The Magnificent Seven Deadly Sins

Dir: Graham Stark

1971

****

Graham Stark (the blind man seen bumping into things at the beginning of Superman III) directs this dated but distinctly British collection of short stories, all sharing the theme of one of the seven deadly sins. The title uses the title of the classic western The Magnificent Seven but there is no connection, it's just a mildly amusing conflation, which acts as a good indication of tone. It is really dated but not generally for the worse. The camera does tend to focus on random ladies' breasts and legs and the men play the main characters and lead the stories. The women are either nagging wives or sex crazed vixens, like there aren't any other type. That said, this is remarkably toned down considering this was Britain in 1971. By and large, The Magnificent Seven Deadly Sins is a celebration of great writing and great performances by some of the country's finest. Writers include John Esmonde and Bob Larbey (who wrote various classic British sitcoms), Dave Freeman (who wrote for every British comedian you can think of), Marty Feldman, comedy partners Alan Simpson and Ray Galton (Steptoe & Son), Spike Milligan, Barry Cryer and Graham Chapman and stared an array of iconic comedy actors including Bruce Forsyth, Bernard Bresslaw, Joan Sims, Roy Hudd, Harry Secombe, Geoffrey Bayldon, June Whitfield, Leslie Phillips, Harry H. Corbett, Bill Pertwee, Ian Carmichael, Alfie Bass, Spike Milligan, Ronnie Barker, Peter Butterworth, Marty Feldman, Ronald Fraser, Stephen Lewis and Arthur Howard. It's a magnificent cast that incorporated all the popular elements of TV, Film and radio of the time. It's a little bit 'Carry On', a bit 'On the Buses', with a mixture of The Goons and Monty Python, with a slice of Saturday night (largely thanks to Bruce Forsyth) with the obligatory inclusion of a couple of Bond girls. This is 70s Britain in all its glory. A few of the jokes fall flat these days but the core of the humour and the comedic performances are timeless. Avarice is actually a clever take on class divide but the inclusion of Joan Sims and Bernard Bresslaw does make it feel like it could be Carry On Greed. Envy sees the great Harry Secombe try many character-driven and inventive ways in which to convince a couple (Geoffrey Bayldon and June Whitfield) to sell him their house and Gluttony see Leslie Phillips ignore the sexual advances of his boss (Bond girl Julie Ege) over his hunger for roast duck and potatoes. Secombe and Phillips make these sketches with their brilliantly physical comedy performances, they are the two more classical sketches as far as British comedies go. Lust, starring Harry H. Corbett and adapted from a Marty Feldman script is pure theatre and the film's more sombre piece. It's actually quite heart-breaking and rather lovely in funny sort of way, although did people really go to tube stations to pick up girls in the 70s? Pride is another look at the British class system but it isn't a great sketch. Sloth is by far the more contemporary addition with Goon/Python type humour and no coherent plot to speak of, just loosely joined surreal sketches that share certain themes. It's glorious and still feels contemporary in many respects. The final sketch isn't the best of the seven but as a fan of On the Buses and Stephen Lewis's Blake, I couldn't help but enjoy the sketches conclusion over the rest. It's brilliant and a great way to finish the film. It will probably only really appeal to Brits of a certain age and Anglophiles but it’s a great example of classic comedy from a bygone era that I adore.