What a Carve Up! (film)

This article is about the 1961 film. For the 1994 novel by Jonathan Coe, see What a Carve Up! (novel).

What a Carve Up!
Directed by	Pat Jackson
Produced by	Robert S. Baker Monty Berman
Written by	Ray Cooney Tony Hilton
Starring	Sid James Kenneth Connor
Music by	Muir Mathieson
Cinematography	Monty Berman
Editing by	Gordon Pilkington
Release date(s)	1961

What a Carve Up! is a 1961 British comedy horror film directed by Pat Jackson. It was released in the United States in 1962 as No Place Like Homicide. The film starred Sid James, Kenneth Connor, Donald Pleasence, Shirley Eaton, Dennis Price, Timothy Bateson, Esma Cannon, Michael Gough, Michael Gwynn, Valerie Taylor, Philip O'Flynn, George Woodbridge, Adam Faith and Frederick Piper.

The film was loosely based on the novel The Ghoul by Frank King. A previous version titled The Ghoul was filmed in 1933 by Gaumont-British Pictures.

Plot

The relatives of Uncle Gabriel are summoned to an old country house in the middle of nowhere to hear the reading of his will. They all stay in the mansion overnight, and one by one the guests are murdered. The remaining guests must solve the mystery as to who is committing these murders before they too are killed.

Characters

• Sid Butler - Ernie Broughton's legal advisor
• Ernest 'Ernie' Broughton - Sid's best friend and house mate. His love interest is Miss Dixon
• Linda Dixon - The extremely attractive nurse who likes Ernie
• Guy Broughton - Ernie's cousin and a heavy drinker
• Everett Sloane - The zombie like solicitor. Sid quotes "He's bonkers enough to be one of the family!"
• Emily Broughton - The mad lady who believes World War I is still on
• Janet Broughton - Guy's hated and grasping sister
• Malcom Broughton - A gifted piano player, says everyone is "Quite mad"
• Dr Edward Broughton - Father of Janet and Guy
• Fisk - The Creepy Butler
• Gabriel Broughton - The mad owner of Black Shore Towers
• Arkwright - A Police Inspector who arrives after most of the household have been murdered

Reception

"At one point in No Place Like Homicide, a giggling maniac threatens to feed the rest of the cast to a pack of starving mongrels. 'Oh, blimey', smirks one of the victims, 'we're going to the dogs'. The rest of the humor in this ostensible British farce is on a similar level. The fact that a film of this degree of vulgarity and ineptitude should have managed a week's booking at neighborhood theatres throughout Manhattan demonstrates just how acute the motion picture product shortage really is." - The New York Times, 13 September 1962.

The film was used extensively within Jonathan Coe's satirical novel What a Carve Up!. The book's protagonist, Michael Owen, becomes obsessed with the film after first watching it as a young boy. Additionally, the last part of the book follows the plot of the film.

DVD release

What a Carve Up! was released on DVD in the UK on 11 August 2008.

External links

• What a Carve Up! at the Internet Movie Database