Soft Beds, Hard Battles
| Soft Beds, Hard Battles | |
|---|---|
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| Directed by | Roy Boulting |
| Written by | Roy Boulting & Leo Marks from an idea by Maurice Moisiewitsch |
| Produced by | John Boulting Roy Boulting |
| Starring | Peter Sellers Curd Jurgens Lila Kedrova |
| Cinematography | Gilbert Taylor |
| Edited by | Martin Charles |
| Music by | Neil Rhoden |
Production company | |
| Distributed by | Fox-Rank (UK) |
Release date | 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, starring Peter Sellers in several roles, and with an all-star cast, including Curt Jurgens, Lila Kedrova and Jenny Hanley. Sellers reunited with the Boulting brothers for this farce, in which the women of a brothel help the war effort to rid the world of the 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 noses of the Gestapo. The girls find themselves enlisted in the Free French Forces and finally help to foil Hitler's plan to blow up Paris. They later receive medals from the French president.[2]
Cast
- General Latour/Major Robinson/Herr Schroeder/Adolf Hitler/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
- French Intelligence Officer ... Nicholas Courtney (uncredited)
Critical reception
- The New York Times called the film, "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 12 March 2014.
- ^ "Soft Beds, Hard Battles | BFI | BFI". Explore.bfi.org.uk. Retrieved 12 March 2014.
- ^ Canby, Vincent (23 October 1975). "Movie Review - Undercovers Hero - Screen: 'Undercovers':Sellers Plays 6 Roles in Boultings Comedy". NYTimes.com. Retrieved 12 March 2014.
- ^ "Soft Beds, Hard Battles | review, synopsis, book tickets, showtimes, movie release date | Time Out London". Timeout.com. 27 December 2007. Retrieved 12 March 2014.
