Go for a Take

In today's world, Go for a Take has become a topical and relevant topic that impacts people of all ages and backgrounds. From its origins to the present, Go for a Take has generated great interest and debate in society, influencing the way people interact, think and develop. In this article, we will explore the various aspects related to Go for a Take, from its impact on daily life to its influence on the professional field. Through a detailed analysis, we will learn how Go for a Take has transcended borders and left a significant mark in history and the present.

Go for a Take
Directed byHarry Booth
Screenplay byAlan Hackney
Story byHarry Booth
Alan Hackney
Produced byRoy Simpson
StarringReg Varney
Norman Rossington
Sue Lloyd
Dennis Price
Julie Ege
CinematographyMark McDonald
Edited byArchie Ludski
Music byGlen Mason
Production
company
a Century Films International production
Distributed byFox-Rank (UK)
Release dates
  • December 1972 (1972-12) (London, UK)
Running time
90 minutes
CountryUnited Kingdom
LanguageEnglish

Go for a Take (U.S. title: Double Take) is a 1972 British comedy film starring Reg Varney and Norman Rossington, directed by Harry Booth.[1][2][3] The screenplay was by Alan Hackney.

Plot

Inept waiters Wilfred Stone and Jack Foster owe money to gangster bookie Generous Jim and lose all their remaining funds on a bad bet. They go on the run, accidentally ending up in a local film studio where they get mistaken for extras and soon become involved in a succession of comic misadventures.

Cast

Production

The film was shot on location in central London and Slough,[4] and at Pinewood Studios (as "Starwood Studios") with sets designed by the art director Lionel Couch.

Music

The film features the song "Let's Go to the Movies", by Glen Mason and Keith Miller.

Critical reception

The film was a box-office disappointment.[5]

The Monthly Film Bulletin wrote: "Beginning comparatively painlessly with a hectic car chase and one or two promising scenes at 'Starwood Studios', the latest Harry Booth comedy eventually settles down to a tedious mixture of masochism and drag, with most of the emphasis on the former. Reg Varney's cockney stoicism is not completely without charm, but the script's gags seem to consist almost entirely of a succession of violent incidents in which, for example, he has a periscope stuck up his behind or is crippled by an explosion. There is barely any attempt to generate humour from anything except pain, and even the occasional departures from this basic approach are mechanical and witless. Still, in the present state of the industry, one cannot help admiring the brazen wish-fulfilment in the film's portrayal of a thinly disguised well-known British studio, which appears to be shooting at least twelve features simultaneously."[6]

Leslie Halliwell called the film "Painful British farce".[7]

The Radio Times Guide to Films gave the film 1/5 stars, writing: "This British comedy has minimal laughs. Reg Varney and Norman Rossington are waiters on the run from debt collectors who take refuge in a film studio, a scenario which leads to some amazingly unfunny sequences . It's enough to make the Carry On films seem as witty as Oscar Wilde."[8]

References

  1. ^ "Go for a Take". British Film Institute Collections Search. Retrieved 19 February 2024.
  2. ^ "Double Take (1972) - Harry Booth | Synopsis, Characteristics, Moods, Themes and Related | AllMovie".
  3. ^ "Double Take". IMDB. Retrieved 12 September 2023.
  4. ^ "Go For a Take". ReelStreets. Retrieved 12 September 2023.
  5. ^ Gillett, Philip (2017). Forgotten British Film: Value and the Ephemeral in Postwar Cinema. Cambridge Scholars Publishing. p. 95. ISBN 9781443891851.
  6. ^ "Go for a Take". The Monthly Film Bulletin. 40 (468): 9. 1 January 1973 – via ProQuest.
  7. ^ Halliwell, Leslie (1989). Halliwell's Film Guide (7th ed.). London: Paladin. p. 407. ISBN 0-586-08894-6.
  8. ^ Radio Times Guide to Films (18th ed.). London: Immediate Media Company. 2017. p. 370. ISBN 9780992936440.