Waldorf Salad (Fawlty Towers)

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Fawlty Towers episode
“Waldorf Salad”
Episode no.	Season 2 Episode 3
Writer(s)	John Cleese & Connie Booth
Director	Bob Spiers
Production no.	8
Original airdate	5 March 1979
Episode chronology
← Previous	Next →
"The Psychiatrist"	"The Kipper and the Corpse"
List of Fawlty Towers episodes

"Waldorf Salad" is the third episode of the second series of BBC sitcom Fawlty Towers.

1 Synopsis
2 Cast
3 Plot
4 Trivia

[edit] Synopsis

Two demanding guests check in after 9 p.m. after a gruelling journey from London. They want to have a proper meal but unfortunately the chef stops at 9. Basil tries to convince the chef to stay, but having failed to do so, tries to cook the meal himself.

[edit] Cast

Episode Credited cast:

With:

Norman Bird as Mr. Arrad
Bruce Boa as Mr. Hamilton
Terence Conoley as Mr. Johnston
Anthony Dawes as Mr. Libson
June Ellis as Mrs. Johnston
Dorothy Frere as Miss Hare
Claire Nielson as Mrs. Hamilton
Beatrice Shaw as Miss Gurke
Stella Tanner as Mrs. Arrad

[edit] Plot

Spoiler warning: Plot and/or ending details follow.

The episode begins in the dining room where several of the guests are unsatisfied with the quality of the food and the service. One guest complains that her prawns are off (spoiled), provoking an argument between Basil and her husband due to the fact that they wish the starter (appetizer) to be deducted from their bill. Meanwhile Sybil continues to talk to one of the guests (who appears to become very agitated, due to the fact he would rather be left in peace to read his newspaper) leaving Basil to tend to the guests.

An English woman, Mrs. Hamilton, arrives at reception to check in. A brash American man follows in from the rain and complains about the journey from London (they had to take a "little back street," the M5), and other aspects of English life. Basil insults him to Mrs. Hamilton, only for her to introduce him as her husband. Mr. Hamilton demands that they be given a proper meal, even though they have arrived after 9 pm and the kitchen is closed. Basil refuses, but Mr. Hamilton gives him 20 pounds to keep the kitchen open.

Basil pockets the money and offers a lesser amount to Terry, the chef, to stay for half an hour. Terry initially refuses, saying he has to go to a martial arts lesson, but when Basil offers more (still much less than the 20 pounds he received himself), Terry agrees to stay and cook. Basil learns from Polly that Terry's conflict was actually a date with his girlfriend. In response, he sends Terry off with no money, and plans to do the cooking himself.

The Hamiltons come downstairs for their meal and Mr. Hamilton stymies Basil by asking for a Waldorf salad. Basil, mystified, replies "I'm afraid we're just out of Waldorfs". Basil asks several times for clarification of the ingredients, enraging Mr. Hamilton, who shouts "Celery! Apples! Walnuts! Grapes! In a mayonnaise sauce!"

Basil goes into the kitchen and, unable to find the ingredients for the salad, panics. Sybil says she will handle it, but he remains flustered. Reminding him that the salad is named after the Waldorf Hotel, Basil then asks Mr. Hamilton if he has ever tried a Ritz Salad, made up of the ingredients that are in the kitchen. Keeping up the pretence that the chef is still there, he pretends to loudly berate Terry for not knowing what's in a Waldorf salad. Having been told by Mr. Hamilton that he should "bust [Terry's] ass", he shouts, "I'm going to break your bottom!" He apologises profusely to the Hamiltons and presents them with green salads. Meanwhile Sybil has already prepared and served the Waldorf salad.

Mr. Hamilton confronts Basil

The Hamiltons are happy with their meal, and seem prepared to ignore the mix-ups that have surrounded its production. But Basil is unable to leave things alone and insists on pretending the chef is still there and is responsible for the mistakes. He emerges from the kitchen with a letter allegedly written by Terry, and reads it to the Hamiltons despite the fact they are uninterested and Mr. Hamilton is becoming increasingly agitated. After smoke is seen emerging from the kitchen, Basil returns to the kitchen and pretends to yell at and hit the non-existent Terry.Basil said to the non-existent Terry;'What are you doing?! What do you mean you've burnt it?!!'. Mr. Hamilton storms into the kitchen and sees Basil yelling at nobody. Even when caught out like this, Basil claims that the chef has somehow slipped out into the yard and was always present.

Mr. Hamilton announces that they are leaving and confronts Basil in the foyer. In front of the other guests he tells Basil that his hotel is a disgrace. Other guests join in complaining about the food and the service. Basil responds by telling them that they all have to leave. Sybil challenges him and he decides that instead he will leave, putting Sybil in charge of dealing with the guests and their complaints.

Basil walks outside the hotel to discover it is raining. After a few seconds he rethinks, returns to the hotel and asks for a room. The episode ends with him demanding breakfast in bed and a Waldorf salad with "lashings of hot screwdriver" (a drink which had mystified Basil when ordered earlier by the Hamiltons).

[edit] Trivia

The situation of the episode was based upon a real-life occurrence when John Cleese and the Monty Python team were staying in the Gleneagles hotel. American-born Terry Gilliam was eating dinner in an un-British manner, and Donald Sinclair commented xenophobically about this.
It has been noted that Waldorf Salad has become more famous since the episode was broadcast.^{[citation needed]}
This episode had the working title: "The American"
This episode marks the second appearance of Terence Conoley: the only male actor distinguished enough to appear in more than one episode playing a different character.
Towards the end of the episode an error is made by John Cleese when he says, "you ponce in here expecting to be hand waited on hand and foot." Obviously he should have just said, "waited on hand and foot."