The Rise and Rise of Michael Rimmer

Director: Kevin Billington Kevin Billington

Overview

In this British political satire, an ambitious, opportunistic young man will stop at nothing to make it to the top. The tale begins as he gets a job at a failing ad agency that he turns into a great success while becoming close friends with the owner. Using his new prestige, he then begins a successful campaign for a Parliamentary seat. Once in Parliament, he begins backstabbing, and trampling his way to become the president of England, a position created especially for him.

Product Details

Release Date:	05/06/2011
UPC:	0883316278833
Original Release:	1970
Rating:	R
Source:	Warner Archives
Presentation:	[Wide Screen]
Sound:	[Dolby Digital Mono, Dolby Digital Stereo]
Language:	English
Time:	1:42:00
Sales rank:	50,603

Cast & Crew

Performance Credits

Peter Cook	Michael Rimmer
John Cleese	Pumer
Ronald Fraser	Tom Hutchinson
Arthur Lowe	Ferret
Denholm Elliott	Peter Niss
Vanessa Howard	Patricia Cartwright
George Cooper	Blackett
Graham Crowden	Bishop of Cowley
Harold Pinter	Steven Hench
James Cossins	Crodder
Richard Pearson	Wilting
Ronnie Corbett	Interviewer
Dudley Foster	Federman
Julian Glover	Col. Moffat
Ann Beach	Receptionist
Jonathan Cecil	"Spot"
Diana Coupland	Mrs. Spimm
Percy Edwards	Bird Impersonator
Arthur Lovegrove	Doorman
Frank Thornton	Stoddart
Desmond Walter-Ellis	Buffery
Michael Bates	Mr. Spimm
Norman Bird	Alderman Poot
Graham Chapman	Fromage
William Job	Waring
Norman Rossington	Guide
Michael Trubshawe	Mandeville
Michael Barrington	Maj. Scott
Roland Culver	Sir Eric Bentley
Elspeth March	Mrs. Ferret
Nicholas Phipps	Snaggot
Dennis Price	Fairbum
Valerie Leon	Actor
John Cameron	Composer

Technical Credits

Graham Chapman

Kevin Billington

John Cleese

Peter Cook

Harry Fine	Producer
David Frost	Executive Producer
Graham Chapman	Screenwriter
Kevin Billington	Screenwriter,Director
John Cleese	Screenwriter
Peter Cook	Screenwriter

Editorial Reviews

Although The Rise and Rise of Michael Rimmer fell and fell at the box office after it was released in 1969, it earned cult status among moviegoers who appreciate wildly imaginative films. Through preposterous hyperbole, the kind that crowns a mouse king of an elephant herd, it satirizes the use of opinion polls to plumb the electorate and shape a country's future. In doing so, the film correctly prophesies the 21st century's excessive use of such polls, the kind that ordained Al Gore as victor in Florida in the 2000 U.S. presidential election. Pundits and politicians regularly refer to the film to call attention to the possibility that excessive polling could undermine representative democracy. Droll Peter Cook, a favorite in Britain, stars as the devilishly clever Michael Rimmer, a man who uses and manipulates opinion polls to rise from nobody to prime minister of England. Of course, history dictates that everyone who rises must also fall, like Julius Caesar, Macbeth, Napoleon, and George III. But not Rimmer. He keeps on rising and rising. The production also brings together for the first time the comedic genius of future Monty Python regulars John Cleese and Graham Chapman, who wrote the original script and acted in the film. Cook later rewrote the script. The film includes a cast of characters with Dickensian names such as Snaggot, Spot, Blocket, Spimm, Poot, and Fromage (the French word for cheese).