LeonardRossiter.com: Rigsby Online - Rising Damp

Leonard Rossiter.com

Three official web sites in one

His Life & Career - Reginald Perrin - Rising Damp

Rigsby Online: The Authorised Rising Damp web site

Rising Damp: The Movie (1980)
Click on a thumbnail image to view full size. Please wait while the page loads.
Related pages: The Story of the Movie - Script Excerpts - Photos & Stills - Video Clips

Return To Rigsby Online

Title: Rising Damp - The Movie Original Release Date: 1980 Starring: Leonard Rossiter as Rupert Rigsby, Frances de la Tour as Ruth Jones, Don Warrington as Philip Smith, Christopher Strauli as John Harris. With: Denholm Elliott as Charles Seymour; Carrie Jones as Sandra Cooper; Glynn Edwards as Mr. Cooper; John Cater as Bert, the newsagent; Derek Griffiths as Alec; Ronnie Brody as Italian Waiter; Alan Clare as Accordianist; Pat Roach as Rugby Player; Jonathan Cecil as Boutique Assistant; Bill Dean as Workman.	.. .

Scene Guide: (See key below regarding notes in brackets). - A North London suburb with rows of very old, but very large, white-washed houses. One of them is converted into a number of bedsits, and their landlord is Rupert Rigsby. Rigsby is in the front window, secretly watching three girls go by who are wearing very tight t-shirts and even tighter jeans. A damp-proofing van pulls up outside and Rigsby goes out to tell them off for being an hour late, tripping over his cat Vienna in the process. He tells the workman who is carrying the company hoarding advertising their service not to put it up outside the house as Rigsby is trying to let a vacant room. The workman tells him to 'Get Stuffed'. Rigsby calls him riff-raff and dons his driving gloves. He jumps into his MGB GT sports car but only drives around the corner to the newsagents.	. .
- Seeing a traffic warden prowling that side of the street, he produces a large white sticker with the word Doctor printed on it, sticks it onto his windscreen and goes inside the shop.
- The proprietor Bert is handed a postcard by Rigsby advetising his vacant room and asks him to put it in his window. Bert agrees and tells Rigsby that his delivery of 'special' magazines has arrived (ie. porn mags.). He tells him to look behind 'Practical Woodworker' and Rigsby does just that. He becomes lost in his 'entertainment' so much so that he does not see Miss Jones come into the shop for her Woman's Realm. Rigsby jumps and folds up the magazines. He changes the subject by telling her he is advertising the room but will only allow someone refined to be a tenant, as the room is opposite hers. She asks him what the magazines are about, and he says they are 'a hymn of praise to the beauty of the female form'. Ruth gets the picture and leaves in disgust.	. .
- The next day, Rigsby is cleaning his car when he is approached by a man carrying a suitcase and a large artists' portfolio under his arm. He has been to the newsagent and has seen Rigsby's advert.
- Rigsby takes him inside to a small one-room flat, but with all mod. cons. When he says he is a student, Rigsby tries to put him off by saying the room is £12 per week. As the student, John, begins to leave, Rigsby says there is another room and takes him up to the attic flat.	.
- John is pleased with it, and hands over the rent in advance. Only then does Rigsby tell him he is to share the room with someone else. (1). The resident tenant, a black student called Philip, enters and realises Rigsby is trying to get him to share his room again. Rigsby says they will get on OK and leaves.	.
- John follows Rigsby out of the room and down the stairs, protesting. He mellows, however, when Rigsby tells him that Philip is the son of an African chief and has ten wives.
- Later, John is trying to make conversation with Philip, but ends up talking about circumcision and losing virginities (2). Philip dons his pyjamas and goes off to the bathroom before going to bed. Ruth slips in to the room in her nightgown and is startled to see someone else sitting there. John introduces himself and Ruth is pleased to learn he is an art student. She hears Rigsby coming up the stairs. Knowing he gets jealous when she is in Philip's room, she takes drastic action and hides in the wardrobe. Rigsby enters to see how the men are getting on with each other. He smells the strong scent of African violets and realises what's going on. He wishes John goodnight, then opens the wardrobe door and wishes Miss Jones goodnight.	.. ..
- At lunchtime the next day, Rigsby has gone to Ruth's room to invite her out for a spin in his sports car, but Ruth says she has just baked a cheese pie for John and sets off to take it to him. Rigsby's jealousy grows.	.
- Back in his room, Philip is complaining about the lack of space, now that John has set up his easel. John suggests getting Ruth to ask Rigsby if Philip can have the vacant room which, until now, Rigsby has denied Philip, because of its proximity to Ruth's room. Ruth enters with the cheese pie, and Philip turns on the charm, suggesting that if he had the adjacent room to her, he could have plenty more of her pie. Ruth swoons, and Philip goes off to play rugby. Rigsby enters and Ruth tells him she has suddenly changed her mind about going for a drive, and goes off to get ready. Rigsby is surprised, but can't wait to get her strapped in. He tells John she's finally fallen for him.	..
- In the afternoon, Rigsby and Ruth are driving at speed through country lanes (3). Rigsby ignores a 'give way' junction and nearly collides with another car. Rigsby decides to show off and floor the accelerator. After a short time, the canvas roof peels itself off and disappears up the road, and the car splutters to a halt. Rigsby decides the adjacent field is a perfect place for their picnic.	. .
- They sit on a blanket, with sandwiches and a flask of tea. Rigsby turns on the charm by boasting that he knows all about life in the countryside, but fails to acknowledge that the rather large creature behind them is a bull. They soon find out when he starts to charge them, and they only just manage to leap over a gate in time.	.. ..
- When they have returned home, Ruth has changed and gone to watch Philip playing rugby on the local field. RIgsby joins her later and tells her he is an expert on rugby. He even goes so far as to tell a huge team member from Philip's opposing team how to relieve Philip of the ball, but it backfires and the hulk of a man ends up wrestling Rigsby to the ground. Rigsby tells the man off, but is rewarded with a twist of the nose by the rugby player.	.. ..
- Next day, Rigsby enters Ruth's room to find her clad in leotard, and skipping (4). Rigsby asks her politely if she can stop it, as he is getting plaster falling onto his fishfingers. Rigsby rubbishes the fitness craze that's going round, offering himself as an example that it's not needed. Miss Jones disagrees that he is fit and healthy, so Rigsby puts a kitchen chair in front of Ruth and proceeds to raise it by holding one of its legs. He manages it, just, and keeps it aloft until he starts wheezing and going dizzy.	. .
- Meanwhile, in John and Philip's room, John is in a tracksuit and madly lifting a bar with weights. When Rigsby enters, he says John is not made of the right stuff to build up a muscular body, and that he gets tired brushing his hair. Rigsby suggests John should go out and play sport, such as football. This prompts Rigsby to recall his prowess as a footballer and his thoughts on today's game, compared to 'the good old days'. Rigsby then boasts he has perfect reflexes and an 'almost feline grace'. The tenants compare him to his layabout moggy Vienna. Rigsby defends his cat by demonstrating Vienna's reflexes. He holds the cat feet up and drops him, expecting him to turn in mid-air, as cats do. Vienna doesn't. He gives a thud, a painful miaow and scuttles off downstairs. As the cat leaves, Miss Jones enters with a stuck jam jar. John tries to get the lid off and fails, as does Rigsby, and only Philip is actually strong enough to unscrew the lid.	..
- Later, John is setting up Philip's weights in Rigsby's room. The landlord fails to lift the weights, and instead picks up the chest expanders. After nearly dislocating his shoulder with them, he moves onto the hand-held squeeze grips, but he nearly loses consciousness after a few reps. Rigsby insists he is fit, and only needs the weights to keep trim, then admits he was jealous when Philip removed Miss Jones' jam jar lid and thinks he could gain her attention if he were fitter. He finishes off with 'a few' press-ups against the kitchen table, but collapses after one and a half. Philip enters to see if Rigsby is watching the cricket, but he isn't. John says it's because he doesn't like to see England lose. Talk then turns to Mohammed Ali, and Rigsby insists he only wins because he talks them into submission. Again, Rigsby says he was good at boxing, and retrieves a pair of gloves from the kitchen cupboard. Philip challenges him to a match at the local gym, and Rigsby agrees. Meanwhile, John has been given the gloves and has been told by Rigsby to surprise him with a punch, as proof that his reflexes are sharp and he can avoid it. He doesn't, and Rigsby is knocked out cold across the settee.	.. .
- With consciousness regained, Rigsby informs Ruth of the forthcoming bout, and tells her the fight is over her - in the secret hope that she will put a stop to it and save Rigsby's life. But Ruth reaches for her diary and asks Rigsby the time and place, and that she'll be useful to Rigsby as she's good at first aid. Rigsby leaves.	..
- The time of the big fight has arrived, and Rigsby is at the gym. Rigsby learns from John that Philip was an African championship boxer, and Rigsby thinks fast to try to get out of the fight, including jumping in the air so that Philip might punch 'below the belt'. Rigsby defiantly enters Philip's room, but is taken aback when he sees Philip knocking seven bells out of a training 'heavy bag' suspended from the ceiling. Rigsby warns Philip that he could be dangerous 'when the red mists are up' and leaves in panic.	. .
- Ruth is already in the boxing ring when Philip arrives. She is wearing a Mohammed Ali t-shirt, and is overwhelmed that the fight is over her. This is news to Philip, and decides on drastic action. Rigsby emerges from the changing rooms wearing turn-of-the-century vest and shorts, and struggles to get his dressing gown off over his gloves. The fight is refereed by Alec from the gym, another black man, and Rigsby thinks there will be favouritism for Philip. Round One lasts about thirty seconds, and involves Rigsby claiming there is a nail sticking up from the floor so he can get a surprise punch in, and Rigsby ringing the bell himself. John throws a bucket of water over him to cool him down, not that he's worked up a sweat. Round Two is over even quicker, as Philip takes a dive and pulls Rigsby's glove into contact with his own head several times and falls to the floor, pretending to be 'out for the count' (4).	.. .. ..
- Next day, Rigsby is squeezing himself into a shirt and collar, ready to entertain Miss Jones at the restaurant. He fantasises about the two of them in a 1920s scene - him as Rudolph Valentino and Ruth as a woman besotted with him. He leads her round the dancefloor in a sensual tango.	.. ..
- Back to reality, and he goes to see John and Philip for their opinion on his attire for the evening out. (5). They suggest something a bit more modern. Rigsby notices John's ear-ring and wonders what the world is coming to. Rigsby submits to their suggestion, however, and goes off to a tailors to be fitted for a casual jacket and trousers.	..
- The camp tailor offers to help Rigsby off with his trousers, but Rigsby goes off to the changing rooms quickly. He first tries on a pair of tight-fitting, black leather trousers. The tailor pokes his head around the curtain and says Rigsby reminds him of Saturday Night Fever. This makes Rigsby have another fantasy of himself as John Travolta in Grease, and Ruth as Olivia Newton-John in a song routine. He decides on a fawn-coloured suit, and is persuaded to buy a fragrance that supposedly makes its wearer irresistible to women.	.. ..
- Back at home, John and Philip wish him good luck for the evening. Philip gives Rigsby his medallion to wear and John gives him a bottle of calming tranquilisers.	.
- At the restaurant, the setting is perfect (6). They are serenaded by an accordianist and waited on... spoiled only by Rigsby eating of all the asparagus, asking for tomato sauce to put on his pasta dish, dousing the flames of a waiter's zambouka and drinking from the finger bowl. Things were soon to go from bad to worse, for the tranquilisers start to kick in and Rigsby ends up passed out in Miss Jones' lap.	.. ..
- The following day, Rigsby is on the warpath for John, after his tablets ruined his evening out. John says he was only trying to help and manages to escape, leaving Rigsby alone with Philip. He asks his tenant about African rituals for attracting the opposite sex. Philip tells him of the African practice of burning 'love wood' outside a woman's hut, and gives Rigsby a piece, albeit a piece of the wardrobe.	..
- Meanwhile, John has bought a fellow student, Sandra, back to his room to paint her, but she has to hide under the bed when John hears footsteps on the stairs. When Miss Jones enters, trying to find the source of a burning smell, she sends John out to investigate. While Ruth looks about the room for something burning, Rigsby enters, waving his smoking stick of 'love wood' at Ruth. Ruth extinguishes it with a soda siphon and leaves.	.. ..
- She meets a well-dressed man on the stairs, who has come about the vacant room. They are soon passed by Rigsby chasing Philip down the stairs after his 'love wood' stunt backfired. Rigsby is stopped in his tracks, however, by the sight of the dapper gentleman, Seymour. Rigsby instantly shows him the vacant room, and Seymour introduces himself as a former fighter pilot who later went to Africa on missionary work (7).	.. .
- Next day, John is sitting on the riverbank with Sandra, trying to get her to submit to his desires (5). She doesn't. Her father, who doesn't like John 'messing' with his daughter (8), appears from nowhere while walking the dog. He confronts the artist, who manages to screw up a nude sketch of Sandra and throw it in the river before her father sees it. The dog sees it instead, and bounds into the river after it, with Sandra's father in tow.	.. ..
- Later, Rigsby is in the garden shining a pair of shoes. John complains to him that Seymour keeps hogging the bathroom, but Rigsby is having none of it. Philip wagers that Rigsby won't get any rent out of Seymour, either, so Rigsby sets off to prove him wrong.	..
- Knocking and entering, Rigsby hands Seymour his shoes and Seymour asks about the tenants, and especially their financial status. When Rigsby mentions the rent, he makes the excuse he has left his cheque book at the office, and leaves the room.
- Later, in the pub, John and Philip are saying 'I told you so' to Rigsby, when he admits he didn't get Seymour's rent off him. As Philip goes to get the next round of drinks, he realises his wallet has gone. They immediately suspect Seymour, but Rigsby tells them not to be so slanderous. John suggests searching his room while he is out, and Rigsby eventually agrees.	...
- They go back home and enter Seymour's room. Ruth follows them to see what they're up to. As John starts handing out Seymour's jackets for people to search, Seymour returns. Embarrassed, John says everyone is under suspicion, but Seymour agrees that, as a stranger, he must be prime suspect. He insists on being frisked by John, but John finds nothing. Next, Seymour frisks John, and removes Philip's wallet, apparently from John's jacket pocket (7).	..
- The following day, Miss Jones pays Seymour a visit, to apologise for the previous day's events in his room. Seymour sees it as a chance to 'get to know' Ruth better, albeit for her money.
- Rigsby, meanwhile, has collected the milk and newspapers from the step and gone to see John and Philip about yesterday's events. Rigsby now suspects John as being the thief, though Philip is having none of it. Rigsby insists they all go down to see Seymour and apologise.	.
- By the time they enter his room, Seymour is in a passionate embrace with Miss Jones.
- Rigsby storms off to his room and pours himself a stiff drink.
- Even a week later, Rigsby is still drowning his sorrows, in the pub. John and Philip try to cheer him up, and give him some advice on how to win back Ruth's emotions (8).	..
- That night, Ruth is lying awake, listening to late-night radio, when Seymour enters. She immediately surrenders to him, but Seymour says he wishes he could take her away, but he has no money. Ruth gives Seymour a bundle of notes from her bedside drawer, and his mission is accomplished, but not before he has climbed into bed with her. Just then, Rigsby knocks and enters, with a nightcap and two glasses. Ruth jumps up and dons her dressing gown, while covering Seymour's face with a doll's frilly dress. Rigsby pours the drinks and turns on the charm to try to woo Ruth, but she resists him. Eventually, Rigsby and Ruth recline on her bed, but there is a sound of creaking. John and Philip, who are watching through a hole in their floor, suddenly fall through into Ruth's room, and the whole party are covered in plaster and floorboards.	.. .. ..