| The Odd Job | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Directed by | Peter Medak |
| Screenplay by | Bernard McKenna Graham Chapman |
| Based on | an original play by Bernard McKenna |
| Produced by | Mark Forstater Graham Chapman |
| Starring | Graham Chapman David Jason Simon Williams Diana Quick Edward Hardwicke Bill Paterson Michael Elphick Stewart Harwood Carolyn Seymour |
| Cinematography | Ken Hodges |
| Edited by | Barrie Vince |
| Music by | Howard Blake |
Production companies | Charisma Films Taulorda |
| Distributed by | Columbia-EMI-Warner Distributors |
Release date |
|
Running time | 87 minutes |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Language | English |
| Budget | £500,000[1] |
The Odd Job is a 1978 British comedy film starringMonty Python memberGraham Chapman.[2]
It has been called "the film Graham Chapman starred in that everyone forgets exists."[3]
It tells the story of a man named Arthur Harris who is recently abandoned by his wife. He becomes sodepressed that he hires an "odd job man" to kill him. Once his wife returns, Harris finds himself unable to cancel the contract.[4]
FollowingMonty Python and the Holy Grail the members of Monty Python worked on separate projects.John Cleese madeFawlty Towers,Eric IdleRutland Weekend Television,Terry Jones andMichael PalinRipping Yarns,Terry GilliamJabberwocky and Graham ChapmanThe Odd Job.[5]
The concept originated as an episode of theLondon Weekend Television/ITV seriesSix Dates with Barker in 1971, written byBernard McKenna, withRonnie Barker as Arthur Harris andDavid Jason as the Odd Job Man (who plays the same role in the feature film).[6][7] Chapman admired the play and commissioned McKenna to turn it into a feature film script. Chapman raised the budget, which he said was half a million pounds.[8]
The role of the odd job man was originally intended for Chapman's friendKeith Moon.[9]
Finance came in part from members of the rock groupsLed Zeppelin andPink Floyd.Steve O'Rourke, Pink Floyd's manager, was an executive producer; so too was band managerTony Stratton Smith.[10]
The original director was meant to beCliff Owen but he broke his thigh and had to be replaced.Peter Medak was selected; it was Medak's first feature sinceGhost in the Noonday Sun.[11] Two weeks before filming, Medak went to visit Keith Moon in hospital "drying out" so he would be ready for the film. Medak became convinced that Moon would not be able to finish the movie and pressed for him to be replaced. He wrote, "I knew how much Keith was looking forward to the part in the film: I knew that I was right and they were wrong but should I just wave goodbye to the £50,000 I had already spent or make the film and take a chance on it making money? I chose the latter and still wish I hadn't." (Moon died on 7 September 1978).[12]
The film was shot in early 1978 atShepperton Studios withlocation shooting around London.[13]
TheDaily Mirror called it a "plodding farce".[14] TheSunday Telegraph described it as "no good".[15]The Observer wrote "this unhappy film is like a stale Whitehall farce brought to the screen by Pearl and Dean; I've seen funnier advertisements for Indian restaurants."[16]
The film failed to find distribution in the US because distributors thought it was "too English". This prompted Medak to relocate to the US.[17]
Chapman and McKenna later collaborated again onYellowbeard.