| Work Is a Four-Letter Word | |
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Film poster |
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| Directed by | Peter Hall |
| Produced by | Thomas Clyde |
| Written by | Henry Livings (original play) Jeremy Brooks (screenplay) |
| Starring | David Warner Cilla Black Zia Mohyeddin David Waller Elizabeth Spriggs Alan Howard |
| Music by | Guy Woolfenden, Cilla Black, Delia Derbyshire[1] |
| Cinematography | Gilbert Taylor |
| Editing by | Jack Harris |
| Studio | Cavalcade Films |
| Distributed by | Universal Pictures (USA) |
| Release date(s) | 7 June 1968 (London), 25 September 1968 (USA) |
| Running time | 93 min |
| Country | UK |
| Language | English |
Work Is a Four-Letter Word (also known as Work Is a 4-Letter Word) is a 1968 British satirical comedy film directed by Peter Hall, adapted from Henry Livings' play "Eh?" and starring David Warner and Cilla Black. It was not well-received by critics and is notable for being Black's only starring role in film.
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Everyone is employed by the ultra-modern DICE Corporation but Valentine Brose (Warner) would rather stay at home to tend his psychedelic mushrooms. However, his bedroom is too small and his fiancee Betty Dorrick (Black) wants him to settle down. Accordingly, Brose seeks a job in DICE's boiler-room, a suitable environment to grow his mushrooms.
The plot describes his attempts to get the job, and the conflicts with middle-management, including the personnel manager, Mrs Murray (Spriggs, in her first film role). Having obtained it, Brose is more interested in his mushrooms than tending the boiler, with unforeseen results including a major power cut. The boiler room contains a computer (for some reason), which towards the end of the film is also breaking down.
Brose eventually marries Betty, but is more interested in having her sweep up the boiler room so he can concentrate on his first love, the mushrooms. Eventually he goes haywire and the film ends with Brose and Betty loading up a pram with mushrooms and escaping.
David Warner had established a reputation for playing off-beat roles dating from Morgan: A Suitable Case For Treatment in 1966 and was a member of the Royal Shakespeare Company, already working with Peter Hall.
Cilla Black had not previously had a starring role; she had appeared briefly in 1965's Ferry Cross The Mersey, a vehicle for Gerry & The Pacemakers.[2] She recorded the theme song for the film, having the same title, which was released as the B side of "Where Is Tomorrow?" in 1968;[3] the single reached number 39 in the UK Charts.[4][5] This would be Black's only starring role in film.[6][7]
Most of the remainder of the cast were members of the Royal Shakespeare Company (Waller, Howard, Church et. al.) or stalwarts of British realist drama (Gladwin).
At the time Variety magazine compared the film thematically with Charlie Chaplin's Modern Times but was critical of its "irritating air of improvisation" and described the storyline as "thin", albeit praising some of the off-beat situations as "very funny".[8]
Leslie Halliwell was even more scathing, describing it pithily as a "weakly futuristic industrial fantasy which the author would probably claim to be about lack of communication. Bored audiences might have a similar view".[9]
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