ARE YOU BEING SERVED (1977) MOVIE POSTER, DAYBILL, BRITISH COMEDY
Size AU Daybill Post-War (13" x 30")
Are You Being Served (1977) Movie Poster, Original Daybill, Starring John Inman, Mollie Sugden, Frank Thornton, Directed by Bob Kellett is in Very Fine- condition. Movie Poster and Condition Condition:...
Are You Being Served (1977) Movie Poster, Original Daybill, Starring John Inman, Mollie Sugden, Frank Thornton, Directed by Bob Kellett is in Very Fine- condition.
Movie Poster and Condition
Condition: This Original Daybill is presented in Very Fine- condition, Folded twice as issued. Subtle creasing in a few areas (see images). Two brown small spots: one right side above '?', second visible on back at bottom. Corner crease bottom left. This original daybill poster is currently stored folded and will be shipped in an acid free polyprop bag with acid free backing board. This vintage British comedy poster represents a treasured piece of 1970s cinema memorabilia from one of Britain's most beloved television adaptations.
Movie Synopsis
Are You Being Served? is a 1977 British comedy film directed by Bob Kellett, based on the enormously popular BBC television sitcom of the same name. The staff of Grace Bros. take a trip to Costa Plonka while the department is being remodeled. This British comedy classic brings the beloved characters from London's Grace Brothers department store to the big screen in their first and only theatrical adventure.
The film stars the original television cast, including Mollie Sugden, John Inman, Frank Thornton, Trevor Bannister, Arthur Brough, Wendy Richard, and Nicholas Smith. John Inman reprises his iconic role as the flamboyant Mr. Wilberforce Clayborne Humphries, the senior menswear assistant whose catchphrase "I'm free!" became a cultural phenomenon. Mollie Sugden returns as the formidable Mrs. Betty Slocombe, the head of the ladies' department, known for her ever-changing hair colours and her beloved pussy cat.
In this feature film version of the popular BBC sitcom, the staff of Grace Brothers go on holiday to Costa Plonka, where they find themselves in the middle of a revolution. While London's Grace Brothers department store undergoes renovations, the staff is treated to a continental holiday in sun-kissed Costa Plonka where they tangle with the local cuisine, swap cheeky lust letters—and are caught in the middle of an armed rebel insurrection.
The supporting cast includes Frank Thornton as the pompous Captain Stephen Peacock, the floorwalker who fancies himself as military material, and Trevor Bannister as the cheeky junior salesman Mr. Dick Lucas. Wendy Richard appears as Miss Shirley Brahms, the cockney junior saleswoman, while Arthur Brough plays the elderly and often confused Mr. Ernest Grainger. Nicholas Smith rounds out the main cast as the nervous manager Mr. Cuthbert Rumbold.
The film also features notable guest appearances, including Andrew Sachs was hired as Carlos, the Spanish manager of Costa Plonka's Don Barnardo Palace, to capitalise on his then-current fame as hapless hotel waiter Manuel in the British TV series Fawlty Towers (1975), which was still being broadcast on television when this movie was made and released. This clever casting decision added extra comedic appeal for British audiences familiar with Sachs's Manuel character.
The film was adapted from the successful stage version of the show, which played at Winter Gardens, Blackpool. The film was directed by Bob Kellett and maintained the television series' signature style of innuendo-laden dialogue and workplace comedy. The movie captured the essence of the original series while expanding the scope beyond the confines of the department store setting.
Are You Being Served? the movie remains a cherished example of 1970s British cinema and serves as a delightful time capsule of the era's comedy sensibilities. For fans of the television series, this comedy film provides an extended adventure with their favourite characters in an exotic setting, complete with the show's trademark double entendres and character-driven humour that made the original series a long-running success.
To find out more about Are You Being Served (1977) click here to go to IMDB.com.
Special Notes
Images may have a small 'MPA' digital watermark and this does not appear on the poster. Posters are being held by magnets in the corners to take photographs, so you may see some magnet and shadows from the magnets in these areas. The magnets are not included in the sale of the item.
Postage, Insurance & Your Country Taxes
Postage costs are quoted for this item, include insurance up to AUD$100, but if you reside outside of Australia, the price does not include any import taxes/fees that you may be required to pay when the item reaches your borders. Please check with your local authorities for any additional taxes or fees. If you would like full insurance coverage for your purchase, please message me and I would be happy to quote the additional cost (estimate is AUD$2.50 p/AUD$100 or 2.5% of the item value, up to a maximum item value of AUD$5,000).
FAQ
At Movie Posters Australia, the love and conservation of movie posters comes first, and we like to share this passion. Our commitment to quality means we will provide high quality memorabilia to our customers. Posters are carefully chosen and authenticated to ensure originality and value. We want our customers to trust MPA, so we always try to be as open and transparent as we can, provide detailed condition information and images, to ensure customers are comfortable and confident in their purchase.
While the industry does have a few condition rating standards, there is no movie poster condition rating system that has become the accepted standard world wide. This unfortunately makes condition terms vary from movie poster dealer to movie poster dealer. Terms like Mint, Near Mint, Very Fine, Fine, Very Good, Good, Fair, Poor, seem to be universal to most condition rating standards, but most standards still lack definition about what and how many flaws/defects/damage defines a specific condition level. For more information on how Movie Posters Australia grades the condition of its movie posters, daybills, lobby cards and other ephemera please see out Movie Poster Condition and Grading page.
In the early days of cinema, posters were primarily hand-drawn and printed in various sizes, often tailored to fit the available space in theaters or promotional areas. In the United States, the "One Sheet" size (some times called '1 Sheet' or '1SH' approximately 27" x 41", became the standard during the 1930s. This size was manageable for theater display and suited the needs of a growing film industry.
Different countries developed their own poster sizes and styles, which also changed sometimes over the decades, and were influenced by local preferences and practical considerations, like available paper sheet sizes and how many posters could be printed on one sheet.
In Australia, the most popular size, the Daybill, has evolved over the decades. Australian Daybills sizes in chronological order are:
- Long Daybills (15" x 40"), from 1920's to pre-WW2 or pre-1941, were printed two to a sheet, longer than current Daybill versions. There were size variances in width from 14.5" to 15" and in height from 39.5" to 40".
- War Time Daybill (10" x 30"), during WW2, for a short time to conserve paper during a war time shortage, four Daybills were printed on one sheet. Information from Press Sheets also referred to these War-Time sizes as "New Size Daybills".
- Post-War Daybill (13" x 30"), this 13" x 30" Post-War size carried through until the 1980's, but also varied in size from 13"-14" x 29.75"-30.25".
- Post-80's Daybill (33cm x 66cm, or 13" x 26"), over a few years in the late 80's, the size changed again to a metric 33cm x 66cm, although these have also varied from 32-33cm x 64.5-66cm. New sizes from the late 80's were created, sometimes called a Mini Daybill or Mini Poster, in 9" x 12", 11" x 17" and 13" x 20".
In the UK, the somewhat unique 'Quad' poster, measuring 30" x 40", became popular, offering a larger landscape format that allowed for more elaborate designs.
In Japan, movie poster sizes were smaller, such as the "B2" (20" x 28"), which suited the more compact living environment of larger cities, smaller advertising spaces, and unique aesthetic sensibilities.
The 1970s and 1980s, witnessed the rise of the "six-sheet" (81" x 81") format, reflecting a trend towards larger and more visually impactful advertising.
Overall, the variation in movie poster sizes across different countries and decades highlights the interplay between technological printing advancements, paper resource availability, paper sheet size changes, cultural preferences, and the evolving nature of movie marketing.
At Movie Posters Australia we tag each poster we sell with a 'size' and 'condition' description at the very top of the page for our customers to easily see. There may however be some slight variations to sizes by up one inch due to variations in production and guillotine methods by printers over the decades.