Facebook Twitter Instagram YouTube
    Nostalgia Central
    • Home
    • Blog
      • Lists
    • Television
      • TV by Decade
        • TV – 1950s
        • TV – 1960s
        • TV – 1970s
        • TV – 1980s
        • TV – 1990s
      • Comedy
      • Drama
      • Kids TV
      • Variety
      • News & Sport
      • Advertisements
    • Music
      • Music by Decade
        • Music – 1950s
        • Music – 1960s
        • Music – 1970s
        • Music – 1980s
        • Music – 1990s
      • Artists – A to K
        • Artists – A
        • Artists – B
        • Artists – C
        • Artists – D
        • Artists – E
        • Artists – F
        • Artists – G
        • Artists – H
        • Artists – I
        • Artists – J
        • Artists – K
      • Artists – L to Z
        • Artists – L
        • Artists – M
        • Artists – N
        • Artists – O
        • Artists – P
        • Artists – Q
        • Artists – R
        • Artists – S
        • Artists – T
        • Artists – U
        • Artists – V
        • Artists – W
        • Artists – X
        • Artists – Y
        • Artists – Z
      • Artists – 0 to 9
      • Genres
      • Music on Film & TV
      • One-Hit Wonders
      • Playlists
      • Online Radio
    • Movies
      • Movies by Decade
        • Movies – 1950s
        • Movies – 1960s
        • Movies – 1970s
        • Movies – 1980s
        • Movies – 1990s
      • Movies – 0 to 9
      • Movies – A to K
        • Movies – A
        • Movies – B
        • Movies – C
        • Movies – D
        • Movies – E
        • Movies – F
        • Movies – G
        • Movies – H
        • Movies – I
        • Movies – J
        • Movies – K
      • Movies – L to Z
        • Movies – L
        • Movies – M
        • Movies – N
        • Movies – O
        • Movies – P
        • Movies – Q
        • Movies – R
        • Movies – S
        • Movies – T
        • Movies – U
        • Movies – V
        • Movies – W
        • Movies – X
        • Movies – Y
        • Movies – Z
    • Pop Culture
      • Fads
      • Toys & Games
      • Fashion
      • Decor
      • Food & Drink
      • People
      • Technology
      • Transport
    • Social History
      • 1950s Year by Year
      • 1960s Year by Year
      • 1970s Year by Year
      • 1980s Year by Year
      • 1990s Year by Year
      • Events
    Nostalgia Central
    Home»Movies»Movies by Decade»Movies - 1970s
    Movies - 1970s Movies - R 2 Mins Read

    Rentadick (1972)

    Share
    Facebook Twitter Pinterest WhatsApp Reddit Email

    Jeffrey Armitage (Donald Sinden) is a wealthy chemicals manufacturer with two concerns: he suspects that his luscious Swedish wife Utta (Julie Ege) is being unfaithful and he needs to protect his new chemical formula – for an experimental nerve gas that paralyses from the waist down – from Japanese spies, led by Madame Greenfly (Tsai Chen).

    He hires dubious security expert Major Upton (Ronald Fraser) of Upton Rentadick Inc. to address both concerns.

    Upton assigns the virginal Hobbs (Richard Beckinsale) to spy on Utta and the more experienced Simon Hamilton (James Booth), to protect the industrial secrets. Unfortunately, Hamilton is a shady character with a sideline in kidnapping girls for shipment to the Middle East by Sheik Hussein (Michael Bentine) and he accepts a bribe from Madame Greenfly to obtain the chemical formula for her.

    He is assisted by bumbling agency operatives Owltruss (John Wells) and West (Kenneth Cope). Another agency operative, Miles Gannet (Richard Briers), manages to screw up both problems even more.

    The original treatment was titled Rentasleuth and written by Monty Python alumni Graham Chapman and John Cleese. The pair did not get on with producer Ned Sherrin and left the project, removing their names and receiving credit as Jim Viles (Chapman)and Kurt Loggerhead (Cleese).

    The film hasn’t aged well – the concept of female sex slaves for the Middle East, for example, and the Japanese and Arab stereotyping – but if you can overlook these issues (the film is of its time) it’s a mildly amusing watch with a superb cast, including an introductory movie role for television’s Richard Beckinsale who enjoyed great success in Porridge before his untimely death.

    There’s also a sleuth disguised as a pantomime mouse, a stuffed guard dog, the hijacking of an ice cream van, a go-slow of Arab officials at the airport at Neasden (demanding more wives per hour) and fun and games with a few well-aimed squirts of the nerve gas.

    Simon Hamilton
    James Booth
    Miles Gannet
    Richard Briers
    Utta Armitage
    Julie Ege
    Major Upton
    Ronald Fraser
    Jeffrey Armitage
    Donald Sinden
    Madame Greenfly
    Tsai Chin
    West
    Kenneth Cope
    Owltruss
    John Wells
    Maid
    Winnie Holman
    Old Lady
    Patsy Crowther
    Chauffeuse
    Patricia Quinn
    Removal Man
    Michael Rothwell
    Hobbs
    Richard Beckinsale
    Customs officer
    Spike Milligan
    Sheik Hussein
    Michael Bentine
    Reporter
    Penelope Keith

    Director
    Jim Clark

    Related Posts

    • Island at the Top of the World, The (1974)
      Island at the Top of the World, The (1974)
      Set in 1907, this Disney film opens in London, where…
    • Go for a Take (1972)
      Go for a Take (1972)
      An above-average British comedy of its time, Go For A Take runs…
    • Love At First Bite (1979)
      Love At First Bite (1979)
      Robert Kaufman's Love At First Bite is an uneven but frequently…
    • Odessa File, The (1974)
      Odessa File, The (1974)
      Directed by Ronald Neame (The Poseidon Adventure) from a story…
    • Fist of Fury (The Chinese Connection) (1972)
      Fist of Fury (The Chinese Connection) (1972)
      Bruce Lee plays Chen Zhen, the former student of a…
    • Amorous Milkman, The (1975)
      Amorous Milkman, The (1975)
      Randy Milkman Davey (Brendan Price) bites off more than he…
    • Legend of the 7 Golden Vampires, The (1974)
      Legend of the 7 Golden Vampires, The (1974)
      Directed by Roy Ward Baker, this 1974 film is a…
    • Hammer (1972)
      Hammer (1972)
      Tough guy Fred Williamson's breakthrough movie was this below average…

    Share. Facebook Twitter Pinterest WhatsApp Reddit Email
    Previous ArticleLittle-known Facts About the Rovers Return
    Next Article Catlow (1971)

    Comments are closed.

    Follow us
    • Facebook
    • Twitter
    • YouTube
    • Instagram
    You May Also Like
    • Jogging
      Running and sprinting had been around since time immemorial and […]
    • Cabbages And Kings
      1 9 7 2 – 1 9 7 4 (UK) 8 x 25 minute episodes This BBC1 […]
    • Killers From Space (1954)
      Dr Douglas Martin (Peter Graves) is a nuclear scientist working […]
    • Teenage Health Freak
      1 9 9 2 – 1 9 9 3 (UK) 12 x 30 minute episodes Sex, […]
    • Rio Grande (1950)
      Following the American Civil War, the Union turns its attention […]
    • Lethal Weapon 3 (1992)
      Lethal Weapon 3 drags Riggs (Mel Gibson) and Murtaugh (Danny […]
    Twitter Feed
    Please note


    Nostalgia Central covers the period 1950 to 1999 and contains some words and references which reflect the attitudes of those times and which may be considered culturally sensitive, offensive or inappropriate today.
    Popular Tags
    1969 1970 1971 1972 1973 1974 1975 1976 Action Figures Amicus Arcade games Australia Beach movies Beatles Blaxploitation Board games Britpop Canada Crime Disney Doo-Wop Elvis Presley Girl groups Glam Goth Hammer Heavy Metal Irwin Allen Labels Merseybeat Mod revival Motown New Romantic New Wave NWOBHM Oi! One-hit wonders Power Pop Pub rock Punk Radio Scotland Ska Soul music Surf music
    Search Nostalgia Central
    Copyright © 1998, 2022 Nostalgia Central
    • About
    • Contact
    • FAQ

    Type above and press Enter to search. Press Esc to cancel.