Sir
Henry at Rawlinson End was the creation of Vivian Stanshall, founder
of the 1960’s Bonzo Dog Doo Dah Band. Conceived as a radio
serial on the John Peel Show it evolved into a stage play, book,
record album and film. The film was produced in 1980 by Tony Stratton
Smith whose Charisma Records was a key player in the music industry
in the 60’s and 70’s. |
Digital Classics' new cover |
| The
film was directed by Steve Roberts and starred Trevor Howard as the
bucolic Sir Henry – the “brandy-baffled rhinoceros fuehrer
of Rawlinson End”, Sheila Reid as his wife Florrie, Patrick
Magee as the evil defrocked vicar and JG Devlin as Scrotum, Sir Henry’s
“wrinkled old retainer”. Other roles included Denise Coffey as Mrs E, Harry Fowler as local spiv Buller Bullethead, Jeremy Child as the chinless Peregrin Maynard and Suzanne Danielle as the beautiful, mute Candice Rawlinson. Full of classic one-liners: “If I had all the money I’d spent on drink, I’d spend it on drink”; “Generally speaking, if I’ve eaten something I don’t want to see it again”; “I don’t know what I want, but I want it now.” |
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| …and visuals: for meals Sir Henry sensibly sports a sou’wester, his brother plays snooker on horseback in the billiard room, and his marriage bed is furnished with a barbed-wire divide. |
Patrick Magee and Vivian Stanshall
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