All

Rising Damp

£125.00

Film

Rising Damp

Additional information

Year

1980

Size/Type

UK Quad / Single Sided / (30" x 40"), UK Quad / (30″ x 40″) / Single Sided / Printed in England by W.E.Berry Ltd. Bradford

Country of Origin

UK / British

Condition

Near mint minus – Very fine plus / originally folded (as issued)

Director

Joe McGrath

Actor/Actress

Brian Wilde, Christopher Strauli, Denholm Elliott, Don Warrington, Frances De La Tour, Leonard Rossiter

SOLD - this item is sold. Please browse our currently available stock

“I’ll tell you what’s happened to the permissive society – It’s living in my house !”

“Rising Damp” was one of only a handful of British TV sitcoms that successfully transferred to the big screen; largely due in this case to the excellent performances (and comedic chemistry) of the leading actors (Leonard Rossiter, Don Warrington and Frances De La Tour) but also the superb writing by one of the industries best comedy writers; Eric Chappell. This original 1980 British UK quad film poster features some impressive feelgood Tom Beauvais artwork; spot on comedic characterisations of  ‘Rigsby’ (Leonard Rossiter), ‘Miss Jones’ (Frances De La Tour) & ‘Philip’ (Don Warrington). Originally folded (as issued) this excellent unrestored example displays and presents to superb effect… A huge and loving fanbase exists for this classic British sitcom and this original film poster certainly brings back plenty of happy memories…British TV comedy nostalgia at it’s finest…cool, funny and colourful…A personal favourite of my youth that still makes me chuckle today.

Read More +

Click on the link for Eddie Shannon’s brilliant interview with the poster artist Tom Beauvais.

 …more detail

Vintage Movie Posters Grading Criteria... read more +

Film Description

Rising Damp Film Poster

“Stingy English landlord Rigsby manages to scam his lodgers Cooper, an arts student, and Philip, an African jock, making both pay for a room they must share. However Rigsby’s favorite lodger, miss Jones, now flirts with both boys rather then the old goat, despite his pitiful attempts to be generous. Crossed by her still overprotective dad, she actually prefers an affair with slick veteran Seymour, who is really only interested in her money.”

Like most hit comedies of the 1970s, Rising Damp earned a big-screen adaptation. The main cast stayed intact, except that Christopher Strauli subbed for the late Richard Beckinsale. Unfortunately Joseph McGrath, a comedy specialist directed. Farce is played up at the expense of quieter and subtler pleasures.

McGrath, who helmed “The Magic Christian” and The Great McGonagall, goes for a quick fire approach which Eric Chappell‘s screenplay– like so many of these filmed sitcoms, it smells of three TV episodes scrambled together– does not inhibit. Feeling one must open up the action and exploit a marginally larger budget, Chappell lets the film slip away too much from the house. To aficionados, even seeing the back garden and the street are a little shocking. However, scenes in pubs and restaurants echo the original, and the chief pleasure, Leonard Rossiter as Rupert Rigsby, is undimmed. Some well-loved schticks, such as Rigsby blowing in Miss Jones’s ear after being told it’s an erogenous zone, are reprised.

Rossiter broke the rules of modern screen acting. He mugged, twitched, grimaced, muttered semi-audibly and shamelessly hogged the camera, instead of underplaying stone-facedly and letting his confreres share the work. Yet he gets away with it every time, simply because Rigsby is a towering character in the great tradition of British “downer” comedy: the frustrated middle-aged male fantasist who is not quite up to living in the real world.

Guest star Denholm Elliott is a smooth ex-RAF conman after the gorgeous Miss Jones’s modest savings. He may seem like another cinematic concession, but he is not unlike Peter Bowles’s theatrical charmer of a lodger in the series. Elliott’s underplaying is in fitting and masterful contrast to the spluttering sycophantic Rigsby. Don Warrington, the black student “chief’s son with ten wives” patronised and envied by Rigsby, is gloriously suave, though victim of a disconcerting plot twist at the end.

Vintage Movie Posters Grading Criteria

Mint
A poster that has never been used or displayed and may show the most minor signs of age and wear. The poster should have no holes or tears.

Near Mint
A generally unused poster with fresh, saturated colors. May have minimal tears at folds. Has no significant holes, no paper loss, may have minor tears along edges, may have fine pin holes.

Very Fine
A poster with bright colour and crisp overall appearance. It may have very general signs of use including slight fold separation and fold wear. It may have pin holes or very minor tears. This is the highest grade allowed for a poster that has been restored either on linen or on paper.

Fine
A poster with good colors and overall clean appearance. It may have minor tears small paper loss and minor stains. It may have some fold seperation.

Good
An average poster with overall fresh color. May have tears, minor paper loss, minor hazing. Paper may be brittle due to age, may have minor stains. May have a small amount of writing in an unobtrusive place. May have medium or major restoration.

Fair
A poster with faded colors and brittle paper, showing significant signs of use. May have tears and paper loss. May have tape, writing, stains in image area. In need of restoration or had major restoration.

Poor
A poster that is worn, torn, and/or damaged. May have staining, cracking, dry rot, and/or large tears. May be heavily soiled, may have pieces missing. In need of major restoration.

All photographs and images used on our site are photographs of the actual poster/item you are buying, we do not use stock photographs.

Most Popular Poster Types

US Posters

LOBBY CARD
11 x 14″ printed on heavy stock paper. Used as display in theatre lobbies. Originally made in sets of eight. Some sets have a title card, which contains credits and artwork, essentially a mini-poster. The remaining seven cards are coloured photographic credits and poster artwork showing different scenes from the movie.

WINDOW CARD
14 x 22″ printed on heavy stock paper with the top 4-6 inches usually left blank for the local cinema owner to fill in the cinema and the date it was due to play. Largely discontinued during the 1970’s.

HALF SHEET
22 x 28″ printed on heavy stock paper. The image displayed is normally a smaller version of the main poster, although some do have different artworks and sometimes come in two versions.

INSERT
14 x 36″ printed on heavy stock paper. Inserts usually have the same artwork as a one sheet. Popular with collectors since they are smaller and easier to frame. Normally come tri folded or rolled.

STYLE Y/FORTY BY SIXTY
40 x 60″ printed on heavy stock paper. Rare since they were primarily used for major motion pictures only. Designed to be used outside the theatre, on an easel, normally at a drive-in movie theatre.

ONE-SHEET
27 x 41″ printed on paper. This is the most common size of poster, intended to be displayed in a glass “marquee” case. It is the most sought after size by collectors. Since the 1980’s most posters are sent to the theatre rolled and maybe slightly smaller measuring 27″ by 40″ and with the advent of backlit light boxes a growing number of modern movie posters are available double-sided and the more traditional single-sided.

THREE-SHEET
41 x 81″ printed on paper. These were printed on two or three separate sheets designed to overlap, few survive. Used for larger advertising spaces, normally posted on walls, perfect for huge movie theatres the drive-in, where people could see them from a distance. From the 1970’s on, three-sheets were sometimes printed in one piece and issued as “international” versions to be used abroad.

BRITISH Posters

BRITISH QUAD
30 x 40″ Most common poster size used in the UK. British Quads are horizontal and may have different artwork to the US one sheet. Like a US one sheet they normally come in two versions. Like a US one sheet they are usually supplied single-sided or more commonly now as a double sided poster.

BRITISH ONE-SHEET
27 X 40″, printed on paper. Very rarely used size.

ITALIAN Posters

ITALIAN LOCANDINA
13 x 28″ six inches shorter than the US insert, very nice size to frame. Italian poster illustrators are some of the best in the industry.

ITALIAN PHOTOBUSTA
18 x 26″ Glossy, high quality, used as lobby cards in Italy. Size may vary, either vertical or horizontal format. There are also double Photobusta or mini Photobusta.

2-FOGLIO (DUE)
(DUE): 39 x 55″ This is the standard poster size used in Italy. Italian poster illustrators are some of the best in the industry.

4-FOGLIO
(QUATTRO) 55 x 79″ Very large Italian poster printed in two pieces, often contains very beautiful artwork.

FRENCH Posters

FRENCH
47 x 63″ (GRANDE) or 24 x 33″ (PETITE) French movie posters normally come with different artwork to either the US or the UK. Like the Italian’s some of the artwork is extrememly beautiful.