The Rise and Rise of Michael Rimmer

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I saw this film in a local film club and loved it. It is the story of a market research person (Peter Cook / Michael Rimmer) who comes from nowhere and proceeds to become Prime minister and in the end Dictator of the UK. He even selects his bride by market research and pushes the existing PM from an Oil platform in order to take his job. In the end he rules by survey until people get fed up and in a final survey decide to leave all the decisions to Rimmer. A lot of the scenes were filmed at Brunel University (as was Clockwork Orange and numerous TV episodes ie Avengers, Sweeney due to its proximity (Uxbridge) to the studios. If you get a chance see it, and tell me where to get a copy!!

If you agree with me that Peter Cook is an unqualified genius, then you really should see this epic film today. Although, actually you might find it rather depressing I saw it thanks to a late night screening on BBC2 sometime in the late '80s. The movie itself is from 1970. The comedy is a bit hit-or-miss, but then again, it's not exactly a comedy film. I may have missed the beginning, but it starts with Peter Cooke snooping around an opinion poll firm, and winding up as Dictator of Britain, via the use of referendums. OK, that is a total spoiler, but I think it might actually make this film better if you understand where it is headed. Yes, it just about sums up the situation Britain has gotten itself into with today's Brexit, and what appears to be a takeover by the extreme right of the ever-unpopular Tory party. This movie is not one that might jump out at you. While watching it, I was definitely finding it a bit hit-or-miss, but the ending was highly impactful, and has always stuck with me. On this day of the Brexit, some 35 years later, it looks pretty F-ing Prophetic. Plus it also features Arthur Lowe in seminal role. In many ways this film could be viewed upon as a playbook for the aspiring dictator; maybe Farage & co. have seen it?! The thought of being further separated from friends and family on the continent is deeply saddening. But at the same time globalization has undoubtedly increased the divisions between rich and poor. Like most of us today, I am for working towards a brighter future, where people can live and work where they want. We have a planet with bountiful resources that can provide all that we could ever need. So turn down the crazy waves, people. Anyway, In trying to understand what went on today, I can't help thinking again of this movie. Yes, Britain is an island, but so is this whole darn planet, and we need to start figuring out how to share it nicely.

Kevin Billington's "The Rise and Rise of Michael Rimmer" is a reasonable enough satire, with many observations on polling, politics and Britain relevant not just then but now. There are hints of Muriel Spark's "The Ballad of Peckham Rye" (1960); Cook's Rimmer comes from nowhere, like Dougal Douglas in the aforementioned novel. He does not merely analyse, satirise and disrupt like DD, but rather gradually assumes greater power - Rimmer is a Machiavel in the guise of a Time and Motion Man. A polling calculus where his heart should be. The style also has hints of Reginald Perrin and Monty Python - fittingly enough given the involvement of Cleese and Chapman. It is scatter-shot in its comic approach - direct jibes at the likes of Enoch Powell and Harolds Macmillan and Wilson. George A. Cooper figures as a pipe-pondering Wilsonian PM (though he looks rather more like the self-styled 'Quiet Man' of the current-day Conservatives, Iain Duncan Smith!), deciding to run a presidential style election campaign much as Wilson actually did in the 1970 General Election. The section where the Tories - including Rimmer as Chancellor - get in is remarkably accurate in anticipating the situation today: 'Blame it on the last lot', as the new government faces up to a difficult economic situation inherited from a defeated Labour government. There are also lines about creating an impression of being tough on immigration for the media which resonate with the recent election campaign. Rimmer is a precursor of David Cameron, of course; a particularly marked resemblance: both are public-relations men, endlessly adaptable and without a clearly defined set of principles. All political moves calculated in terms of how things will play out in the "news cycle". A general public which proves gullible enough to buy into the image of these leaders foisted on them by the press. So much is spot on and relevant, so why didn't I this more than I did? I think it has something to do with the nature of the script and characterisation; the characters are broad caricatures and the progression of the script entirely predictable, perhaps proving a victim of its own prescience. So many politicians now follow the Rimmer rulebook that there is absolutely no shock generated by watching this now. "Nothing But the Best" (dir. Clive Donner, 1964) has a rather more interesting trajectory, with Alan Bates and Denholm Elliott and incisive exploration of social class and the media. The whole would be a greater film if there was a greater sense of conflict, uncertainty or urgency generated; it is instead an obvious, if admirable, closed-book of a film. It is especially watchable in terms of spotting the esteemed British thespian; this film has more renowned names drawn from several acting generations (those born 1910-40) than most films. Denholm Elliott, Julian Glover (amusing clipped caricature of the military mindset), Graham Crowden (sublime actor in a lovely cameo as the archetypal new Christian of the 1960s), John Cleese, Harold Pinter, Ronald Culver, James Cossins (pre-"Death Line"), Dennis Price (post-"Kind Hearts and Coronets"), Graham Chapman, Valerie Leon (though used as omnipotent 'eye candy' as always), the magnificent Arthur Lowe, Norman Bird, Frank Thornton, Dudley Foster, Ronald Fraser, Ronnie Corbett, Diana Coupland and Norman Rossington. Such a litany in itself justifies a viewing of this reasonable film.

As the title suggests this film is highly underrated. This was really the beginning of Monty Python what with the comedic attacks on virtually everything. It's easy to see why this movie isn't shown that much anymore due to it's extremely strong political message it contains. This film is basically an attack on everything from race to the media to religion and politics. Even better, is that this film is so effective in all aspects. Peter Cook does an absolutely great job of being the crowd pleasing do whatever he wants, political figure who does just that, whatever he wants. The cast of this movie is great all around. I highly recommend this film to everyone who loves political satires or just loves comedy in general.

A very smart, very under known, and very dark political satire, written by star Peter Cook, Monty Python's-to-be John Cleese and Graham Chapman, and director Kevin Billington. Given the talents involved, the fact that it is often absurd, and occasionally very funny is not surprising. But it's often more subtle and low key than its writers and cast – including greats like Arthur Lowe, Denholm Elliot, Cleese and Chapman - made me expect. It's also a little uneven. Not every piece is as funny or stinging as it wants to be. But this witty story of a slick, attractive and manipulative pollster slowly taking control of the Tory party, and raising his own political fortunes ever higher has a depressing amount of relevance for the state of politics today. Amazingly prescient, many of what were presented as absurd notions in 1970 became part of what we've come to expect in the years that followed. While not perfect, it's very much worth a look if you're intrigued by political humor or the creative folks involved.

In Bedazzled, Peter Cook played the devil. Here he plays something worse; a man with a clipboard. As the movie begins, Peter Cook starts following people at an ad agency, writing things down on a clipboard and introducing himself to everyone as Michael Rimmer. He claims to be an employee, yet he has to introduce himself to every single person at the company. Soon Cook is a pollster, then a politician, each step preceding from the last, each move built on deceit in a world that accepts deceit as the norm, and Cook as one of them. Cook is a mysterious character. We can see him manipulating events and working his way up the food chain, but there's never a sense of what it's all for. He seemingly just wants power, but it's never enough, and he never uses it for anything except gaining more power. This is interesting, but at the same time its distancing, leaving one intellectually engaged but emotionally disinterested. The movie is at its best when it lays out the manipulations, as when a politician practices for a speech in an odd way, and then we see the speech and exactly what the rehearsal was all about. The film is also interesting as a time capsule. It's strange to watch any non-war movie that is so man-heavy. While many movies of the time should men exclusively in business roles, there is usually a counterbalance of women in roles of emotional support. But in a movie all about power made at a time where only men had power, women are pure decorative, used for sex jokes and gratuitous nudity. This is true to what was going on at the time, although in a satire one always notices where the creators seemingly accept the status quo, and here there seems to be no thoughts for the ladies. The movie didn't do well, but then, how often does satire do well? If you're one of those rare people who are drawn to satire this is a very worthwhile film.

This British political satire from the Swinging Sixties, which sees an enigmatic efficiency expert effortlessly taking over the lives of those around him – thus paving the way for his own personal success (eventually becoming Prime Minister!) – was co-written by director Billington and star Peter Cook (in what basically amounts to a continuation of his Mephistophelean turn in BEDAZZLED [1967]) with two members of the "Monty Python" gang i.e. Graham Chapman and John Cleese, who also put in small appearances. As is to be expected, the result is all over the place, making for a rather patchy whole – but there are definite bright, often surreal, passages along the way; similarly, the emphasis is often on sex, with leading lady Vanessa Howard (involved in a bit of full-frontal nudity) and Carry On/Hammer starlet Valerie Leon (as a secretary decked-out in provocative low-cut gowns) supplying the requisite eye-candy. The rest of the cast is made up of innumerable character actors of the era: Michael Bates, James Cossins, Graham Crowden (as a Bishop willing to move with the times and omit God entirely from religious teaching!), Roland Culver, Denholm Elliott (as, first, Rimmer's professional competitor, then associate and confidante and, finally, rival for the unrequited attentions of wife Vanessa Howard), Ronald Fraser (as the former incompetent Prime Minister), Julian Glover, Arthur Lowe (as one of Rimmer's various 'victims' eventually driven, disastrously, to make an assassination attempt on his life), Dennis Price, Norman Rossington, etc.; also on hand is celebrated playwright/scriptwriter Harold Pinter (as a TV interviewer) and diminutive, bespectacled comedian Ronnie Corbett. Apart from its smattering of inventive ideas, funny lines and amusing characterization, the film is sustained by flashy visuals and a solid rock score by John Cameron.