Customer Reviews

Lipstick on Your Collar [DVD]

5 star:		(20)
4 star:		(7)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I agree with the last reviewer. This is a series which I made a point of watching. The faultless cast includes a young Ewan McGregor and the excellent Roy Hudd. It must be over 10 years since I've seen it and I'd like to watch it again. Shame there is no DVD release as yet.

I had given up that this amazing and unique series, would EVER be released on DVD. I remember watching when it was originally shown on Channel 4 in the early 90s; it was so different and I was immediately hooked. I had some episodes on VHS, but they died many years ago, so I am delighted to see a DVD release on the way, so I can enjoy it all over again.

The series is set in the mid-1950s during the Suez crisis. The story revolves around Mick Hopper (played by Ewan McGregor in his first major role), a young man who is doing his national service in a Whitehall military office. Hopper has a habit of day dreaming when he's supposed to be translating Russian military documents and as his mind drifts off, he amuses himself by imagining his colleagues breaking into song in surreal fantasy sequences, lip synching along to popular songs of the time. These segments work really well and are great fun to watch. There are many fantastic characters of note, great music, great costumes and atmospheric sets. The cast is faultless. Apart from McGregor, Giles Thomas, Louise Germaine and Douglas Henshall as the main characters, look out for memorable performances from the likes of Roy Hudd, Maggie Steed and Bernard Hill.

The series was written by the great Dennis Potter and was his last production before he died in 1994. Potter himself did national service during the 1950s.

Highly recommended!!

Finally! One of the best Potter series ever made and it is now on DVD. I watch this back in 1993 and I guess I was maybe a bit too young. However, since then I've had this on a beat up old VHS personal recording, from the original Channel 4 broadcast. And it's almost dead, now I get to have a shiny DVD.
This show was so out there even for 1993. The winged naked girl with the phallic snake is cringeworthy and yet rather funny. And watching the entire cast burst into song at any given moment is like Bollywood set in 50s England.
Not only is the show fantastic to watch, the music is great to, songs like; Earth Angel and of course lipstick on your collar by Connie Francis. I guarantee if you are Potter fan you'll love this.
Enjoy!

So happy this has finally been given a DVD release, I still have it on double VHS and had pretty much given up hope of ever seeing it re-released.

I am a massive fan of Dennis Potters work and I would put this right up there with The Singing Detective, if you have never seen it buy it now!

A great series that I always used to rush home for. I never really got into the "singing detective" but I really enjoyed this. The ensemble cast gives great performances with some very good singing from ecceleston> Roy hudd never fails to give of his very best in every role he does. Captivating fantasy sequences with superb colour reproduction on every scene. Top this off with a dennis Potter script and you know you're in for treat. Get in the popcorn and Beer and settle down for a real treat!.

This is a brilliant teleplay, its fun and liveliness making it definitely one of Dennis Potter's more accessible. It lacks the misanthropic loathing of humanity that informs so much of his work, making it more of a vibrant romp than, say, Pennies From Heaven or The Singing Detective. Ewan MacGregor is as charming as you could want him to be, and the musical numbers seem to make more sense here than in some of Potter's other works. We still have the insistence that popular music drives our lives and our reactions to events--here the argument is between MacGregor's character and the American girl who captivates him; secondary characters are more nuanced than in other Potter plays, and we don't have quite the feeling that each person is completely isolated from the rest of the world. Many, if not most, of the characters have some redeeming quality--even the brutal and abusive Pete shows an almost redemptive human side. Yet, while not completely isolated, we still see the inability people have to truly connect with one another, and the disappointing tendency we have of projecting our ideals onto people who never entirely merit the golden light we cast them in. Thus we have, ultimately, another heartbreaking glimpse into Potter's all-too-apt appraisal of humanity; this one just doesn't leave us quite so raw and bleeding as others do.

its a dennis potter story so people should know what to expect
I like the way his stories transfere to the screen and I was not disappointed
but like all authors he is not to everyones taste

Very entertaining and emotive of the period. I watched it on TV originally and had forgotten how much I enjoyed it.

Dennis Potter again triumphs with the third in his musical trilogy of films after the success of Pennies from Heaven and the Singing Detective.

Casting 4 new actors Ewan Mc Gregor, Louise Germaine and Giles Thomas in the lead roles along with Douglas Henshall and with seasoned actors such as Roy Hudd, Clive Francis and more, guaranteed a solid basis for this production. The new talent certainly did not disappoint, indeed, they shone in their roles, Ewan McGregor in a pre-Trainspottiing role has enjoyed the most success to date of those four. A pity Louise Germaine has not made more film appearances post Lipstick,as her portrayal of Sylvia in this film was right on the money. Giles Thomas plays his role to the fullest too. Jim Carter also makes an appearance as a Police Detective, after his earlier role in the Singing Detective.

As ever with Dennis Potter, you get shrewd observation - of people, their behaviour, places, events. In the superb sets constructed for this production, really look at the backgrounds in the sets, the faded curtains the peeling wallpaper, the office set, nothing fails here - the era of 1956 is visually presented in perfection.

An era of post war Britain, a bit shabby around the edges, no easy money here, just hard work and little further on than in 1939 just prior to WW2.

A nod to the later 1950's music is the inclusion of a re-creation of the 2I's club in Old Compton Street, Soho, the birthplace of British Rock and Roll where many of the late 50's stars were discovered, Cliff RIchard, The Shadows, etc.

As with the earlier plays from this Trilogy, Dennis Potter does not fail to bring us a musical cornucopia of music from the era. From the seemingly old hat Wurlitzer tunes from Harold Atterbow's cinema organ played by Nigel Ogden to the Elvis Presley and contemporary artists, you get some great old songs plus the expected vignettes against the music, acted out by the cast, gems include the routine to the song 'Don't be Cruel' which really is great!

The choreography and ideas for these vignettes are masterpieces themselves and these songs are on the Special features section in their own right as well as appearing in the film, a great idea here!

This production is great nostalgia and very well presented, it is great that it is now out on DVD after so many years.

If you are into scriptwriting, watch and learn from the master that was Dennis Potter, a true genius.

The soundtrack is excellent too and available on CD which I would further recommend.

Saw this years ago and am happy to have my own copy. Love Dennis Potter. I have not been able to get this in the US.