Alf (Warren Mitchell) and his family have been turfed out of the slum housing they inhabited and moved to a block of high-rise flats. The family prefer the new home, but Alf loathes it – the nearest boozer is two miles away – and misses his old house in the East End.
To make matters worse, they are on the 19th floor, and Alf is scared of heights.
There are power cuts, too, so the lift never works, and Alf doesn’t even get his breakfast some mornings. Just to compound his misery, his daughter’s ‘randy scouse git’ layabout boyfriend is living there to torment him.
There’s not much plot or any particular rhyme or reason to The Alf Garnett Saga, and it feels less cosy than the previous film, with Alf’s rants more grating than usual at times.
It doesn’t help that Una Stubbs and Anthony Booth are absent as his daughter Rita and son-in-law Mike. These roles are now taken by Adrienne Posta and Paul Angelis.
Posta, a capable and attractive actress of the time, is not given anything to do, and one misses the way Una Stubbs would stand up to Alf and debate his worldview.
Angelis adopts a John Lennon voice – he had previously provided the voice of the cartoon Ringo in Yellow Submarine (1968) – and has Mike spending his days buying drugs and ogling women’s bottoms in the park.
The film even has Alf accidentally having an LSD trip at one point – during which he sees himself crewing for Edward Heath, scoring with Georgie Best, making love to the pneumatic Julie Ege (who appears in a brief cameo as herself) and prancing down to the pub to buy drinks for all the local West Indians. It really doesn’t work at all.
Alf Garnett
Warren Mitchell Else Garnett
Dandy Nichols Rita Garnett
Adrienne Posta Mike Rawlins
Paul Angelis Mr Frewin
John Le Mesurier Mrs Frewin
Patsy Byrne Wally
Roy Kinnear Willis
John Bird Milkman
Roy Hudd Gran
Joan Sims Rex
Derek Griffiths Arthur Askey
Himself George Best
Himself Max Bygraves
Himself Julie Ege
Herself Kenny Lynch
Himself
Director
Bob Kellett
Movie
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There are power cuts, too, so the lift never works, and Alf doesn’t even get his breakfast some mornings. Just to compound his misery, his daughter’s ‘randy scouse git’ layabout boyfriend is living there to torment him.
Mrs Frewin
