Simon Simon - DVD Review

DVD Review from 2008

Anyone who has seen the Eric Sykes silent shorts from the late 60's will be familiar with the format of this release.

Giving a nod to the original silent movies, Graham Stark and John Junkin engage a situation and play it for laughs with a host of famous faces making brief appearances.

The story revolves around two workers (Stark and Junkin), who after an accident with a railway bridge, are given control of a cherry picker. One of those lorries with a small crane attached to the back.

Once on the platform, Stark becomes infatuated with a girl he meets through an upstairs window. Quickly on the scene, a competing figure arrives in a fire engine, and together they re-enact a World War 1 dog fight in their respective cranes.

During the film, a wages snatch takes place, and the two cranes join forces, chasing the thief around the streets, until eventually they corner him and get the money back.

As the scenes unfold, various famous people pop up for quick cameos. Peter Sellers plays a man with an expensive car (not too much acting needed there!), Bob Monkhouse turns up at the end as a reporter and of course Eric and Ern get a quick spot.

Ern appears from a window early on, with an old fashioned (by today's standards) paint stripper as Stark climbs a ladder. As he reaches the top, Ern is called away leaving the blow torch on the window. Smoke appears, and Stark looks around to see Eric, on the roof puffing away on his pipe whilst fixing the tiles.

Obviously the ladder is burning beneath him and the inevitable happens.

If you are a fan of this kind of slapstick, then this is one of the better ones out there, otherwise I would stay clear.


© morecambeandwise.com 2008


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