This 1972 British comedy film is the third film spin-off from the TV series Up Pompeii! (the previous film being Up the Chastity Belt (1971) set in the Middle Ages which followed on from the Up Pompeii film).
Directed by Bob Kellett and set during World War I, it stars Frankie Howerd as Lurk (a descendant of the slave Lurcio in Up Pompeii), a lowly servant in the household of Lord and Lady Twithampton (William Mervyn and Linda Gray) who is hypnotised by The Great Vincento (Stanley Holloway) and travels to the Western Front to “save England”.
Lurk is inspired to bravery, and upon receiving the German master plan for the entire war – which has through an unlikely series of events been tattooed onto his posterior – is pursued across France by German intelligence.
After breaking into the British military headquarters to deliver the plans into the hands of General Burke (Robert Coote), he is confronted by the sensuous German spy Mata Hari (Zsa Zsa Gabor).
After foiling Mata Hari’s scheme to relieve him of the plan, a hilarious scene develops in which he is pursued by the nefarious Von Gutz (Lance Percival) and his henchmen Donner and Blitzen (Gertan Klauber and Stanley Lebor).
Accompanied by the Can-Can, performed by the Famous Buttercup Girls, Lurk is pursued around the Allied headquarters. Finally, disguised as a tree, he is able to present the plans to General Burke and receives a medal of honour and a promotion. He is therefore able to win the love of his beloved Fanny (Madeline Smith) and defeat the machinations of the wicked Sgt. Major Groping (Bill Fraser).
Bob Hoskins (in his big-screen debut) appears briefly as a recruiting sergeant.
Lurk
Frankie Howerd Groping
Bill Fraser Lord Twithampton
William Mervyn Lady Twithampton
Linda Gray Nigel Phipps Fortescue
Jonathan Cecil Fanny
Madeline Smith Mallett
Nicholas Bennett Newsboy
Mike Grady Cora Crumpington
Dora Bryan The Great Vincento
Stanley Holloway Velma
Veronica Clifford Von Gutz
Lance Percival Recruiting Sergeant
Bob Hoskins Von Kobler
Peter Bull Muller
Vernon Dobtcheff Captain Hamburger
Ingo Mogendorf Donner
Gertan Klauber Blitzen
Stanley Lebor Coporal Lovechild
Percy Herbert Midgeley
David Battley Monique
Hermione Baddeley Frou Frou
Bozena Mata Hari
Zsa Zsa Gabor Her Maid (Magda)
Patricia Quinn General Burke
Robert Coote El Puncturo
Derek Griffiths
After foiling Mata Hari’s scheme to relieve him of the plan, a hilarious scene develops in which he is pursued by the nefarious Von Gutz (Lance Percival) and his henchmen Donner and Blitzen (Gertan Klauber and Stanley Lebor).
