The Last
Remake Of Beau Geste
“Marty
Feldman’s The Last Remake Of
Beau Geste is filled with irreverent,
politically-incorrect — sometimes a little
tacky —
humour; prepare for lots of
laughs and classic cinema tributes in
this remarkable star-laden comedy
from the Seventies that was ahead of
its time...”
SPOOFS ALWAYS HAVE A LITTLE BIT MORE than the average comedy movie —
and Marty Feldman's The Last Remake Of Beau Geste is a fine example,
sending up anything and everything. With a nod to William A Wellman's
Beau Geste, Feldman has created a new history for the Geste family.
Desperate for a son and heir, Sir Hector Geste (Trevor Howard) is incandescent
with rage when his wife gives birth to a daughter before she dies. He goes to
the local workhouse run by Miss Wormwood (the wonderful Irene Handl) and picks
an orphaned boy, Obediah Spittle (Philip Bollard), who meets his criteria of
being strong, blond and beautiful.
Obediah is renamed Beau, and comes complete with an 'identical' twin brother
renamed Digby, who does not exactly share Beau's do-or-die heroics. The three
Geste children grow up: Beau into a fine, courageous and handsome young man
(a suitably dashing Michael York); Isabel into a beautiful young woman (the
lovely Sinead Cusack) and Digby into well, er, Digby (the much-missed
Marty Feldman)!
Sir Hector goes off to war and has left his trusty manservant Crumble (the inimitable
Spike Milligan) to look after his interests, including protecting the foundation
of the Geste family fortune, the priceless Blue Water Sapphire. He returns a
hero with a much younger, beautiful wife, Flavia (the gorgeous Ann-Margret),
an outrageous flirt who is instantly attracted to Beau.
When Sir Hector becomes ill and is dying, Flavia is dismayed to find the Blue
Water Sapphire has been stolen and suspicion falls on everyone in the household.
By now it is 1906 and Beau disappears to join the French Foreign Legion in North
Africa while Digby confesses to stealing the gem and is sentenced to 956 years
hard labour. The Geste brothers' fates are sealed and the lunacy is just about
to escalate with laughs coming thick and fast.
Beau has been sent on a mission of certain death — to secure the besieged
fort of Zindeneuf. Not far behind him is his beloved Digby, who has needed an
unbelievable amount of help to escape from prison, and Flavia, who in her determination
to find the missing Blue Water Sapphire has indulged in a lot of bed-hopping.
Will Beau be able to stay true to Isabel and his family honour? Will he and
Digby survive the hostilities and return safely from North Africa? The ending
isn't predictable; The Last Remake Of Beau Geste is riotous and compelling,
highlighted by memorable classic movie mock-ups. Don't miss Digby's conversation
with Gary Cooper's Beau Geste and the silent farce treatment to the hilarious
The Escape — Marty Feldman's unforgettable slapstick talent excels.
Following his impressive performances in Mel Brooks' Young Frankenstein
and Silent Movie, goggle-eyed, surrealist comedian Marty Feldman wrote,
directed and starred in his own classic spoof, The Last Remake Of Beau Geste.
Filmed on location in Ireland and Spain and at Adare Manor, Limerick, Ireland,
the movie benefits from a host of outstanding star actors and comedians that
reads like a veritable who's who among the best of British comedians, including:
Peter Ustinov as Sgt Markov; James Earl Jones as The Sheikh; Henry Gibson as
General Pecheur; Terry-Thomas as The Governor; Roy Kinnear as Boldini; Avery
Schreiber as Sheikh's Aide & Honest Hakkim, the Camel Salesman; Hugh Griffith
as The Judge; Ted Cassidy as The Blind Man; Burt Kwouk as Father Shapiro; Henry
Polic II as Captain Merdmanger; Val Pringle as Dostoevsky; Gwen Nelson as The
Lady In The Courtroom; Nicholas Bridge as 12-year-old Beau; Michael McConkey
as 12-year-old Digby; and Bekki Bridge as Young Isabel.
Director of Photography is Gerry Fisher BSC; Special Visual Effects by Albert
Whitlock; Music by John Morris; Executive producers: Howard West and George
Shapiro; Screenplay by Marty Feldman and Chris Alen; Story by Marty Feldman
and Sam Bobrick; produced by William S Gilmore and Directed by Marty Feldman.
The son of an immigrant from Kiev, Marty Feldman was born on 8 July 1934 and
brought up in the poverty-stricken East End. He suffered from Graves Disease
and died on 2 December 1982. The week before he died, he told a reporter: "I
am too old to die young and too young to grow up."
• For the first time on DVD comes one of the
greatest comedy capers of the 1970s, The Last Remake Of Beau Geste, to
be released on 24 January 2011, courtesy of Second Sight Films. RRP: £15.99
| Catalogue Number: 2NDVD3191 | Running Time: 81 Minutes. Note: The Last
Remake Of Beau Geste contains occasional matter and language that may offend.
"The Last Remake Of Beau Geste is riotous and compelling, highlighted
by memorable classic movie mock-ups"
— Maggie Woods, MotorBar
"Hilariously irreverent" — New York Times
"Virtual who's who of British comedy, from anarchist Spike Milligan to silly-ass
Terry-Thomas" — Film4.com
"Feldman plays strictly for laughs, loading the story with jokes ranging from
the satirical to the vulgar" — Allmovie.com
