Man About the House – 1974

A Hammer production released by MGM/EMI Film Distributors Limited Copyright MCMLXXlV Hammer Film Productions Limited – All rights reserved
MPAA Approved Certificate No. 23946

The characters and incidents portrayed and the names used herein are fictitious and any similarity to the name, character, or history of any person is entirely accidental and unintentional

RCA Sound System
Made at Elstree Studios, Hertfordshire, England
Processed by Technicolor and Humphries 90 mins

Storyline

Robin, Chrissie and Jo share a flat which they rent from ever-arguing husband and wife George and Mildred Roper. When they hear that property developer Spiros has plans to buy the whole block where they live and demolish it, Robin and the girls set up a neighbourhood action committee to stop him. They know that they can count on the support of Mildred, but George is a different matter – he’d rather take the money and run!

Crew


Function	Credited	Age at Release	Birth		Death	Age	Hammer Productions
	Click a link for more info						Credited	Uncredited	Total
Art Director	Don Picton	58	22 Feb 1916		Nov 1981	65	15	2	17
Ast. Director	Derek Whitehurst	46	2 Oct 1928		6 Dec 2005	77	16		16
Camera Operator	Chic (Rodney) Anstiss	43	1 Feb 1931		30 Jun 2011	80	12		12
Construction Manager	Jock Lyall						1		1
Continuity	Renee Glynne	48	3 Aug 1926		6 Apr 2022	95	38	3	41
Director	John Robins	39	1 Mar 1934	01.03.1934		89	4	1	5
Director of Photog.	Jimmy Allen BSc	44	28 Apr 1930		28 Oct 2005	75	1		1
Dubbing Mixer	Dennis Whitlock	46	1928		2008	80	13	1	14
Film Editor	Archie Ludski GBFE	45	19 Jul 1929		10 Oct 2004	75	5	1	6
Gaffer	Ted Hallows	61	1913		2007	94	3		3
Hairdressing S/visor	Betty Sherriff	49	29 Sep 1925		2000	74	10		10
Lyrics	Anne Farrow						1		1
Make-up Supervisor	Eddie Knight	49	14 Mar 1925		27 Aug 1996	71	31		31
Music Composer	Christopher Gunning	30	5 Aug 1944		25 Mar 2023	78	3		3
Musical Supervisor	Philip Martell	67	6 Oct 1907		11 Aug 1993	85	104	1	105
Producer	Roy Skeggs	40	1 Apr 1934		29 Dec 2018	84	45	1	46
Production Manager	Dennis Hall						1		1
Recording Director	A.W. Lumkin	61	1 Feb 1913		25 Oct 1985	72	30		30
Sound Editor	Roy Hyde	54	15 Feb 1920		28 Jun 1985	65	30	1	31
Sound Recordist	Claude Hitchcock	56	8 Nov 1918		4 Oct 2010	91	14	4	18
Title song Music	Christopher Gunning	30	5 Aug 1944		25 Mar 2023	78	3		3
Wardrobe Supervisor	Laura Nightingale						35		35
Writer	Brian Cooke	37	13 Dec 1937	13.12.1937		85	1		1
Writter	Johnnie Mortimer	43	2 Jul 1931		2 Sep 1992	61	1		1
Uncredited
Boom Operator	Keith Batten	33	1941	01.01.1941		82		6	6
First Ast. Editor	Roy Birchley	32	1942	01.01.1942		81		1	1
Man in Studio Bar	Alan Harris	36	28 May 1938		25 Jan 2020	81		1	1
Second Ast. Editor	David Beesley							1	1
Trainee Ast. Editor	Mark Latimer							1	1

Cast


Character	Actor	Age at Release	Birth		Death	Age	Hammer Productions
	Click a link for more info						Credited	Uncredited	Total
Boy Scout	Mark Rogers						1		1
Chauffeur	Bill Sawyer	50	18 Jul 1924		1996	72	2	3	5
Chef	Bill Maynard	46	8 Oct 1928		30 Mar 2018	89	1		1
Chrissie	Paula Wilcox	25	13 Dec 1949	13.12.1949		73	1		1
Doorman	Norman Mitchell	56	27 Aug 1918		19 Mar 2001	82	7		7
Elderly Man	Arthur Hewlett	67	12 Mar 1907		16 Feb 1997	89	2		2
George Roper	Brian Murphy	42	25 Sep 1932	25.09.1932		90	1		1
Hazel Lovett	Aimi MacDonald	32	27 Feb 1942	27.02.1942		81	1		1
Himself	Jack Smethurst	42	9 Apr 1932		16 Feb 2022	89	2		2
Himself	Spike Milligan	56	16 Apr 1918		27 Feb 2002	83	1		1
Himself	Rudolph Walker	35	28 Sep 1939	28.09.1939		83	2	1	3
Housewife	Corinne Skinner	43	1 Jan 1931	01.01.1931		92	2		2
Interviewer	Bill Grundy	51	20 Feb 1923		9 Feb 1993	69	1		1
Jo	Sally Thomsett	24	3 Apr 1950	03.04.1950		73	1		1
Larry Simmonds	Doug Fisher	33	1 Jan 1941		9 Jul 2000	59	1		1
Lecturer	Aubrey Morris	48	1 Jun 1926		15 Jul 2015	89	3		3
Mildred Roper	Yootha Joyce	47	20 Aug 1927		24 Aug 1980	53	3		3
Milkman	Johnny Briggs	39	5 Sep 1935		28 Feb 2021	85	2		2
Morris Pluthero	Peter Cellier	46	12 Jul 1928	12.07.1928		95	1		1
Mr Gideon	Michael Ward	65	9 Apr 1909		8 Nov 1997	88	5		5
Mrs Bird	Andrea Lawrence	38	20 Jun 1936	20.06.1936		87	5		5
Nigel	Melvyn Hayes	39	11 Jan 1935	11.01.1935		88	4		4
P.A.	Berry Cornish						2		2
Postman	Bill Pertwee	48	21 Jul 1926		27 May 2013	86	2		2
Producer	Julian Orchard	44	3 Mar 1930		21 Jun 1979	49	1		1
Robin Tripp	Richard O'Sullivan	30	7 May 1944	07.05.1944		79	1		1
Second Doorman	Michael Robbins	44	14 Nov 1930		11 Dec 1992	62	5		5
Secretary	Pauline Peart	23	31 Oct 1951	31.10.1951		71	2		2
Sir Edmund Weir	Patrick Newell	42	27 Mar 1932		22 Jul 1988	56	1		1
Spiros	Arthur Lowe	59	22 Sep 1915		15 Apr 1982	66	2		2
Tweedy Lady	Anne Leake	46	1 Aug 1928		19 Dec 2006	78	2		2
Uncredited
Col. Manners	Robert Dorning	61	13 May 1913		20 Feb 1989	75	1	2	3
Man in Studio Bar	Terry Sartain	44	6 Feb 1930		12 Mar 2006	76		1	1
Old Lady	Damaris Hayman	45	16 Jun 1929		3 Jun 2021	91	2	1	3
Pub Patron	Alan Gibbs							3	3

Production


FILMING BEGAN	16 March 1974
UK RELEASE	22 December 1974
STUDIO	Elstree Studios of Associated British Picture Corporation, Hertfordshire, England
LOCATION	40 Alma Square, London, England	External shots of 6 Myddleton Terrace, the house of George and Mildred, at which Robin, Chrissy and Jo are tenants
	Euston Tower, Euston Road, Regent's Park, London, England	Thames Television studios
	St. John's Wood, London, England
	Maida Vale, London, England

Footnotes

Another television spin-off, this time again from a Thames TV sitcom.

Richard O’Sullivan has been an actor since childhood. His films include the epic “Cleopatra” (1963), in which he played the queen’s young brother, King Ptolemy.

Arthur Lowe had been around for many years and can be seen in a tiny role as a reporter right at the end of the classic Ealing comedy “Kind Hearts and Coronets” (1949). His first famous part, though, was in the sixties when he played Leonard Swindley in Granada TV’s “Coronation Street”, followed by the part for which he will always be remembered, as Captain Mainwaring in BBC TV’s immortal “Dad’s Army”. His films include “Theatre of Blood” (1973, with Vincent Price) and Hammer’s “The Lady Vanishes” (1979).

Speaking of “Dad’s Army”, Bill Pertwee, who played Air Raid Warden Hodges in the series, appears in this film as a postman.

And speaking of “Coronation Street”, Johnnie Briggs, who plays Mike Baldwin in the programme, plays a milkman in this film.

Details were complied viewing the actual film.
Source of viewing copy – The Hammer Graveyard Collection