Soft Beds, Hard Battles
| Soft Beds, Hard Battles | |
|---|---|
.jpg) | |
| Directed by | Roy Boulting |
| Produced by |
John Boulting Roy Boulting |
| Written by | Roy Boulting & Leo Marks from an idea by Maurice Moisiewitsch |
| Starring |
Peter Sellers Curd Jurgens Lila Kedrova |
| Music by | Neil Rhoden |
| Cinematography | Gilbert Taylor |
| Edited by | Martin Charles |
Production company | |
| Distributed by | Fox-Rank (UK) |
Release dates | January 1974 (UK) |
Running time | 107 minutes |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Language | English |
Soft Beds, Hard Battles is a 1974 British comedy film directed by Roy Boulting, and starring Peter Sellers in several roles, and an all star cast, including Curd Jurgens, Lila Kedrova and Jenny Hanley. Sellers reunited with the Boulting brothers for this farce in which a brothel full of ladies helps the war effort by ridding the world of Nazi peril - in the bedroom.[1] The film took a limited release: in the United States, it was released under the title Undercovers Hero.
Plot
Set in Nazi-occupied France, the story follows Major Robinson of the British Army. Installing himself at a Parisian brothel, he assists the French resistance and works with Madame Grenier and her girls who find themselves eliminating high ranking German officers (using ingenious rigged beds and killer flatulence pills) right under the nose of the Gestapo. The girls find themselves enlisted in the Free French Forces and finally foil Hitler's plan to blow up Paris. They later receive medals from the French president.[2]
Cast
- General Latour/Major Robinson ... Peter Sellers
- Herr Schroeder/Adolf Hitler ... Peter Sellers
- President of France/Prince Kyoto/narrator ... Peter Sellers
- Madame Grenier ... Lila Kedrova
- General von Grotjahn ... Curd Jürgens
- Marie-Claude ... Béatrice Romand
- Michelle ... Jenny Hanley
- Simone ... Gabriella Licudi
- Madeleine ... Françoise Pascal
- Alan Cassidy ... Rex Stallings
- Louise ... Rula Lenska
- Claudine ... Daphne Lawson
- Tom-tom ... Hylette Adolphe
- Padre ... Vernon Dobtcheff
- Kapitan Kneff ... Douglas Sheldon
- General Erhardt ... Thorley Walters
- Chaplain ... Timothy West
- Jean ... Jean Charles Driant
- Field Marshal Weber ... Philip Madoc
- Mother Superior ... Patricia Burke
- Brigadier ... Basil Dignam
- Schultz ... Nicholas Loukes
- 1st Gestapo agent ... Stanley Lebor
- 2nd Gestapo agent ... Gertan Klauber
- 3rd Gestapo agent ... Barry J. Gordon
- Voice of Vera Lynn ... Joan Baxter
- Hélène ... Carolle Rousseau
- Bisset ... Windsor Davies
Critical reception
- The New York Times called it, "a sketch film with very few jokes."[3]
- Time Out wrote, "its raison d'être is Peter Sellers, back in brilliant form as six variations on blinkered authority, including Hitler and a De Gaulle-ish French general, but particularly as the Gestapo chief Schroeder, limping-cum-strutting from disaster to disaster, an extraordinary amalgam of Dr Strangelove and Fred Kite. Worth a visit for Sellers and one classic joke about a PoW."[4]
References
- ↑ "Undercovers Hero Trailer, Reviews and Schedule for Undercovers Hero | TVGuide.com". Movies.tvguide.com. Retrieved 2014-03-12.
- ↑ "Soft Beds, Hard Battles | BFI | BFI". Explore.bfi.org.uk. Retrieved 2014-03-12.
- ↑ Canby, Vincent (1975-10-23). "Movie Review - Undercovers Hero - Screen: 'Undercovers':Sellers Plays 6 Roles in Boultings Comedy". NYTimes.com. Retrieved 2014-03-12.
- ↑ "Soft Beds, Hard Battles | review, synopsis, book tickets, showtimes, movie release date | Time Out London". Timeout.com. 2007-12-27. Retrieved 2014-03-12.