Get Charlie Tully (1972) User Reviews (18)

Typical 'seventies Emery-style romp

[naseby · 7/10 · 24 September 2008]

Dick Emery was another 'seventies comedian very well admired at the time, and like all the British regulars, managed a TV show (BBC) which had many of his own characters at his disposal, featuring in sketches. This film was able to highlight some of them (Especially the Mandy Dunnit one, who gave the film its title with her catchphrase).

The plot is fairly okay, about a clever conman (Emery) and his pal (Fraser) who, much like the tricksters who sell London Bridge to anyone who's daft enough, try out the same scams. As the opener shows, they 'set up' the marriage of an Italian to Princess Anne. Naturally, when the scam's exposed, all too late of course and £500,000 less, the Italians have employed their mafia chums to get the two tricksters. In the meantime, Emery tries another scam that of selling a dog to an unwise American tourist couple - even though he's £250,000 better off - he just can't resist it being the confident 'confidence trickster' he is. This lands him in court, Fraser's nicely holding the money for him when he comes out of prison. Fraser has hidden the loot in a Swiss bank account and in the meantime, the mafia have caught up with the pair, actually knock down a building on top of them, leaving Fraser dead and Emery to just escape, to try to find the money with the last clue/words Fraser had to say ("On the back of...").

After chasing around clues and red herrings, he eventually finds out the Swiss bank account number is tattooed on to the bottom of one of 'Casanova' Fraser's girlfriends - along with another three girlfriends who have more numbers on their behinds also! The mafia realise they have bungled, in killing Fraser and now state to their minions that Emery has to be kept alive, to enable the money to be recovered, before he's wasted.

Of course, retrieving the tattoos is going to be difficult and this is where all manner of scrapes from Emery happen in the film but he manages it. Though he falls foul of the local hoodlum, Sid Sabbath (played well by Derren Nesbitt) because one of the girls with a tattoo is his sister!

This sets up Sabbath to issue his orders to kill Emery as well as the mafia on his tail! And in turn, the mafia wipes out nearly every man in Sabbath's firm, leaving Sabbath to think it's Emery who's wiped his men out!

Sabbath himself is finally killed by the mafia, the latter catch up with Emery but after his pleading, realise his con-man talents can help them and he's given a new lease of criminality with the best support!

It was a watchable film, amusing but no more than that. Probably not worth buying, but had a fair plot and welcome on TV at least. Some things seem strange, like Fraser as a casanova, with especially ladies a lot younger than himself and without meaning to be too personal far too ugly for such a portrayal (I don't know if it's jealousy!) but then again, this is meant to be farce!

The cheek of it!

[hitchcockthelegend · 6/10 · 3 October 2015]

Ooh... You Are Awful, but I like you! This was the catchphrase of the comedian Dick Emery. Emery became a household name in 1960s/70s British light entertainment. There was a time when the likes of Emery and Mike Yarwood seemed to constantly be on the radio or television, doing their thing. Chances are that if you were watching, listening and enjoying back then, then there's a good chance you will like this film outing for Emery.

Plot involves a con-man caper scenario where Emery plays Charlie Tully, who along with his side-kick Reggie Peek (Ronald Fraser), manages to con half a million pounds out of two Italians. But circumstances lead to Charlie doing a short stint in jail and after Reggie is killed, Charlie has to locate the bank account number where Reggie stashed the cash. The number, as it transpires, has been tattooed over the derrières of four beauties once involved with Reggie. Cue Charlie having to use his cunning number of disguises to reveal the special code. But others are on his tail as well...

It's as corny as it sounds, a little bit of innuendo here and there, some nudity and cheeky asides, while Emery gets to run through his various characters in search of the golden bottoms! It's a hard sell to anyone not familiar with the work of Emery and the era of British film it was made in, but it's a fun enough romp, even if it's instantly forgettable once over. 6/10

Not too bad -- but not too good either!

[JohnHowardReid · 6/10 · 5 March 2016]

The screenplay here seems to have been primarily designed to allow Dick Emery to slip into as many disguises as possible. This feat it certainly does well, but unfortunately it falls somewhat short just about everywhere else. The credits sequences are the dullest I've ever seen, and while the movie certainly improves after that, it nosedives again with the demise of its most interesting and colorful character, namely Reggie Campbell Peek, played by Ronald Fraser. All the same, it's still moderately suspenseful and the action spots are staged in a reasonably exciting manner. The girls are rather nice too, but lovers of wit and comedy are still in for a big disappointment. Fortunately, Emery himself displays a bouncy, never- say-die personality and manages to keep the movie afloat, even when the dialogue is at its shallowest. The scenes in which he impersonates a doddering butler are the film's funniest, but the rest of his material doesn't even halfway approach this standard. The Victoria Station scene, for instance, could have been amusing, but it is muffed by Cliff Owen's leaden direction. Fortunately, the scenes in the Police Academy, with its most unlikely cluster of beauties, will at least delight women lovers, but generally when the film tries to be risqué, it is at its flattest and dullest. Fortunately, these moments are not too many, although there are enough clumsy attempts to justify the film's title and publicity.

Jo & co make an ass of themselves

[ian j bell · 4 April 2002]

A real hoot as barefaced on artist Charlie Tully (Dick Emery) goes on the run after pulling a fast one on the Mafia.

To cop it all, old pal Reggie has gone and bedded Jo Mason, nubile sister of London gangster Sid Sabbath. Reggie stashes their money in a Swiss account before tattooing the number on his girlfriend's bottom, only to find his own number is well and truly up.

Learning of his friend's plight Charlie sets to work for his share of the cash, donning an array of disguises as he makes the best of a bum deal.

It's seaside humour all the way as he ticks off the gags one by one on his way to claiming back the loot.

But of course, not everything goes according to plan. "I'm not that sort of girl," Jo Mason primly warns his bogus solicitor. Then again, however ... a share of the spoils calls her bluff, and as she bares all for the camera a quick peep at her bare bottom proves very costly as her psychotic brother catches him at it, leaving him more than just the Mafia to worry about.

This is one the Carry On team would have killed for. Enjoy

All The Joy Of Annihilation

[editor-107 · 7/10 · 19 November 2006]

I remember this film vividly which I saw as a 12 year old.

It is true to say that much of the set gags were somewhat gaudy humour and many of the scenes are contrived to allow Emery to show off his various characters doing their set pieces that we had seen a ten dozen times before in his TV series. Even so, the movie has one central saving factor that made it a hoot. It is how the central character is able to walk through endless assassination attempts unscathed as the two criminal gangs out to kill him keep mutually liquidating each other in the most amusing of manners.

ll-in-all, worth seeing, but not worth busting the bank to buy on ebay.

ooh you are awful

[gorytus-20672 · 7/10 · 19 March 2022]

March 2022

The Uk version is called "ooh you are awful" rather than the title thats on imdb.

A British comedy starring Dick Emery as a con man and on the whole its very likeable, good but not great.

The main interest for me about this now is the fact that there was a film made in Hong Kong called "aces go places" or "mad mission" depending on the version you are watching, that uses this as its template, that is superior to this film and features lots of James Bond gadgets as well as the comedy and action. Aces go places was very successful and in fact was followed by 4 sequels, i think those 5 films are all great.

As for OOh you are awful, yes i like it but as i said its not the best.

7.5 out of 10.

Emery Time

[Prismark10 · 5/10 · 30 January 2016]

Just before he died Dick Emery in a television interview lamented his forays into film were not successful, commercially and critically and it was now too late.

Emery died several months later. Ohh... You are Awful is now a rare chance to see Dick Emery's comic creations as his shows are so rarely repeated.

This is a saucy caper comedy with Emery playing chirpy con man Charlie Tully who is always on a swindle which includes persuading the son of a wealthy Italian family that marriage to Princess Anne is available at a price or a dowry.

With the aid of his womanising friend Ronald Fraser they swindled £500,000 out of the Italians who have hotfooted to the Mafia for revenge.

Charlie gets arrested at the Airport as he tries to sell a bulldog to some American tourists when he meets up with Fraser after his release from prison all he knows that Fraser deposited the money in a Swiss bank account before the Mafia henchmen knock Fraser off.

Charlie needs to track down some tattoos on some ladies Fraser has had in recent months which is actually on their rear and will tell Charlie the actual bank and account number. As he tries to track down the ladies he also falls foul of a local cockney gangster.

Emery gets to play his famous comedy characters such as Mandy and Lampwick during his quest.

For non Emery fans this would just be a dated British comedy with plenty of Carry On innuendo. Some of it really feels icky. Ronald Fraser looks revolting with all those poor tattoos supposedly with the names and phone numbers of his conquests.

Only in the mind of a desperate casting agent would Fraser ever be regarded as a ladies man. Derren Nesbitt who plays the cockney gangster would had been more suitable in that role.

Emery is having a hoot playing his comedy characters but really it is not funny enough despite a decent story.

Anyone for Dick?

[kittenkongshow · 5/10 · 1 December 2018]

Dick Emery is rarely seen these days as the P.C. backlash would be huge, his characters beloved at the time would now be out of step with modern expectations - A Pity really.

And so to the film...made at the height of TV to Film transfers it tells of Charlie Tully's attempts to find where his late partner had placed the bank details of a job they pulled...they just happen to be on 4 girls bottoms.

Saying that it's still quite an innocent film - The brief shots of bottoms are non sexual - I wonder if a few years on in the post confessions world it would have been such.

Emery runs through several of his characters during his search in this farce which is entertaining if light.

A product of a time sadly passed.

Starts well....

[rocknrelics · 5/10 · 6 September 2020]

I love Dick Emery's TV shows , but this is nowhere near the same quality.

It does start well, but soon runs out of steam, and the fact some of his regular characters are missing in action doesn't help.

Worth a one time watch, but it isn't something most people will find themselves going back to.

Classic Emery characters and jokes..

[DavidHB · 9/10 · 6 August 2006]

If you are a fan of Dick Emery then this will appeal to you. I was 10 when this film first came out so it was the normal thing on television to see the kind of jokes and cheeky innuendo that was typical of the 70's.

And of course we get to see a lot of bums as Charlie(Emery) looks for tattoos on the girls bums that added together give him a swiss bank account where his partner in crime stashed the cash after they conned an Italian by getting him to pay up front for a supposed wedding to Princess Ann!

The best joke has to be where he told Pat Combes what happened to his partners ashes.. I wont say , watch the film..I think it was a classic for Emery fans, maybe now, the jokes appear a bit dated, but I love it.

Similar jokes alongside the Carry On films..but this has a proper story..

Insipid

[Leofwine_draca · 4/10 · 4 October 2015]

Almost every UK comedy show seemed to get a filmed version back in the early 1970s, and Dick Emery's sketch show was no exception. OOH...YOU ARE AWFUL is a film which brings the comedian's own unique brand of smut to the big screen, complete with all the saucy innuendo and cross-dressing you could hope for.

In fact, this turns out to be a rather disappointing little film, and insipid with it. The problem is that there's far too much of the complicated plotting, and very little in the actual way of laughs. The story is about a hidden fortune and the continuing attempts to retrieve it, but the problem is that a particular woman must be found with a particular tattoo on her bottom. I'm sure that's similar to a storyline in a spaghetti western I saw, and just as silly.

The acting in this film is pretty routine, with only a couple of familiar faces like that of Ronald Fraser, Pat Coombs, and the ever-nasty Derren Nesbitt enlivening the screen. Watch out for Pete Walker's muse, Sheila Keith, in her cameo as a magistrate. As with all early '70s British comedies, there's a bevy of beautiful female faces, attempts at sniggering humour, and a deep sense of time and place, but overall it's not much cop.

Great plot not fully thought through

[alaneobrien · 21 October 2001]

Dick Emery plays all of his most loved characters in this film. The plot revolves around Emery and his recently deceased former partner in crime. Eight women have tattoos on their bums which Emery has to find. It is actually a very clever and original plot. It would be ideal for a remake by Austin Powers. I have a feeling it could have been funnier though; probably by NOT including all of Emery's TV characters. Sometimes they appear in a very unnatural way.

Dick Emery's comedy translates less well to a feature length

[vampire_hounddog · 3/10 · 9 October 2020]

A London confidence trickster, Charlie Tully (Dick Emery) uses a variety of disguises to carry out his con tricks. When Reggie (Ronald Fraser), his randy colleague and sidekick is killed he discovers that the clues to the combination to a safe are tattooed on the buttocks of a number of Reggie's female conquests.

Not really a saucy comedy as such, but a comedy that definately has something of the saucy seaside postcard about it, but is both dated and works less well today. Emery was better in the short sketch shows he did in the 1960s and 70s. The whole effort also seems rather dull.

This Film Made The Headmaster Blush!

[ShadeGrenade · 8/10 · 10 August 2006]

Over the years, many television comedians have tried to make the jump into movies, with varying degrees of success. Morecambe & Wise made three vehicles, but never seemed to find the right one. Peter Cook and Dudley Moore fared somewhat better with 'Bedazzled' ( 1967 ), but went downhill from there. More recently, Harry Enfield came unstuck in 'Kevin & Perry Go Large', and the less said about Rik Mayall and Ade Edmondson's 'Guest House Paradiso' the better.

In 1972, Dick Emery starred in this racy comedy, written specially for him by his regular writers, John Warren and John Singer. It cast him as 'Charlie Tully', a Cockney con man with a unique talent for getting the rich to part with their money. They believe everything he says.

With his friend Reggie Campbell-Peek ( Ronald Fraser ), they swindle £500,000 out of an Italian millionaire by pretending to be representatives of the British Royal Family. Naturally, said millionaire is not happy and calls on the Mafia.

Charlie is arrested at Heathrow Airport and months later emerges from jail to find Reggie has deposited the money in a Swiss bank. Before he can tell him more, he is killed when part of a building collapses on him.

Not only is the Mafia after Charlie but also London gangsters headed by Sid Sabbath ( Derren Nesbitt ), an outfit which, according to Charlie 'makes the Kray Twins look like The Beverley Sisters'.

Charlie tracks down four of Reggie's old girlfriends, each of whom has a portion of the name of the bank and account number tattooed on her posterior. Each murder attempt on Charlie is thwarted by the 'London Family', who want him alive long enough to find out where the money is...

I have fond memories of the first time I saw this. It was December 1974 and, as a traditional end-of-term treat, we got a film at school. I don't know who selected this, obviously someone must have thought it would be cosy family entertainment. The draughty dinner hall was full of red faces ( mostly the teachers ) which got redder as the film, with its cartoon violence, female nudity ( including Liza Goddard ) and over-ripe innuendo, progressed. Of course we dirty-minded kids loved every wicked minute of it!

Warren and Singer's inventive script gives Emery full rein to display his talents for multi-characterisation ( old favourites such as 'Mandy', 'Lampwick', 'Hettie The Spinster' appear. Pity room was not found for 'The Rev. Chislet' and 'Bovver Boy' ), and is helped by Cliff Owen's glossy direction. Christopher Gunning's music is good too, at times you can pick out snatches of the 'Poirot' theme to be!

The excellent supporting cast included Ronald Fraser, Pat Coombs, Derren Nesbitt, Cheryl Kennedy ( nice bum, Cheryl ) and Norman Bird amongst others.

Yes, its dated and sexist, but still good fun. The only negative point would be the somewhat flat ending in which Charlie, dressed as a priest, tries to sell the Sistine Chapel to a couple of American tourists. I would have liked something more akin to the finale of 'The Italian Job'. It is strange though that this film did not lead to others for the star. He resumed his television series, and stayed with it until his death in 1983.

"But I Like You"

[ygwerin1 · 8/10 · 6 September 2020]

Just watching this on Talking Pictures TV Channel, its just my cuppa char as I have always loved Dick Emery.

The movie plot is totally inconsequential and only really serves as a vehicle, for some of Dick Emery's most famous and for me favourite characters.

It's absolutely yonks since I've seen his show on the box or him for that matter, it was one of my favourite TV comedies.

Of course now it is surprising that any TV channels will bother to screen it all, and the Channel even announced a Disclaimer before the film started. 'Some of the films scenes could cause offence, to modern audiences' or some such tosh was announced. Presumably to warn current movie goers of the perils of viewing, let alone heaven forfend actually enjoying a 1970's comedy film.

Give them an Oscar!

[Ginger-20 · 10/10 · 4 February 1999]

There is never a dull moment in this film. I have seen it many times and expect to see it a few more before its interest starts to pall. Dick Emery and the team should get a posthumous Oscar!

Unfunny innuendo and smut typical of the period - likely for Emery fans only

[bob the moo · 13 April 2004]

Charlie Tully and Reggie Peek are confidence tricksters who pull off a big score when they con a rich Italian family out of half a million pounds by pretending to arrange a meeting with the Royal family. At the airport, Charlie can't resist conning a couple of tourists out of £200 but gets caught in the act. While Reggie flees the country with the cash, Charlie gets six months. Reggie puts the money in a Swiss account but, before he can tell Charlie the details, he is killed. Charlie finds that Reggie has tattooed clues on the asses of four girls he slept with in the past few months - and sets off to find them.

With the thinnest of plots (but the most complicated set up) this film allows Emery to wheel out the characters he was famous for in an uniquely British `romp' with heavy smut and innuendo. Needless to say it isn't very clever or funny and it probably requires you to be a fan of Emery's (and even then.). The story is not important but it is way too elaborate for a series of impressions and jokes revolving around girls' *rses! The fact that Charlie has several groups of criminals after him is too complicated considering it is only used to set up a few gags with Charlie's unofficial minders.

I have never been a big fan of Emery - he was before my time and his brand of impressions and innuendo have been done better by others; if you were looking back for an example you likely wouldn't look to him. He does have some talent but the material isn't very sharp and I just wasn't laughing. Ronald Fraser is amusing even if his tattoos looks like a child has put them on with a felt tip pen and the rest of the cast just mug around. I know this film is over 30 years old and body shapes have changed (in terms of what is the media's ideal) but, for a film that focuses on women's bums, it would have been nice if more than 1 of the four actually had a cute one!

Overall this is a very unfunny film that will only appeal to fans of Emery and even then I wonder how good they would think this is. The plot is convoluted for such a silly film and the majority of the supposed laughs are drawn from smut and innuendo that didn't make me laugh.

A British Comedy Classic

[ncb-46269 · 8/10 · 9 February 2024]

Don't miss out on this highly enjoyable early seventies comedy gem. One of the very best small to large screen British comedy films of the sixties & seventies. Suspend all your usual prejudices & enjoy a cleverly scripted & well acted piece of fun. This picture is innocent fayre, not really smutty as some claim, & pretty much good family comedy entertainment. Dick Emery is at his usual quality best (with regular characters to enjoy) & the supporting cast are a who's who of light & comedy British entertainment from the day.

Do yourselves an enormous favour & give this picture a whirl, you will not be disappointed.