| The Odd Job | |
| Director: | Peter Medak |
| Producer: | Graham Chapman Mark Forstater Stephen O'Rourke Tony Stratton Smith |
| Starring: | Graham Chapman David Jason Diana Quick Simon Williams |
| Music: | Howard Blake |
| Cinematography: | Ken Hodges |
| Editing: | Barrie Vince |
| Studio: | Charisma Films |
| Budget: | £500,000[1] |
| Distributor: | Columbia-EMI-Warner |
| Runtime: | 87 minutes |
| Country: | United Kingdom |
| Language: | English |
The Odd Job is a 1978 British comedy film starring Monty Python member Graham Chapman.[2] It tells the story of a man named Arthur Harris (Chapman) who is recently abandoned by his wife. He becomes so depressed that he hires an "odd job man" to kill him. Once his wife returns, Harris finds himself unable to cancel the contract.[3]
Following Monty Python and the Holy Grail the members of Monty Python worked on separate projects. John Cleese made Fawlty Towers, Eric Idle The Rutles, Terry Jones and Michael Palin Ripping Yarns, Terry Gilliam Jabberwocky and Graham Chapman The Odd Job.[4]
The concept originated as an episode of the London Weekend Television/ITV series Six Dates With Barker in 1971, written by Bernard McKenna, with Ronnie Barker as Arthur Harris and David Jason as the Odd Job Man (who plays the same role in the feature film).[5] [6] Chapman admired the play and commissioned McKenna to turn it into a feature film script. Chapman raised the budget, which he said was half a million pounds.[7]
The role of the odd job man was originally intended for Chapman's friend, Keith Moon.[8]
Finance came in part from members of the rock groups Led Zeppelin and Pink Floyd. Steve O'Rourke, Pink Floyd's manager, was an execuive producer; so too was band manager Tony Stratton Smith.[9]
The original director was meant to be Cliff Owen but he broke his thigh and had to be replaced. Peter Medak was selected; it was Medak's first feature since Ghost in the Noonday Sun.[10] Two weeks before filming, Medak went to visit Keith Moon in hospital "drying out" so he would be ready for the film. Medak became convinced that Moon would not be able to finish the movie and pressed for him to be replaced. He wrote, "I knew how much Keith was looking forward to the part in the film: I knew that I was right and they were wrong but should I just wave goodbye to the £50,000 I had already spent or make the film and take a chance on it making money? I chose the latter and still wish I hadn't." (Moon died on 7 September 1978). [11]
The film was shot in early 1978 at Shepperton Studios with location shooting around London.[12]
The Daily Mirror called it a "plodding farce".[13] The Sunday Telegraph described it as "no good".[14] The Observer wrote "this unhappy film is like a stale Whitehall farce brought to the screen by Pearl and Dean; I've seen funnier advertisements for Indian restaurants."[15]
The film failed to find distribution in the US because distributors thought it was "too English". This prompted Medak to relocate to the US.[16]
Chapman and MacKenna later collaborated again on Yellowbeard.