Noises Off

USA 1992

Dir: Peter Bogdanovich

101 mins

Cast: Carol Burnett, Michael Caine, Denholm Elliott

Rating: M

Noises Off is a hilarious movie about what goes on in preparing an English sex farce for Broadway. Marty Kaplan has adapted Michael Frayn's drama for the screen by switching the setting to America. We watch a bungled dress rehearsal, several live performances in cities across the country as seen from backstage, and an absolutely catastrophic performance where all the chaos occurs on center stage. Displaying the same love of slapstick which made What's Up Doc? into a screen comedy classic, director Peter Bogdanovich triumphs again with this laugh riot! The ensemble class is superb, but curtain calls are definitely in order for John Ritter and Michael Caine.

Frederic and Mary Ann Brussat, Spirituality and practice

Peter Bogdanovich's brilliant direction (on a par with his classic comedy, What's Up, Doc?) has brought a successful adaptation of a stage farce to the screen, conquered the problems of the play-within-a-play format and most important, has lost almost none of the laughs of Michael Frayn's original play. As a result, 'Noises Off' brings laughter from start to finish because Bogdanovich has captured the essence of physical farce and blended it perfectly with superlative comic dialogue.

Joe Pollack, St Louis Post-Dispatch

Noises Off is a raucous, riotous romp that will leave you delightfully giddy from the wonderful on-screen frenzy and non-stop laughs. It's the kind of comedy we haven't seen in a while, one that doesn't rely on righteous dudes or far-out babes to make us laugh. It's all silly farce, played out by an effective ensemble of screen and TV actors.

Dolores Barclay, The Associated Press