This is one of my favorite comedies. Peter Cook and Dudley Moore were always a great team and this movie they work very well together. It’s the old story of selling your soul to the Devil for wishes…but as always the wishes are not exactly what the wisher has in mind.
Dudley Moore plays Stanley Moon who is a shy and pathetic figure who pines for a waitress (Eleanor Bron) who works at Wimpy’s Burger where is employed as a cook. Peter Cook is the devil… He is perfect for this part. He is a hilarious devil and at times likable but does the most annoying things like tearing the last page out of mysteries, scratching LPs and just petty things to aggravate people.
The movie is very British and very funny.
The chemistry is great between Moore and Cook and by this time they had been together for a while. There was a version of this movie released in 2000 but it is not as subtle as this the original version. This is an offbeat quirky film.
This film also features Raquel Welch appropriately as Lust. She is only in it for a few minutes but she plays Lust to the hilt. The film had no name at first and in an interview, Peter Cook said he wanted to name the movie “Raquel Welch”…when asked why he wanted to name it after the actress when it wasn’t about her he said because the Marquee would read “Peter Cook and Dudley Moore in Raquel Welch”… The producers didn’t like that.
Eleanor Bron plays Margaret the waitress and the object of Stanley’s desire was also in HELP! with The Beatles.
Check this film out if you can. Personally, I think it beats the remake.
Have never seen this one- going to have to track down a copy.
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I really like British humor… Peter Cooks take on the Devil is great.
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I just placed an order for it through the library system!
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That is great… our tastes are similar on a lot of things… I hope you enjoy it. I watched it yet again last night and picked up things I missed before.
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Looking forward to it- my wife and I enjoy british humor too- I don’t know how I’ve missed this one.
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I caught it in the 1980s on cable and loved it… I was disappointed in the remake.
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When I ordered it I saw there was a remake available also- I ordered the original.
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Awesome. The remake is just another run of the mill Hollywood movie. It’s the little things they do and say that are just great. In the 1980s I only knew Dudley Moore as Arthur and I didn’t know Peter Cook at all.
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