Waldorf Salad (Fawlty Towers)

"Waldorf Salad (Fawlty Towers)"

"Waldorf Salad" is the third episode of the second series of BBC sitcom Fawlty Towers.

Synopsis

American tourist Mr. Hamilton checks in with his wife. They want to have a proper meal, but the chef has finished his shift. In a panic, Basil tries to cook the meal himself—much to Mr. Hamilton's annoyance—resulting in a clash of transatlantic values.

Cast

• John Cleese as Basil Fawlty
• Prunella Scales as Sybil Fawlty
• Andrew Sachs as Manuel
• Connie Booth as Polly Sherman
• Ballard Berkeley as Major Gowen
• Brian Hall as Terry the Chef
• Gilly Flower as Miss Abitha Tibbs
• Renee Roberts as Miss Ursula Gatsby

With:

• Norman Bird as Mr. Arrad
• Bruce Boa as Mr. (Harry) Hamilton
• Terence Conoley as Mr. Johnston
• Anthony Dawes as Mr. Libson
• June Ellis as Mrs. Johnston
• Dorothy Frere as Miss Hare
• Claire Nielson as Mrs. Hamilton
• Beatrice Shaw as Miss Gurke
• Stella Tanner as Mrs. Arrad

Plot

In the dining room, several guests are dissatisfied with the quality of the food and the service. One guest complains that her prawns are "off," provoking an argument between Basil and her husband, because they wish the starter to be deducted from their bill. Meanwhile, Sybil blithely continues to talk to one of the guests, who himself appears not to be enjoying her continued ramblings, leaving Basil to tend to the others. "Busy, isn't it dear?" he quips as he rushes by Sybil. When she asserts that she's sure he can cope, he retorts "Yes dear... coping's easy; not puréeing your loved ones - that's the difficult bit...".

An elegantly attractive English woman, Mrs. Hamilton, arrives at reception to check in. A brash American man follows her in from the rain and complains about the weather, as well as the journey from London (they had to take a "little back street", the M5), and other aspects of English life. Basil, referring to the American, apologises to Mrs. Hamilton about "...some of the rubbish" they have to endure in the hotel, only for her to introduce him as her husband, which forces Basil into some cringeworthy backtracking. Mr. Hamilton demands that they be given a proper meal even though they have arrived after 9 pm and the kitchen is closed. Basil explains, but Hamilton is insistent and gives him £20 to keep the kitchen open.

Basil pockets the money and offers a lesser amount to Terry (the chef) to stay for half an hour. Terry initially refuses, claiming that he has a martial arts lesson, but when Basil offers more money Terry agrees to stay and cook. Basil then learns from Polly's inadvertent slip of the tongue that Terry's appointment was actually a date with his girlfriend. In response, he sends Terry away and plans to do the cooking himself.

The Hamiltons come downstairs for their meal and are offered drinks by Basil. They order screwdrivers, a drink with which Basil is unfamiliar. Hamilton then confuses Basil by asking for a Waldorf salad. Basil replies "I think we're just out of Waldorfs" and asks several times for clarification of the ingredients, enraging Mr. Hamilton, who shouts "Celery! Apples! Walnuts! Grapes! In a mayonnaise sauce!"

Basil goes into the kitchen, is unable to find all the ingredients, and panics. Sybil says that she will find the ingredients and handle it, but he remains unconvinced and flustered. After asking Sybil "What is a Waldorf anyway, a walnut that's 'gone orf'?", and her reply explaining it's named for the Waldorf Hotel, Basil tries to persuade Mr. Hamilton to try a "Ritz Salad... a traditional Old English thing..." made up of the ingredients that he knows are in the kitchen: apples, grapefruit and potatoes in a mayonnaise sauce. Keeping up the act that the chef is still there, Basil pretends to loudly berate Terry for not knowing the ingredients of a Waldorf salad. Since Mr. Hamilton told him that he should "bust [Terry's] ass", Basil shouts to "Terry," "I'm going to break your bottom!" He apologises profusely to the Hamiltons and presents them with green salads. Meanwhile, Sybil has already prepared and served the Waldorf salad. Basil initially removes Mr. Hamilton's Waldorf Salad to present it to the 'chef' and demand an explanation, whereupon Sybil rescues it for Mr. Hamilton, Basil sustaining an unseen on screen (but subtly heard) punch in the eye in the process.

The Hamiltons are apparently happy with their starters, and seem prepared to ignore the confusion. Basil, however, is unable to leave things alone and tries to reinforce the myth that the chef is still there and responsible for the mistakes. He emerges from the kitchen wearing a hat, strategically tilted, to cover the eye that Sybil struck in the kitchen, and also with a letter allegedly written by chef Terry. Basil reads it to the Hamiltons, despite the fact that they are uninterested, and Mr. Hamilton becomes increasingly irritated. After smoke is seen emerging from the kitchen, Basil returns to the kitchen and pretends to yell at Terry, screaming "What are you doing?! What do you mean, you've burnt it?!" Mr. Hamilton storms into the kitchen and finds Basil yelling at nobody. Even when caught out like this, Basil claims that the chef has just slipped out from under him during Mr. Hamilton's entrance. Mr. Hamilton sarcastically suggests that the chef went out to get something to eat.

Mr. Hamilton then announces that they are leaving and confronts Basil in the foyer. In front of the other guests he berates Basil about his lack of professionalism — calling him the Donald Duck of the tourist industry — and brands the hotel a disgrace. Other guests join in complaining about the food and the service. Basil finally snaps by telling them all to leave. Sybil challenges him and he decides that instead he will leave, putting Sybil in charge of dealing with the guests and their complaints.

Basil walks outside of the hotel to discover that it is still raining. After a few seconds he rethinks and returns to the hotel to ask for a room. The episode ends with him demanding breakfast in bed and a Waldorf salad with "lashings of hot screwdriver".

Trivia

• The situation of the episode was based upon a real-life occurrence when John Cleese and the Monty Python team were staying in the Gleneagles hotel. American-born Terry Gilliam was eating dinner in an un-British manner, and Donald Sinclair commented xenophobically about this.
• This episode had the working title "The American".
• This episode marks the second appearance of Terence Conoley, the only male actor distinguished enough to appear in more than one episode playing a different character.

Connections and Errors

• After 23:25, Cybil is seen pulling out a cigarette from its case and yet in the next cut, a second later it is lit and in her left hand.

References

• Fawlty Towers: A Worshipper's Companion, Leo Publishing, ISBN 91-973661-8-8
• The Complete Fawlty Towers by John Cleese & Connie Booth (1988, Methuen, London) ISBN 0-413-18390-4 (the complete text)