The Rise and Rise of Michael Rimmer (1970) User Reviews

Fun and Cynical Political Satire

[cherold · 7/10 · 13 August 2016]

In Bedazzled, Peter Cook played the devil. Here he plays something worse; a man with a clipboard.

As the movie begins, Peter Cook starts following people at an ad agency, writing things down on a clipboard and introducing himself to everyone as Michael Rimmer. He claims to be an employee, yet he has to introduce himself to every single person at the company.

Soon Cook is a pollster, then a politician, each step preceding from the last, each move built on deceit in a world that accepts deceit as the norm, and Cook as one of them.

Cook is a mysterious character. We can see him manipulating events and working his way up the food chain, but there's never a sense of what it's all for. He seemingly just wants power, but it's never enough, and he never uses it for anything except gaining more power. This is interesting, but at the same time its distancing, leaving one intellectually engaged but emotionally disinterested.

The movie is at its best when it lays out the manipulations, as when a politician practices for a speech in an odd way, and then we see the speech and exactly what the rehearsal was all about.

The film is also interesting as a time capsule. It's strange to watch any non-war movie that is so man-heavy. While many movies of the time should men exclusively in business roles, there is usually a counterbalance of women in roles of emotional support. But in a movie all about power made at a time where only men had power, women are pure decorative, used for sex jokes and gratuitous nudity. This is true to what was going on at the time, although in a satire one always notices where the creators seemingly accept the status quo, and here there seems to be no thoughts for the ladies.

The movie didn't do well, but then, how often does satire do well? If you're one of those rare people who are drawn to satire this is a very worthwhile film.

Still up to date 30 years on

[AGHOGG-1 · 8/10 · 3 December 2005]

I find it hard to believe that this film has not had a greater showing on television than it has. I can only recall one showing on British TV in the last few years and it definitely deserves more. This is not to say it is a brilliant film, although I think it's pretty good, but it really needs to be seen in the context of modern day politics. Its still "bang on the nail" relevant and you can either be worried about lack of progress in politics or society, or marvel at how far ahead of its time it was.

The plot is a bit lacking in focus, sub-plots involving Rimmer's romance with his girlfriend, and the duplicity of his political partner are distracting and are really padding for a concept that isn't really film length. However, these are minor foibles in what I think is a well written political satire which is a must see for anyone who thinks modern politics boring – this might just get you thinking.

And it's funny as well.

a fresh satire on those in power

[didi-5 · 8/10 · 22 March 2009]

Michael Rimmer (Cook) joins an opinion poll company in a mysterious capacity, a silent and malevolent observer of what goes on. In this he's not a million miles from Bedazzled's George Spiggott, but in 'The Rise and Rise of Michael Rimmer' the targets are clear - big business, local government, the parliamentary parties, democracy itself.

As Rimmer gains more and more personal power, we see a Britain decaying at the seams in a sea of corruption - from the dim humbug makers with their sexy ad campaign to the would-be PM with planted questions at party conference. Supporting roles are judged well (Denholm Elliott, John Cleese, Arthur Lowe, Ronald Fraser in particular), while Cook himself looks the part, smirking and smart-suited, interfering in a cosy world of middle-aged execs and politics in need of a shake.

There's a lot going on here in a Britain stood still - and it makes for a very entertaining film.

Ahead of its time, yet too late.

[heathblair · 23 April 2002]

A mysterious, charismatic figure (possibly another incarnation of Cook's George Spiggot Devil character from 'Bedazzled') appears from nowhere and takes over a small advertising agency. Through a series of ruthless strategies (media manipulation, political chicanery, blackmail, bribery and murder) he attains huge public notoriety and rises to the heights of government and beyond.

With its amazing cast of contemporaneous British comedy actors and a script by Peter Cook, John Cleese and Graham Chapman, the film should have been a satirical classic. The fact that it isn't, and indeed has virtually disappeared, is mainly due to the very brilliance of its creators. The sketch-show dynamic and satiric insight with which they dominated television comedy and theatre revue does not translates well to the cinema. Here it appears as an unfocused and fragmented ramble.

Rather than create a set of rounded characters which might withstand big-screen scrutiny, Cook and company resort to what they know best - caricatures. Accurate caricatures though they are, these are not 'people' but conduits and Aunt Sallys for the film-maker's understandable exasperation.

Peter Cook never looked so urbane and strikingly handsome as Michael Rimmer: a charming manipulator whose every utterance is a covert announcement of his smoothly diabolical strategy. Cook plays the role like a kind of malevolent mannequin. Grinning and mechanical. It was a deliberate move on his part and quite brave. But the viewer soon craves for him to break cover, show a crack in the veneer, display some vulnerability to connect with. It never happens. Rimmer is no Richard III. Maybe that's the way Cook regarded such power-players: passionless shells of men with nothing but their ambition to drive them. Unfortunately, the film itself takes on these very aspects and becomes heartless and mechanical.

The script is also not quite funny enough. The intimidation of writing for the big screen seems to have severely compromised the talents of the writers. Many of the jokes are forced and frequently fall back on tits-and-arse sight-gags - an unhappy irony as the film is highly critical of the use of sex by advertisers to sell useless products. A severe case of "having your cake and eating it".

A lot of the minor players ham it up to grab laughs in that peculiarly loud, desperate, English rep-company manner. However, it is a truly wonderful thing to behold Peter Cook, Denholm Elliot and the great Harold Pinter (as a fantastically smarmy TV talk-show host) appearing in the same frame trying to out-smarm each other. It's a three way draw. Brilliant.

Yes, there are some good things. Kevin Billington has a nice eye for composition, but, perhaps understandably, he can't do a thing with the fractured narrative. Alex Thompson's camera-work is excellent and imparts a sense of real cinema. The film's insight into the cynical manipulation of the media by politicians seems even more prescient today. But ultimately, it all fails to gel.

Perhaps it came too late in the cycle of British satirical comedy to really get everyone's blood moving. Cleese and Chapman moved on rapidly to the ground-breaking surrealism of Monty Python, and David Frost, the film's co-producer, dived headlong into a lucrative career as a talk-show host and professional jet-setter. But Cook's hopes for becoming a major movie star were destroyed by the film's failure. Apart from sporadic periods of greatness (re-uniting with Dudley Moore etc), he basically drank himself to death over the next twenty-five years. A sad conclusion to a great comedian's life.

The film is worth seeing if for no other reason than to witness a snapshot of British comedy before it flew into a very different orbit.

Fair satire on politics and the media, though works best as a 'Spot the British Thespian' challenge

[HenryHextonEsq · 6/10 · 19 May 2010]

Kevin Billington's "The Rise and Rise of Michael Rimmer" is a reasonable enough satire, with many observations on polling, politics and Britain relevant not just then but now.

There are hints of Muriel Spark's "The Ballad of Peckham Rye" (1960); Cook's Rimmer comes from nowhere, like Dougal Douglas in the aforementioned novel. He does not merely analyse, satirise and disrupt like DD, but rather gradually assumes greater power - Rimmer is a Machiavel in the guise of a Time and Motion Man. A polling calculus where his heart should be.

The style also has hints of Reginald Perrin and Monty Python - fittingly enough given the involvement of Cleese and Chapman. It is scatter-shot in its comic approach - direct jibes at the likes of Enoch Powell and Harolds Macmillan and Wilson. George A. Cooper figures as a pipe-pondering Wilsonian PM (though he looks rather more like the self-styled 'Quiet Man' of the current-day Conservatives, Iain Duncan Smith!), deciding to run a presidential style election campaign much as Wilson actually did in the 1970 General Election.

The section where the Tories - including Rimmer as Chancellor - get in is remarkably accurate in anticipating the situation today: 'Blame it on the last lot', as the new government faces up to a difficult economic situation inherited from a defeated Labour government. There are also lines about creating an impression of being tough on immigration for the media which resonate with the recent election campaign.

Rimmer is a precursor of David Cameron, of course; a particularly marked resemblance: both are public-relations men, endlessly adaptable and without a clearly defined set of principles. All political moves calculated in terms of how things will play out in the "news cycle". A general public which proves gullible enough to buy into the image of these leaders foisted on them by the press.

So much is spot on and relevant, so why didn't I this more than I did? I think it has something to do with the nature of the script and characterisation; the characters are broad caricatures and the progression of the script entirely predictable, perhaps proving a victim of its own prescience. So many politicians now follow the Rimmer rulebook that there is absolutely no shock generated by watching this now. "Nothing But the Best" (dir. Clive Donner, 1964) has a rather more interesting trajectory, with Alan Bates and Denholm Elliott and incisive exploration of social class and the media.

The whole would be a greater film if there was a greater sense of conflict, uncertainty or urgency generated; it is instead an obvious, if admirable, closed-book of a film. It is especially watchable in terms of spotting the esteemed British thespian; this film has more renowned names drawn from several acting generations (those born 1910-40) than most films. Denholm Elliott, Julian Glover (amusing clipped caricature of the military mindset), Graham Crowden (sublime actor in a lovely cameo as the archetypal new Christian of the 1960s), John Cleese, Harold Pinter, Ronald Culver, James Cossins (pre-"Death Line"), Dennis Price (post-"Kind Hearts and Coronets"), Graham Chapman, Valerie Leon (though used as omnipotent 'eye candy' as always), the magnificent Arthur Lowe, Norman Bird, Frank Thornton, Dudley Foster, Ronald Fraser, Ronnie Corbett, Diana Coupland and Norman Rossington. Such a litany in itself justifies a viewing of this reasonable film.

THE RISE AND RISE OF MICHAEL RIMMER (Kevin Billington, 1970) **1/2

[Bunuel1976 · 6/10 · 24 January 2010]

This British political satire from the Swinging Sixties, which sees an enigmatic efficiency expert effortlessly taking over the lives of those around him – thus paving the way for his own personal success (eventually becoming Prime Minister!) – was co-written by director Billington and star Peter Cook (in what basically amounts to a continuation of his Mephistophelean turn in BEDAZZLED [1967]) with two members of the "Monty Python" gang i.e. Graham Chapman and John Cleese, who also put in small appearances. As is to be expected, the result is all over the place, making for a rather patchy whole – but there are definite bright, often surreal, passages along the way; similarly, the emphasis is often on sex, with leading lady Vanessa Howard (involved in a bit of full-frontal nudity) and Carry On/Hammer starlet Valerie Leon (as a secretary decked-out in provocative low-cut gowns) supplying the requisite eye-candy. The rest of the cast is made up of innumerable character actors of the era: Michael Bates, James Cossins, Graham Crowden (as a Bishop willing to move with the times and omit God entirely from religious teaching!), Roland Culver, Denholm Elliott (as, first, Rimmer's professional competitor, then associate and confidante and, finally, rival for the unrequited attentions of wife Vanessa Howard), Ronald Fraser (as the former incompetent Prime Minister), Julian Glover, Arthur Lowe (as one of Rimmer's various 'victims' eventually driven, disastrously, to make an assassination attempt on his life), Dennis Price, Norman Rossington, etc.; also on hand is celebrated playwright/scriptwriter Harold Pinter (as a TV interviewer) and diminutive, bespectacled comedian Ronnie Corbett. Apart from its smattering of inventive ideas, funny lines and amusing characterization, the film is sustained by flashy visuals and a solid rock score by John Cameron.

British Comedy Gem

[jimdoyle111 · 10/10 · 11 December 2005]

I was lucky enough to discuss this film with David Frost in 2005 and it is a film he is still (he was the producer) very proud of, citing it as one of Peter Cook's best works.

The film was given a very limited release in 1970. I saw it in the Cosmo Cinema in Glasgow in 1970 and fell off my seat laughing - the first time I have ever done that in a cinema - and I was not the only one. The Cosmo by the way (now the Glasgow Film Theatre) was a specialist cinema which attracted intellectuals and serious film students, so they clearly saw the importance of this film from the word go and it is such a shame that Warner Brothers are unable to do the same and recognise this as an important historical film document.

The film disappeared and has only been shown on TV 3 times - originally shown on ITV in 1979 by various channels who usually used it to pad out their late night schedules - and the version I taped then runs about 8 minutes short. It has also been shown on Channel 5 twice and they have made less cuts, but there is still some material missing which is why it needs to be issued on DVD with care and by someone who knows the film well and understands its importance to fans of John Cleese, Peter Cook, Monty Python - and 60s British comedy.

Another perspective is that Michael Rimmer is essentially Tony Blair, so this film predicts presidential style UK politics and spin and contrasts it with old fashioned Labour thud and blunder with Harold Wilson lookalike George A Cooper in his best ever role.

This should be compulsory viewing for all political students and if you liked the "Yes Minister" TV series, chances are you will very much enjoy this.

Post Mortem Since I wrote the initial comment above, the DVD has been released complete with director commentary - and I still find this an incredibly funny film all these years later.

Good to see this again

[prd-10 · 7/10 · 24 April 2009]

I remember being in an hotel room sometime in 1979 and switching on the TV and seeing the second half of this film. I was captivated, but I hadn't seen it in 30 years until it turned up recently on a satellite channel in the UK. It's not a laugh-a-minute film, but it is amusing and worth seeing. I imagine the satire of the party leaders, the Labour leader a pipe-smoking Yorkshireman who likes appearing on TV and a Tory who plays the piano, would have been blindingly obvious in 1970 as parodies of Wilson and Heath.

Some of the humour doesn't work, or seems a bit dated nowadays. The Arthur Lowe character is a bit lame and the scene where John Cleese is trying to convince pollster Ronnie Corbett that Nuneaton is predominantly Buddhist looks like it might be a left-over sketch from The Frost Report.

Why is this film not available?

[noren-3 · 9/10 · 21 April 2005]

Saw this wondrous film when it first came out in London. I was at college and loved it immediately. It appealed to me cause it confirmed many prejudices and worries about Brit politics: manipulation, polls, spin.

It was way ahead of its time. Both funny and serious. The fact that it has not been available suggests that some of its points are too close to the truth for the 'establishment.'

I would love to see the scene again when the capsule is hidden in the hankie. He is meant to smash it which will cause a tear. It doesn't quite go as intended.

A brilliant film.

I was expecting a bit more

[christopher-underwood · 7/10 · 27 June 2014]

I was expecting a bit more from this 1970 film starring Peter Cook and a host of other British comedy stalwarts including John Cleese. There was a certain amount of originality and some flair with the direction but decent enough though the script was, the jokes just weren't that funny. On reflection this came just as British comedy was about to change drastically and was probably left high and dry as a consequence. There are several Python people here and on a couple of occasions it seems like some crazy anarchy might be about to break out but we are grounded by the old traditionalists like Ronnie Corbett and Arthur Lowe and writers writing specifically for them. Sad to say that maybe the biggest problem is that Cook who takes the lead so manfully is crashingly irritating as he brings everyone around him down in a most one note performance. Worth seeing, of course, because of how interesting it is to see this transitional film and all those wonderful comedy people beginning to wonder just what is about to hit them.

The shallow man

[Prismark10 · 4/10 · 4 November 2015]

The Rise and Rise Of Michael Rimmer is a satire on politics, media, advertising and British management.

It was released in 1970. The Tories won the general election that year and it takes potshots at thinly disguised Harold Wilson and Enoch Powell types.

The film has achieved notoriety because some people consider Michael Rimmer to be a prototype Tony Blair. I felt that was way off the mark.

Michael Rimmer (Peter Cook) has wormed his way in as some kind of time and motion man at a polling company. Before long he has taken over the management of the company. He gets rid off Ferret (Arthur Lowe) who was too busy swindling the company and eyeing up his secretary.

Once he heads the polling company Rimmer destabilizes the rival polling company by head hunting Niss (Denholm Elliott.)

Soon Rimmer is drafted by the Tory leader to stand for the safe Tory seat of Budleigh Moor. The Labour leader also asks him to stand for his party. Rimmer plans to humiliate the Labour leader in a live television broadcast and the Tories win the election.

Once the Tories are elected, Rimmer connives to become Chancellor of the Exchequer. To improve the country's desperate finances gets the British Army to steal Swiss gold and make out it was a new discovery in the North Sea. Rimmer soon pushes the Tory Prime Minister into the North sea while he is holding up the bar of gold and make it look like an accident.

Rimmer then becomes the new PM and subjects each major decision by public vote. The people soon tire of the constant voting allowing Rimmer to become president and a dictator in all by name.

The film was written by Cook and several of the Monty Python team. There are cameos from John Cleese and Graham Chapman.

As a satire it works if you know the politics of the time and the social history of the era. So you get references to entry to the Common Market, decimalisation, racism, North Sea oil etc.

It does look odd that the film seems to champion the Tory Party. It was made in an era when their had been six years of a Labour government until the 1970 election. So maybe Labour were regarded as the establishment by then.

Cook is very good as the chameleon like Rimmer who may not actually stand for anything. This probably explains why the Blair comparison is made. However Blair stood as a Labour candidate at a time when millions of voters were voting for Mrs Thatcher's Tory party.

The plot is actually not very strong. The film also suffers from overt sexism, the women are treated like they are in a Carry On film and just eye candy.

The satire is a little haphazard, absurd, lacks bite and is also uneven. Watching this after enduring 18 years of Thatcherism is a strange experience when the Tories are regarded as the answer to your problems!

And so Spin was Invented

[wild_pepsi_child · 10/10 · 6 March 2006]

It is a real shame that this film has not been released on DVD or even VHS. The remarkable thing about it is that even though it has been aired so few times, its imagery is so immediately fresh in the mind, from the bumbling assassination attempts in a JFK style by Arthur Lowe, to the 'First British Gold Bar' extracted from the north sea.

This film is about manipulation and orchestration from the start to the end !! done with a very dry and British style sense of humour.

The manipulation and 'Spin' of the Political Party Broadcast filming - who could not forget the scene with the rotating countryside backdrop and tread mill - BRILLIANT!! The guile of a Prime Minister who offers the nation the right to decide on every issue -with the piles of paper work such referendums incurred - to the ultimate presidential / dictatorship power gained from the final referendum.

The film as many people have mentioned before may not have a plot, in fact it is more like a documentary at times, but it is wholly unimportant. Its content is a precise satire of the government and issues at the time of production - preceding the change to decimalization - entry into the EU and the discovery of oil in the North sea, the general feeling of social discontent and mistrust in Government that was brewing and what would almost prophetically occur several years later.

One possible reason for its lack of public viewing could be because Peter Cooks brilliant genius cut close to the bone, unashamedly attacking the political processes and media circuses that surround general elections and political manifesto.

Without any doubt if this film was ever released on DVD I would have to buy at least 3 copies.

If there was ever a point in history were spin doctor politics was defined - look no further than this film for it origins.

A monument to Peter Cook and a host of brilliant British comedy actors.

The Rise and Rise of Michael Rimmer (1970)

[pnuthall-10079 · 6/10 · 28 November 2020]

Politics never become dated, unlike fashion, hairstyles or certain brands of humour. There is an episode of the 1960's Batman television series wherein The Penguin runs for mayor because "in politics (he) can use every dirty trick in the book", and the resulting election campaign is as relevant today as it was more than 50 years ago. Pierce Brosnan's James Bond remarked in GoldenEye that "Governments change, the lies stay the same." All this is true of The Rise and Rise of Michael Rimmer, a surprisingly prescient comedy originally scripted by Monty Python's John Cleese and Graham Chapman, and spruced up by Peter Cook; the original story idea was from the imagination of none other than David Frost (whom the writing team based Rimmer on).

The story centres on Rimmer (as played by Peter Cook), a junior opinion pollster who is appointed Managing Director of the firm after he conducts a successful clandestine time-and-motion study on his colleagues. He proceeds to discredit their major rivals by sabotaging a poll about religion in the town of Nuneaton before moving into the murkier realm of politics, rising steadily through the cabinet to the very top.

Cook once again plays a character not too dissimilar to George Spiggott in Bedazzled. As with Spiggott the part was perfectly tailored for him, yet his performance is still rather stiff, coldly detached and uncomfortable. He seemed strangely ill-at-ease before the cameras for someone so used to television and the stage, made even more bizarre when one considers his later character work on live chat shows; perhaps it's a result of the slow, mechanical nature of filmmaking that never suited his improvisational qualities, hemming him in. He is surrounded with a superb cast of late 60's/early 70's talent including Denholm Elliott, Ronnie Corbett, Frank Thornton, Harold Pinter, John Cleese and Arthur Lowe, who delivers a standout performance as the unfortunate Ferret.

It's a good, interesting film, but falls somewhat short of being a great one. Rimmer and his cohorts are not people you can root for, and Ferret is the only character even remotely sympathetic. My one big takeaway was how little the political scene has changed in the last fifty years; the monetarism, the classism, the racism, the reliance on polls and the media and, ultimately, the corruption and hypocrisy of the system.

1970 British satire fizzles today

[SimonJack · 3/10 · 11 April 2016]

This British film clearly is a satire. It may have been funny at one time, and to a specifically British audience of that time, but there's little to recommend it today. Unfortunately, "The Rise and Rise of Michael Rimmer" is one of those films made to spoof a specific time and place that loses its appeal once beyond that box. I appreciated especially the more recent comments of some British reviewers who had a similar take on the film. While it may have been quite funny in 1970, its dating to a time and situation less than spectacular in the history of memory relegates it today to a ho-hum film.

The spoofing of British business and politics of the time will resonate with some but not many today. A big jab in the film is its mockery of television and all advertising media for the use of sex to sell any and all products and wares. It was something of an issue in 1970, but today it's old hat and part of the demeaning culture of business that has evolved.

There was very little laughter in this for me, and it soon became difficult to stay interested. By half an hour into the film, its outcome was obvious. Peter Cook's character, Michael Rimmer, was so blasé that he resembled a first-time acting student on stage. The sole character who contributed some humor was Ronald Fraser as party leader Tom Hutchinson.

I very much enjoy British comedy, and I especially like satire. Not all satire must be rollicking with laughter, but it then must be poignant. The first group includes such films as "Doctor Strangelove," "The Great Dictator," "The Importance of Being Earnest," "Ninotchka," "To Be or Not to Be," and "It's Love I'm After." They can be political or social, but they make us laugh. The second group, sans the laughter, is humorous and poignant. It includes such films as "Beat the Devil," "People Will Talk," "The Wrong Box," and "Wag the Dog."

Unfortunately,for "Michael Rimmer," the film is dated and had a narrow audience of appeal in the first place. Its plot is weak and it tries to cram too much social criticism into the story. Another reviewer (Prismak10) from the U.K. nails it. He or she says, "As a satire it works if you know the politics of the time and the social history of the era…" Well, I know both and I see the satire. But there's little humor and interest remaining in this film in the 21st century.

Today, I think the number of viewers who might find this film interesting or entertaining would be very small. For most people, it likely will fast become boring.

One of the best satirical films I have ever seen.

[brad-94 · 10/10 · 6 July 1999]

This film was shown recently on Channel 5 in the UK. Basically, a young official looking man with a clipboard, Michael Rimmer (Peter Cook) walks into a dead beat polling company - and begins to change it dramatically. Very soon, the company is a thrusting dynamic organisation - with Michael Rimmer as it's head. He is loved by everyone, and he can manipulate people easily. He then begins to move into politics, and rises very quickly up to Prime Minister. It is then that his true motives begin to appear - he wants to be President of Great Britain. Will he succeed? Of course, he's Michael Rimmer. Watch this film and be amazed. Don't be concerned if you find you rewind it and watch it all over again. It is superb.

The Rise & Rise Of Boris Johnson?

[ShadeGrenade · 10/10 · 21 June 2006]

'The Rise & Rise Of Michael Rimmer', a witty and highly perceptive British comedy produced by David Frost, was made in 1969, but a change in management at Warner Bros./Seven Arts saw its release delayed by a year, when it regrettably flopped. Among its many achievements was that it accurately predicted a Tory general election win in 1970. The enigmatic 'Michael Rimmer' ( Peter Cook ) is the new time-and-motion man at Fairburn Polls. The staff are scared stiff at his relaxed manner. The freeloading 'Ferret' ( a splendid performance by Arthur Lowe ) is fired, but made to stay on without pay till all the money he owes 'Fairburn' ( Dennis Price ) is recovered. Fairburn Polls expands, along with Rimmer's ambition. He drifts into politics, standing for the safe Tory seat of Budleigh Moor ( a reference to Cook's partner Dudley Moore ).

He helps the Tories get into power not by coming up with exciting new policies ( he does not have a stance on any major political issue and has to rely on charm alone ), but by humiliating the Labour leader on national television. Eventually, he has the British Army stealing Swiss gold and using it to prop up the British economy, and murders Tory Prime Minister 'Tom Hutchison' ( Ronald Fraser ) by pushing him off an oil rig. He becomes Dictator of Britain not by force, but by submitting each major decision to a public vote, which the voters grow tired of.

Rimmer is amoral. He even chooses his wife-to-be - show-jumper 'Pat Cartwright' ( the beautiful Vanessa Howard ) - by opinion poll. Its been said that he was based on David Frost, but I think he could well be 'George Spiggot' from 'Bedazzled', making good on his threat to ruin the world. Cook is fabulous here. From the moment he enters the film to the accompaniment of John Cameron's excellent theme tune, you cannot take off your eyes off him. Rather selflessly, he gives all the really funny lines over to others. Making Rimmer into an overtly comic character would have hurt the film.

And what a supporting cast! John Cleese, Graham Chapman, Dudley Foster, Diana Coupland, Michael Bates, George A. Cooper ( as a thinly disguised Harold Wilson ), Denholm Elliott, Harold Pinter ( as T. V. interviewer 'Steven Hench' ), even a Ronnie Corbett cameo.

Director Kevin Billington co-wrote the script along with Graham Chapman, John Cleese and Peter Cook. It is full of sharp digs at the worlds of advertising, market research, public relations and politics. The newly-elected Tory Government decides to hold a 'crisis' meeting on the state of the economy - a lavish, open-air banquet in the grounds of a palatial country house! Rimmer reminds the P. M. of his promise to cut income tax and increase pensions, only to be told: "nobody expects us to do it! We normally say we are horrified, and blame it on the last lot!". The Enoch Powell affair is made fun of too; a retiring Tory M. P. ( Roland Culver ) makes a racially inflammatory speech so that the leader can sack him and so look good in the eyes of voters!

Funniest moment - Rimmer catching John Cleese's character practising ball-room dancing in his coffee break!

The film may have unquestionably dated ( Valerie Leon's man-hungry 'Tanya' seems to have wandered out of a 'Carry On' picture ), but many of its points are still valid. I personally regard it as one of the best British comedies ever made. Remember now - Throw Out Reactionary Yobbos!

Utterly brilliant, possibly by accident.

[Sinafter · 9/10 · 30 March 2019]

This cynical tale of politicians and spin-doctors gives me goosebumps because I am amazed how prescient it is fifty years on. Either it accurately predicted the future or politics never changes. If it had been released when it was finished it would have been topical and might have been more of a success, instead it was held back for a year and then vanished without a trace. I ordered a copy when it was first released on dvd, because of the involvement of John Cleese and Graham Chapman; but I was amazed by how much I enjoyed it and I also remembered seeing it on late night TV many years ago, when I was too young to appreciate it.

Peter Cook's unemotional performance in the title role has drawn criticism, even from the man himself but I think it is just right. I have met people in real life who are just as wooden as Michael Rimmer, with nothing behind their eyes. I find the character menacing and I think Cook has a great screen presence, even though this movie apparently ruined his career! The wonderful Vanessa Howard plays Rimmer's wife; I think she should have been a huge star but at least a few of her movies are now available on dvd. Arthur Lowe does a great turn in a supporting role as the lazy and envious Ferret, and many other well known English actors appear, including Denholm Elliott and Dennis Price.

The Rise and Rise of Michael Rimmer is a comedy but a decidedly black one and all the better for it. There is a shortage of characters to relate to and root for which shows how well it reflects the world of politics but this will have contributed to it being so quickly forgotten when it first came out. At least there have been many favourable reviews since the dvd release.

In praise of "Michael Rimmer"

[ratty1943 · 10/10 · 13 April 2001]

This is a brilliant British political satire. Along with "Bedazzled" and "The Wrong Box", this must be rated with Peter Cook's best Work. The supporting cast is superb. I hope that it will be released on video one day soon. I would love to have a copy.

Great Movie-Political Spoof

[thor-34 · 10/10 · 30 June 1999]

I saw this film in a local film club and loved it. It is the story of a market research person (Peter Cook / Michael Rimmer) who comes from nowhere and proceeds to become Prime minister and in the end Dictator of the UK.

He even selects his bride by market research and pushes the existing PM from an Oil platform in order to take his job.

In the end he rules by survey until people get fed up and in a final survey decide to leave all the decisions to Rimmer.

A lot of the scenes were filmed at Brunel University (as was Clockwork Orange and numerous TV episodes ie Avengers, Sweeney due to its proximity (Uxbridge) to the studios.

If you get a chance see it, and tell me where to get a copy!!

A film 40 years ahead of its time

[davebesag · 9/10 · 26 October 2010]

I'm very surprised that this film has a relatively low rating. It is still relevant today and must rank as one of Peter Cook's better projects. An especially clever part is its use of the problems with direct democracy as opposed to participative democracy.

It's also interesting that Cook's character rose without trance which is a comment he made about David Frost (Cook admitted the character was partly based on Frost. The latter said in a recent interview with Mark Lawson that he remained on good terms with Cook and he and his wife were present at Cook's last dinner party.

All-in-all the film is a very well-crafted satire on the PR aspects of politics.

A Sixties Gem

[mjvatloppers · 9/10 · 25 June 2016]

Satirical comedy. A PR puke rises through Britain's political system to become its virtual dictator.

Much has been written and said about this film; it was devised (and ultimately funded) by David Frost – initially scripted by John Cleese and Graham Chapman (who wrote much of "Monty Python's Flying Circus") – and starred Peter Cook, who added much to the writing.

It has also been said – both then and since – that Rimmer is a thinly disguised satire on Frost himself, created by Cook.

However, this writer disputes that. Certainly Cook later claimed it to be true. And it is also true that the two men had something of a love-hate relationship, with Frost loving Cook and Cook hating Frost (Frost always wanted to be a performer – but lacked the ability).

Nonetheless, while Cook may have intended his performance to ape Frost, it seems to have only succeeded in Cook's own head.

The fact is, his acting was much as it always was, in films. The late comedy actor/director Mel Smith has described it as, "a sort of non-acting acting style – which isn't really a style at all – he was always just slightly removed from it – detached."

But this is not to belittle Cook's performance. In those days, the man was gorgeous – and when he is on screen, it is impossible to take your eyes off him.

No, the thing that did for this film was the very thing it was about – the British political system.

In those days, film and television companies were forced to lay off political satire during the run-up to a general election, for fear of Undue Influence. Ironically, this had killed Frost's "That Was The Week That Was" in 1964, which had seen the beginning of Harold Wilson's career.

And it killed "…Rimmer" at the end of that career.

This writer was a young man living in London, when the film was being made. He looked forward to it eagerly.

But in the event, it did not emerge until after the 1970 election, by which time it was irrelevant.

Imagine a film today (late June, 2016) starring John Goodman as a blustering showman – a property tycoon and reality show host, with designs on the US presidency… you get the idea.

Now imagine that same film released next March.

In the event, Wilson lost the election due to a "pirate" radio station called Radio Northsea International, which broadcast propaganda to SE England, despite the best efforts of a corrupt government minister called John Stonehouse (Wiki him).

However, it is unlikely that "…Rimmer" would have made a lot of difference to the result; Michael Moore's "Fahrenheit 911" exposed the ineptitude and corruption of Bush, but failed to prevent his re-election, in 2004.

All the delay meant was that one of the best films of the late Sixties ended up being buried. And given the pace of that decade, when the film was finally released, it was little more than a curio.

Which is what it remains today – although now it is also something of a time-capsule.

But there is still much to enjoy here, including the aforementioned enigmatic performance of Peter Cook – and fine turns by a roster of Sixties comedy acting talent, including Ronnie Fraser, Denholm Elliot and Arthur Lowe.

Plus a cameo by playwright Harold Pinter who bizarrely, actually does play a character much like that of David Frost

just watching again

[marktayloruk · 9/10 · 22 March 2020]

Not only hilarious but I suspect prescient. I believe that Rimmer gave later politicians some ideas. Also - I had a crush on Valerie Leon as a teenager and this reminds me of why. She was gorgeous! However, I can't understand the claim that people all liked Rimmer. I'm.sure all the firm's employees feared him and others must surely have found him creepy and vaguely intimidating.

Sharp political satire

[runamokprods · 8/10 · 2 December 2014]

A very smart, very under known, and very dark political satire, written by star Peter Cook, Monty Python's-to-be John Cleese and Graham Chapman, and director Kevin Billington.

Given the talents involved, the fact that it is often absurd, and occasionally very funny is not surprising. But it's often more subtle and low key than its writers and cast – including greats like Arthur Lowe, Denholm Elliot, Cleese and Chapman - made me expect. It's also a little uneven. Not every piece is as funny or stinging as it wants to be.

But this witty story of a slick, attractive and manipulative pollster slowly taking control of the Tory party, and raising his own political fortunes ever higher has a depressing amount of relevance for the state of politics today. Amazingly prescient, many of what were presented as absurd notions in 1970 became part of what we've come to expect in the years that followed. While not perfect, it's very much worth a look if you're intrigued by political humor or the creative folks involved.

Brilliant

[grantss · 9/10 · 16 November 2015]

Brilliant. Very relevant in 1970 and even more so today. The story of a man who deceives and manipulates his way to being prime minister of the UK. Very funny, yet very intelligent and thought-provoking, it parodies the link between politicians and the media and the misuse of publicity. Also parodies politics, opinion polls and the media in general.

The only negative aspect was the overuse of silly Monty Pythonisms (the script was co-written by John Cleese and Graham Chapman). Now I am a huge Monty Python fan and the Pythonisms in isolation are great, but they often detracted from the serious parody.

Great acting by Peter Cook - so devious and manipulative that he should have been a politician! Denholm Elliott also shines. John Cleese, Graham Chapman and Ronnie Corbett also appear, though fairly briefly.

Completely underrated Comedy

[lesburton · 10/10 · 26 February 2011]

As the title suggests this film is highly underrated. This was really the beginning of Monty Python what with the comedic attacks on virtually everything. It's easy to see why this movie isn't shown that much anymore due to it's extremely strong political message it contains. This film is basically an attack on everything from race to the media to religion and politics. Even better, is that this film is so effective in all aspects.

Peter Cook does an absolutely great job of being the crowd pleasing do whatever he wants, political figure who does just that, whatever he wants. The cast of this movie is great all around.

I highly recommend this film to everyone who loves political satires or just loves comedy in general.