BLAME IT ON THE BELLBOY

UK, 1992, 78 minutes, Colour.
Dudley Moore, Bryan Brown, Richard Griffiths, Andreas Katsulas, Patsy Kensit, Alison Steadman, Penelope Wilton, Bronson Pinchot, Jim Carter.
Directed by Mark Herman.

An easygoing farce of mistaken identities. Bronson Pinchot’s similar Italian pronunciations of Hawton, Orten and Laughton – and a hired killer (Bryan Brown), a house buyer (Dudley Moore), a mayor away on an illicit trip (Richard Griffith) offer the ingredients for farce. It all works quite humorously and the Venetian locations are a great asset. It is lightly amusing fluff.

1. A short comedy farce? Mixture of identities?

2. The Venetian settings, the beauty of the city, the mood? The musical score?

3. The title, the focus on the bellboy, his interactions with the three central characters? His mistakes?

4. The basic situation, the three men arriving in Venice, the similarity of their names, Orton, Lawton, Horton? The bellboy and his giving them the wrong messages? The comedy of timing, language, danger?

5. The hotel, its style, its staff, the role of the bellboy, his work, his character, pronunciations?

6. Bryan Brown as the hit-man, the plane, the photograph, the mix-up, the name, his being in Venice, the nature of the hit, his meeting Patricia, the bond between them, his scouting out the Mafia types, his attempts, discovery of the truth, the Mafia danger for him?

7. Dudley Moore, real estate, the house, the boss, his career? At the hotel, his meek style, his powers of persuasion, buyers and sellers, the mistake, the photo, his being pursued, the torture?

8. Richard Griffiths as Horton, the blind date, his sex expectations, the meeting, the mistake, Caroline and the sex, his wife Rosemary, the awkwardness of the situation?

9. The character of Scarpa, the gangsters and their attempts? The torture?

10. The visual humour, the verbal humour, the timing? The different genres for the three different men, mixing them up and making mistakes? A cheerful comedy of errors?