio Times, "the absence of Richard Beckinsale does much to sap the enjoyment of this decent movie version of the enduring television sitcom. Eric Chappell...overwrites to compensate and the film suffers from too many padded scenes and too few hilarious situations. Newcomer Denholm Elliott looks a tad out of place alongside regulars Frances de la Tour and Don Warrington, but he makes a solid foil for the magnificent Leonard Rossiter, who pursues his romantic quest with a seedy chivalry that both disgusts and amuses."
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