Cocked Hats and Tutus

Begins with the 13th Earl of Gurney returning from a dinner speech and declaring he is getting married again for the sake of the family line. From his discussions with his manservant Tucker it is revealed that three of his four sons have died abroad and only Jack remains as a possible heir.

As part of his duties "Tuck" brings a silk noose and stepladder in order that "The Guv'nor" can relax by indulging in his private sexual fetish of asphyxiating himself by hanging from a noose at the end of his four-poster bed dressed in military uniform and a ballet dress. Things go wrong and the stepladder is knocked away and Tucker returns to find the Earl has hanged himself for the last time.

The funeral service is carried out by Bishop "Bertie" Lampton (Alastair). The Bishop is concerned that he may have performed a ceremony, and allowed burial in consecrated ground, for someone who has committed suicide. Sir Charles Gurney, the Earl's brother, informs him that his half-brother Ralph was found in a cocked hat, underpants and a ballet skirt - which does not seem to indicate suicide. Whilst the family discuss the possible ramifications of the will, the legal heir to the title and possible legal guardian for Jack, the Bishop is more concerned with the implications of cocked hats and ballet skirts.

When the will is read we find to the consternation of the Gurney family that Tucker has been left £30,000 (a substantial sum of money at this time). The Bishop is surprisingly concerned that the Zambeesi Mission was not left a legacy within the will. The Earl's son, Jack, is the sole benefactor of the remainder of the estate, once again to the consternation of the rest of the Gurney family who at least believe that a legal guardian should have been appointed for Jack. In the middle of the family recriminations, Jack's entrance is announced by Tucker smashing a valuable vase (Tucker becomes more and more volatile and bolshy as the film progresses).. Jack appears, looking and acting like Jesus Christ, and his first act is to ask all present to kneel and pray; Bishop Lampton seems oddly uncomfortable in this position. It becomes immediately clear that Jack is not only dressed as Christ but believes he actually is the Lord Almighty. It appears that Jack is a "paranoid schizophrenic" who believes he is God and has been a voluntary patient at a private mental institution but is free to come and go whenever he chooses.

Who is Mad?

As the recriminations commence, the characters try ot establish if Jack is truly mad and, if so, the cause of his condition. Doctor Herder lays the blame squarely on the bullying and buggery in the English public school system (see Memorable Quotes 1 ). Doctor Herder also lays part of the blame on the character of the English aristocracy which suffers from delusions of grandeur (see Memorable Quotes 6 ). Lady Claire Gurney also tries to establish the root cause of Jack's behaviour. Shes asks Jack how he knows he is God. Jack's response is possibly the finest line in the film: "Simple. When I pray to him I find I'm talking to myself" (see Memorable Quotes 2 ).

Jack asks Tucker to destroy the Earl's ceremonial robes to the exasperation of Sir Charles Gurney who memorably states: "Destroying property, all men are equal - you know what this means Claire? He's not only mad, he's bolshy".

In a quiet, personal moment Tucker tells Jack to be on his guard as the family will be plotting desperately to disinherit him. Ironically, however, Jack believes Tucker to be a paranoid schizophrenic for making such outrageous comments. Tucker proceeds to get drunk and reveals to the audience that he has always been a secret socialist "cell" and starts to sing "The Red Flag". When asked the following morning by Lady Gurney what song he had been singing, Tucker sarcastically declares "An old German hymn, madam. Tannenbaum". We see at this time that Jack has taken to sleeping on a wooden cross in the main room of the manor. In the middle of a religious outburst Jack, Tucker and several lady guests (who have come to ask him to make a speech at the local gala) suddenly burst out into a musical "Varsity Rag" number.

In the meantime Sir Charles Gurney has been plotting with his legal advisors. The only solution to relieving Jack of the title and estates is for Jack to have a son, a male heir, to whom they can pass. Jack himself can then be certified. Lady Gurney invites Doctor Herder to the manor to try to arrive at some sort of understanding of Jack's condition. Doctor Herder asks the increasingly drunk and increasingly bolshy Tucker what he thinks of the new Earl only to receive a rahter blunter response than was possibly expected:

"Yes, he's a nutcase. But these titled fleabags are. Rich nobs and priviliged arseholes can afford to be bonkers. They're living in a dream world, sir. Life's made too easy for them. They don't have to earn a living so they do just what they want to. We'd all look pretty crackers if we went about doing just what we want to, wouldn't we, eh?"

Grace Shelley

Sir Charles suggests that Jack should marry. However, the new Earl believes he is already married to a certain Margaritte (although she is really a character from an opera - a figment of his imagination). Sir Charles has plotted well, however, and has hired a "tart", Grace Shelley, to appear to Jack as Margaritte and then convince him to marry her (again!). The pair then play-out a mad courtship dance as bird characters. As she tries to kiss him, Jack declares: "Not here in the garden. The last time I was kissed in a garden it turned out rather awkward". To which Grace Shelley replies: "But Judas was a man".

I can't help but being reminded of John Lennon and Yoko Ono as the couple dance in the garden in the white suit and dress. O'Toole certainly moves like John Lennon.

Dinsdale warns Jack about the plot involving Grace; this disturbs the new Earl greatly. At the same time the Bishop is equally disturbed that Jack should be about to marry a woman of unknown provenance - an actress, God forbid! However, the wedding duly takes place and the Bishop is unceremoniously (forgive the pun) hurried through his paces by the unforgiving participants. There is a nice moment when Jack himself sees a possible "just cause" at to why the wedding should not proceed when he states that some parties (namely the Catholic Church) may perceive him to be already married (to the Virgin Mary).

The Gurneys are relieved that the marriage is immediately consummated and they anticipate that soon a new heir will be born. Grace Gurney is soon pregnant and Doctor Herder starts to carry out a series of experiments in an attempt to convince Jack that he is not God. One of the experiments is where he tries to demonstrate to Jack that he cannot be God because two objects cannot occupy the same space. He then proceeds to show Jack another patient who thinks he is the "High Voltage" God and has electricity coming from his fingertips. Grace gives birth as a surreal God-duel takes place. At the end of the duel Jack no longer believes himself to be God. He now assumes a role of relative normality. The first evidence of this is that he goes out shooting and defends his blood lust by indicating that he just wanted to fit in (see Memorable Quotes 5 ).

Sir Charles, however, has called the Master of Lunacy (an official post) to assess Jack and have him committed. Jack manages to convince the Master of his sanity with the assistance of references to their old school (Eton) boating song and and a patriotic outburst. However, the God of Love, it seems, has been replaced by God Almighty, a cruel God who is also Jack the Ripper. We now have a scene where the Earl of Gurney talks of breaking the common populace on the rack to keep law and order. There is a surreal musical dance scene where members of the Hunt sing "Dry Bones" rather reminiscent of (but preceding) the scene in Dennis Potter's "The Singing Detective".

Lady Claire Gurney and Jack are now mutually attracted to each other but Jack, in his new role as The Ripper, murders her with a knife. Tucker is immediately suspected as a Communist party member and because he was found doing the hokey-cokey at the side of the body! There is a wonderful line, in the light of what we have seen, as the investigating officer asks "Has anything unusual happened here recently? Anything out of the ordinary? He is met by blank faces all around.

Tucker, in the climax of a wonderul performance by Arthur Lowe, is dragged off to gaol where he continues to rant socialist diatribes. Then, amazingly the Earl of Gurney, in his new Jack the Ripper guise, immediately announces he is to take up his place in the House of Lords. In a fit of apoplexy Sir Charles Gurney has a heart attack and as rushed to hospital where he is re-united with Bishop Lampton who now seems to be in a state of dementia. The balance of power seems to have been disturbed and positions of authority are being reversed.

Jack finds an appropriate and welcoming home in the House of Lords as both they and Jack (the Ripper) each seek to reintroduce hanging and corporal punishment to a degenerate society. The House of Lords is depicted as a charnel house of old and decaying skeletons (which may, or may not be an accurate assessment of this institution - depending upon your political persuasion). After a rapturous ovation to his psychotic maiden speech Jack immediately returns home to kill his wife who he now sees as a London prostitute (which is effectively what she was when the film started).