PRIVATES ON PARADE **

This screen version of Peter Nichols' largely autobiographical play was scripted by Nichols himself and directed by Michael Blakemore, better known for his work in the theatre so it's certainly faithful to its theatrical origins and it does preserve for all time Dennis Quilley's legendary performance as Acting Captain Terri Dennis, the campiest queen in the camp, while the rest of the cast, the cream of British acting talent, are all pretty good, too. It was, of course, sold as a vehicle for John Cleese, who was the biggest 'name' in the cast, in the part created on the stage and with a lot more subtlety by Nigel Hawthorne who, at this point in this career wasn't 'name' enough to carry a picture. Cleese is very funny but it's a much broader performance than Hawthorne's. Of course, there's a serious side to it as well, set as it is in the jungles of Southeast Asia just after the war when the British were fighting the communists and there's a well-handled sub-plot about a corrupt sergeant, (a first-rate Michael Elphick), selling arms to the enemy. And it's utterly un-pc; the racist, sexist, homophobic jokes would probably be considered much too near the knuckle today but taken as a period piece and as a piece of old-fashioned music hall it's very enjoyable. The pastiche musical numbers, with Quilley as Dietrich, Carmen Miranda etc, aren't half-bad, either.