''Every Home Should Have One'' (U.S. title: ''Think Dirty '') is a 1970 British

comedy film The comedy film is a film genre that emphasizes humor. These films are designed to amuse audiences and make them laugh. Films in this genre typically have a happy ending, with dark comedy being an exception to this rule. Comedy is one of the o ...

directed by

Jim Clark James Clark (4 March 1936 – 7 April 1968) was a British racing driver from Scotland, who competed in Formula One from to . Clark won two Formula One World Drivers' Championship titles with Lotus, and—at the time of his death—held the ...

and starring

Marty Feldman Martin Alan Feldman (8 July 1934 – 2 December 1982) was a British actor, comedian and writer. He was known for his exophthalmos, prominent, strabismus, misaligned eyes. He initially gained prominence as a writer with Barry Took on th ...

. The screenplay was by Marty Feldman,

Barry Took Barry Took (19 June 192831 March 2002) was an English writer, television presenter and comedian. His decade-and-a-half writing partnership with Marty Feldman led to the television series '' Bootsie and Snudge'', the radio comedy ''Round the Hor ...

and

Denis Norden Denis Mostyn Norden (born Denis Moss Cohen; 6 February 1922 – 19 September 2018) was an English comedy writer and television presenter. After an early career working in cinemas, he began scriptwriting during the Second World War. From 1948 t ...

, based on a story by

Herbert Kretzmer Herbert Kretzmer (5 October 192514 October 2020) was a South African-born English journalist and lyricist. He was best known as the lyricist for the English-language musical adaptation of ''Les Misérables'' and for his collaboration with French ...

and

Milton Shulman Milton Shulman (1 September 1913 – 24 May 2004) was a Canadian author, film and theatre critic who was based in the United Kingdom from 1943. Early life Shulman was born in Toronto, Ontario, the son of a successful shopkeeper. His parents wer ...

. The film ridicules the then ongoing campaign organised by

Mary Whitehouse Constance Mary Whitehouse (; 13 June 1910 – 23 November 2001) was a British teacher and conservative activist. She campaigned against social liberalism and the mainstream British media, both of which she accused of encouraging a more permis ...

against gratuitous sex in British entertainment and advertising.

Plot

An advertising man is assigned by his boss to come up with a sexy new image for Mrs McLaughlin's Frozen Porridge. While his wife runs a clean-up-TV campaign organized by the local vicar, he has an affair with the au-pair girl. The overall concept is that adverts play out before their lives connecting to the products to hand. The various porridge advertising campaigns get more and more extreme: the most relevant being the

Goldilocks and the Three Bears "Goldilocks and the Three Bears" is a 19th-century English fairy tale of which three versions exist. The original version of the tale tells of an impudent old woman who enters the forest home of three anthropomorphic bachelor bears while th ...

campaign. This leads to a secondary campaign to search for "Miss Goldilocks".

Cast

as Teddy Brown *

Judy Cornwell Judy Valerie Cornwell (born 22 February 1940) is an English actress. She is best known for her role as Daisy in the British sitcom ''Keeping Up Appearances'' (1990–1995). She also played Anya Claus in '' Santa Claus: The Movie'' (1985). In ...

as Liz Brown * Garry Miller as Richard Brown, their son *

Shelley Berman Sheldon Leonard Berman (February 3, 1925 – September 1, 2017) was an American comedian, actor, writer, teacher, and lecturer. He was awarded three gold records for his comedy albums and he won the first Grammy Award for a spoken comedy recor ...

as Nat Kaplan *

Hy Hazell Hyacinth Hazel O'Higgins (4 October 1921 – 10 May 1970), stage name Hy Hazell, was a British actress of theatre, musicals and revue as well as a contralto singer and film actress. AllMusic described her as "an exuberant comic actor and lively ...

as Mrs. Kaplan *

Julie Ege Julie Ege (; 12 November 1943 – 29 April 2008) was a Norwegian actress, model and beauty pageant titleholder. She appeared in many British films of the 1960s and 1970s. Early life Ege was born in Sandnes, the daughter of brickyard worker ...

as Inga Giltenburg *

Penelope Keith Dame Penelope Anne Constance Keith (''née'' Hatfield; born 2 April 1940) is an English actress and presenter, active in film, radio, stage and television and primarily known for her roles in the British sitcoms '' The Good Life'' and '' To the ...

as Lotte von Gelbstein *

Moray Watson Moray Robin Philip Adrian Watson (25 June 1928 – 2 May 2017) was an English actor from Sunningdale, Berkshire. Life Watson was born in Sunningdale, Berkshire, to Gerard Arthur Watson (1901–1940), a ship broker, who was killed during World ...

as Chandler * Jack Watson as McLaughlin * Mark Elwes as Rokes *

Harold Innocent Harold Sidney Innocent (18 April 1933 – 12 September 1993) (born Harold Sidney Harrison) was an English actor who appeared in many film and television roles. After attending Broad Street Secondary Modern School in Coventry, Innocent worked f ...

as Jimpson *

Dinsdale Landen Dinsdale James Landen (4 September 1932 – 29 December 2003) was an English actor. His television appearances included starring in the shows ''Devenish'' (1977) and ''Pig in the Middle'' (1980). ''The Independent'' named him an "outstanding ac ...

as Reverend Geoffrey Mellish * John McKelvey as Colonel Belper * Charles Lewsen as Arthur Soames * Maggie Jones as Hetty Soames *

Frances de la Tour Frances J. de Lautour (born 30 July 1944), better known as Frances de la Tour, is a British actress. A Tony Award winner and three-time Olivier Award winner, she is also known for her roles in the television sitcom ''Rising Damp'' and in ''Harr ...

as Maude Crape *

Patrick Cargill Patrick Cargill (3 June 191823 May 1996) was an English actor remembered for his lead role in the British television sitcom ''Father, Dear Father''. Early life Cargill was born to middle-class parents living in Bexhill-on-Sea, Sussex. After edu ...

as Wallace Trufitt, MP *

Patience Collier Patience Collier (born Irene Marjorie Ritscher; 19 August 1910 – 13 July 1987) was a British actress. Career Patience Collier began her theatrical career in Manchester. In 1956 she played Maria in Denis Cannan and Pierre Bost's ''The Power ...

as Mrs. Monty Levin *

Annabel Leventon Judith Annabel Leventon (born 20 April 1942 in Hertfordshire, England) is an English actress who has acted in various roles on stage and television. While reading English at the University of Oxford she made several appearances at the Oxford Pl ...

as Chandler's secretary *

Sarah Badel Sarah M. Badel (born 30 March 1943) is a retired British stage and film actress. She is the daughter of actors Alan Badel and Yvonne Owen. Life and career Badel was born in London to actor Alan Badel and actress Yvonne Owen. She was educat ...

as Joanna Snow * John Wells as Tolworth * Michael Bates as magistrate *

Dave Dee David John Harman, known professionally as Dave Dee (17 December 1941 – 9 January 2009), was an English singer-songwriter, musician, A&R manager, fundraiser and businessman. He was the frontman for the 1960s pop band Dave Dee, Dozy, Beaky, ...

as Wednesday Play star *

Judy Huxtable Judy Huxtable (born 24 July 1942) is a British actress. Early life and career Born in Surrey, England, to wealthy parents, Huxtable was initially a society débutante and then became a fashionable figure in 1960s "swinging London" and, as a mo ...

as Frankenstein heroine *

Alan Bennett Alan Bennett (born 9 May 1934) is an English actor, author, playwright and screenwriter. He has received numerous awards and honours including four BAFTA Awards, four Laurence Olivier Awards, and two Tony Awards. In 2005 he received the Socie ...

as counsel in court (uncredited)

Production

The film's titles and animated sequences were provided by Richard Williams. The film was produced at

Shepperton Studios Shepperton Studios is a film studio located in Shepperton, Surrey, England, with a history dating back to 1931. It is now part of Pinewood Group, the Pinewood Studios Group. During its early existence, the studio was branded as Sound City (not ...

England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

Music

The film theme song, "Every Home Should Have One", was written by John Cameron,

Caryl Brahms Doris Caroline Abrahams (8 December 1901 – 5 December 1982), commonly known by the pseudonym Caryl Brahms, was an English critic, novelist, and journalist specialising in the theatre and ballet. She also wrote film, radio and television scri ...

, and

Ned Sherrin Edward George Sherrin (18 February 1931 – 1 October 2007) was an English broadcaster, author and stage director. He qualified as a barrister and then worked in independent television before joining the BBC. He appeared in a variety of r ...

, arranged by

Alan Tew Alan Stanley Tew was a British composer and arranger. Career Tew got his start in the 1950s as the pianist and arranger for the Len Turner Band. Tew composed the song " Zoo Be Zoo Be Zoo" with Bill Shepherd, originally performed by Sophia Lor ...

, produced by Jackie Rand, and sung by

Millicent Martin Millicent Mary Lillian Martin (born 8 June 1934) is an English actress, singer, and comedian. She was the singer of topical songs on the weekly BBC Television satirical show ''That Was the Week That Was'' (known as TW3; 1962–1963), and won a ...

. The song was released as a single to promote the film.

Reception

Box office

The film was one of the most popular movies in 1970 at the British box office. However according to

Sidney Gilliat Sidney Gilliat (15 February 1908 – 31 May 1994) was an English film director, producer and writer. In the 1930s he worked as a scriptwriter, most notably with Frank Launder on ''The Lady Vanishes'' (1938) for Alfred Hitchcock, and '' Nig ...

who was on the board at British Lion, the film lost money.

Critical

The Monthly Film Bulletin The ''Monthly Film Bulletin'' was a periodical of the British Film Institute published monthly from February 1934 until April 1991, when it merged with '' Sight & Sound''. It reviewed all films on release in the United Kingdom, including those wi ...

'' wrote: "This feature debut by Jim Clark ... is a strictly hit-and-miss affair which reveals, once again, the dangers of trying to be fashionably contemporary and satirical at the same time. Most of the cast ... are encouraged to punch away at everything in sight, which results in a good deal of unfunny mugging." ''The

Radio Times ''Radio Times'' is a British weekly listings magazine devoted to television and radio programme schedules, with other features such as interviews, film reviews and lifestyle items. Founded in September 1923 by John Reith, then general manage ...

Guide to Films'' gave the film 1/5 stars, writing: "This dismal comedy ... boasts a top-notch comic cast. But their efforts are totally overshadowed by a shambolic, leering performance from Feldman, making his second screen appearance, as a mad advertising executive who devises a series of steamy commercials for a brand of frozen porridge."

Leslie Halliwell Robert James Leslie Halliwell (23 February 1929 – 21 January 1989) was a British film critic, encyclopaedist and television rights buyer for ITV, the British commercial network, and Channel 4. He is best known for his reference guides, '' Fi ...

said: "Tiresomely frenetic star comedy with the emphasis on smut. "

References

External links

* {{IMDb title, 0065709 1970 films Films about advertising 1970 comedy films British comedy films British Lion Films films Films scored by John Cameron (musician) Films set in London Films shot at Shepperton Studios 1970s English-language films 1970s British films Films directed by Jim Clark