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The Secret Policeman's Other Ball Photos

The Secret Policeman's Other Ball (1981)

View All Photos (5)

Movie Info

A who's who of early 1980s British comedy and music celebrities performs a benefit for the English wing of Amnesty International. The eclectic stage performance was directed by actor John Cleese, who also appears in several skits with his former fellow Monty Python members. Musical acts include reunited ex-Yardbird members Eric Clapton and Jeff Beck, as well as Sting, Pete Townshend and others. The comedy line-up includes Rowan Atkinson, Barry Humphries and Alexei Sayle.

Rating:

R
Genre:

comedy
Original Language:

English
Director:

Julien Temple, Roger Graef
Runtime:

1h 31m
Sound Mix:

Surround

Cast & Crew

Monty Python

Julien Temple
Director

Roger Graef
Director

Critic Reviews for The Secret Policeman's Other Ball

All Critics (9) | Top Critics (4) | Fresh (8) | Rotten (1)

The material photographed in The Secret Policeman's Other Ball is sometimes pretty funny, but it tends to get sidetracked by the low-budget videotape recording of the show, and the result is seen through a lens, darkly.

May 13, 2019 | Rating: 2/4 | Full Review…

Roger Ebert
Chicago Sun-Times
Some of the humor slides over into tastelessness, but most of it is rousing fun in the tradition of the groups from which these performers have sprung.

March 26, 2009 | Full Review…

Variety Staff
Variety
Technically smoother than its predecessors, this is otherwise the mixture as before: comics and musicians, sometimes in unfamiliar permutations, doing their party pieces on behalf of Amnesty.

June 24, 2006 | Full Review…

John Collis
Time Out
Though it looks more like a television special than a conventional movie, The Secret Policeman's Other Ball contains some of the funniest sequences to be found in any first-run movie at the minute.

September 18, 2004 | Full Review…

Vincent Canby
New York Times
Combining footage from benefits staged in aid of Amnesty International, this movie is more a souvenir than great cinema.

May 13, 2019 | Rating: 3/5 | Full Review…

David Parkinson
Radio Times
Quote not available.

August 17, 2006 | Rating: 4/5

Lori Hoffman
Atlantic City Weekly
Worth it for the quiz show sketch with Graham Chapman dressed as a schoolgirl who thinks the answer to every question is "Baghdad!"

October 21, 2005 | Rating: 3/5

Jeffrey Westhoff
Northwest Herald (Crystal Lake, IL)
Quote not available.

August 12, 2005 | Rating: 3/5

Emanuel Levy
EmanuelLevy.Com
Quote not available.

January 17, 2005 | Rating: 3/5

Philip Martin
Arkansas Democrat-Gazette