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Creamguide (Films) Commentaries: Nutty Hijack

Chris, Craig and Jack hove into 2017 with a sideways look at an early 1980s classic. Yet to be honoured with a commercial home video release, this lesser known work from the pen(s) of Clement and La Frenais boasts a cast equivalent to a particularly pungent episode of ‘Allo ‘Allo! Thrill to the chat about cinematographers becoming directors and swoon as our trio of film buffs get excited about a decanter. For this episode our threesome enjoyed watching along with a digital version ripped asunder from Jack’s own VHS – and if you want to recreate that experience – the first minute of said rip can be viewed herely:


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THIS COMMENTARY IS RATED ‘R’

CREAMGUIDE(FILMS) COMMENTARIES will return with a right bAstard!

3 Comments

3 Comments

  1. David Smith

    April 1, 2017 at 11:25 am

    Wot no mention of Lowfreeze in the memories of bygone freezer centres…? 😉

  2. George White

    April 1, 2017 at 11:45 am

    Reverse FAQ.
    1. Widmark was also in To the Devil A Daughter, so he must have had a few connections in the seedier realm of the British film industry.
    2. It was Lipman as Thatcher in Water.
    3. Magee was in Rising Damp, Digby – the Biggest Dog in the World, Revenge of the Pink Panther, Holiday On The Buses, a few sexy comedies e.g. Carry On Emmannuelle.
    4. Silvera was in Dad’s Army, Doctor Who, a few sexy comedies too.
    5. Selina Cadell is Simon’s sister, been in Doc Martin, Miss Marple, Cardiac Arrest, etc.
    6. Neil McCarthy was also in Time Bandits and Shogun, around this time.
    7. Enya even changed her surname from Brennan to Ni Bhraonain, the Gaelic translation.
    8. TP McKenna not TP O’Neill.
    9. Cadell did various dramas, Watership Down, etc.
    10. “Life Without George”, with Carol Royle, not Caroline Langrishe.
    11. Robert Gillespie was the vicar in the first series.
    12. Cuthbertson and Mackay were in Who too.
    13. The Awakening, not the King’s Demons.
    14. Isla Blair, married to Julian Glover.
    16. Glyn Houston’s alive.
    17. Ashanti featured Beverly Johnson. Man Would Be King featured Shakira. Wafic Said produced the Fourth Protocol not Ashanti.

    But the funny thing is my grandad worked on this. They filmed some of this in Ireland, and it was apparently a tax dodge. Fayed was going to do it with Eric Sykes, entirely as a silent, in coproduction with Allied Artists, but then AA went burst, and got subsumed into Lorimar, and Lorimar had no interest in it. Clement and Le Frenais agreed to write it, and basically all the actors were paid a fixed sum, because they were told it would go to charity, and Widmark was brought in because Lorimar. Osoba was told that this would be his break, and Clement and Le Frenais cast him because they knew he could pull it off. Rank agreed to distribute, then Rank went bust, one print went out, three days after release, it was pulled, and the film was then sold to Cannon, I believe, who planned to re-edit it and add scenes set in Israel. I think it was sold to various international companies for release in Cannes, 1981, 1982, but then it turned out that Cannon had not bought the full rights, only the print, and I believe Osoba sued, because they wanted his character to be changed to an Arab terrorist, PLO or something. Eventually, in 1984, Le Frenais found his own print, and decided to release it through EMI. Dick and Ian decided to re-edit it, modernise it a bit, and apparently footage was shot with Mel Smith. It was due to be released in December 1985 as When Miners Strike!, but it turned out that Cannon were about to buy out EMI and wanted to release their version instead. Eventually, Dick and Ian got the rights back in 1990, and were able to sell it to Channel 4, but video rights were all over the shop.

    TP McKenna not TP O’Neill. TP O’Neill is De Valera’s biographer.

  3. Palitoy

    April 4, 2017 at 9:20 pm

    No wonder the Galoob ‘Nutty Hijack’ action figures filled bargain bins across the land by 1981. The mineshaft playset was good but the figures had more to do with the Ruby Spears animate spinoff (Tony Osoba and Tyrannosaur for example)

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