Are You Being Served? The Movie (1977)
Film:
DVD:

Written by David Croft & Jeremy Lloyd
Directed by Bob Kellett
Starring John Inman, Mollie Sugden, Frank Thornton, Trevor Bannister, Wendy Richard

Features:

• Theatrical trailer
  

Anamorphic: Yes.

My Advice: Rent it.

Grace Brothers Department Store is being closed for renovations. In order to make this possible, the company has arranged for everyone in the store to take their vacations at the same time. Each department is headed for a different location. The combined department of Men's Ready Made and Ladies are headed for the lovely locale of Costa Plonka. Of course, you have all of the drama you'd expect from such a series going to the big screen: both Captain Peacock (Thornton) and Mr. Lucas (Bannister) would just love to get into Miss Brahms' knickers (Richard) while Mrs. Slocombe (Sugden) lusts after the Captain. Oh, and then there's the issue of the armed coup planned for the day after their arrival...

Strangely enough, the portion of the film that deals with the characters in their native habitat--the department store--is about as funny as...well, an American sitcom. The jokes are forced and terribly unoriginal. It's only when you get them out of doors and headed onto the plane that you begin to have any fun at all. Not being a scholar of the original series (and the other series that came after), I can't really say why the writers in question had such a problem. But the second half of the film is saved by the farce of mammoth proportions that occurs. It is always good to see Andrew Sachs, of course, and his addition to the cast in Costa Plonka was very wise.

It's a shame that there's only a theatrical trailer to be counted as a feature on this disc. The main cast members, director and scribes are--to my knowledge--still around. We unfortunately have lost the Mr. Grainger (Arthur Brough), Young Mr. Grace (Harold Bennett) and Mr. Harman (Arthur English). Granted, if you want a whole slew of features about the show, there's the BBC boxed set of the series, but still--just some interviews while we still have everyone would be ideal. Or...maybe some information on the stage play that I've heard this was based on?

For fans of the series, this will be a must-own, because it has some classic moments with the characters. For the rest of us, it's worth at least a rental.