Tyke

He just cracks me up !

There's a clip doing the rounds at the moment from Dad's Army, where he's totally pissed after a night in the Officer's Mess and he's trying to negotiate the opening to his tent. Something about " Damn these revolving doors "
He was'nt a comedian in the true sense but he was funnier than most comedians. The only person I can liken him to, would be the much loved and sadly missed Simon Cadell.


BTW , on a totally different note. Does anybody find 'My Family' remotely funny ?

Windthrop

The archetypal pompous lower middle-class Englishman at war with his his own incompetance.

Thats the joke that killed the Music Hall !

stevie boy

I always got the impression that he was a whisker away from laughing at his own pompous character. A fine actor with superb timing. The Dad's army cast were all top notch

batman

His Mainwaring character has always reminded me of a British Oliver Hardy - pompous, self important and totally incompetent.

"Boom boom a baby .... Banham Zoo .... Banana pants! Hahahaha"

faginsgirl

I dunno how he kept a straight face, marvelous actor.

No, I cant stand `my family`, close to the worse comedy ever only saved by `Men behaving badly and two pints of larger.........`

We`re changin` lodggggggggings!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

johnnyanglia

I dont know for sure but i read somewhere that Arthur Lowe was a bit overbearing in real life and always trying to get his wife in on the act literally. I think he is absolutely great, and yes i think his genius lies in the character of the pompous little fat man.

Marky B

And to think John Le Mesurier was going to play Mainwaring and Arthur Lowe was going to play Sgt Wilson - thankfully,someone thought otherwise (I think it was David Croft). I repeat what I have said before,the cast of Dad's Army were the finest comedy ensemble of actors EVER in television.
Ta Ta
Marky B

I am special. The heavens always open for me.

samkydd

Some of Arthur Lowe's comic moments were straight from Rob Wilton, especially Mainwaring's oft used reappearance from under a table with his glasses and hat skew-whiff. The expressions of polite and patient exasperation he used when listening to members of his platoon waffling on or going off at a tangent (in particular Corporal Jones) were priceless, and used to have me in stitches even before I was old enough to appreciate the characters fully. The storylines just seemed secondary and were there simply to weave these magical moments into place!

My Family on the other hand is an example of one of those awful sitcoms where the script leads into dreadful puns or obvious response gags. It's as if everyone is either Groucho Marx or Oscar Wilde with their spontaneous "witty" retorts! There was a similar load of tripe on in the 80s with William Gaunt and Martin Clunes, and so many others which are so memorable I can't even remember their titles! I seem to remember The Upper Hand, another load of old twaddle with second hand gags and it was just not funny at all.

"...the chairman of Littlewoods stores made a Keynote speech!"

DB7

I'd agree that it's down to the ensemble cast. I didn't find Arthur Lowe that funny in 'Potter' but in Dad's Army he's surrounded by a diverse band of Home Guard; and a few of them are genuine character actors of note.

Tyke

One of my favourite funny moments in Dad's Army;

The platoon is out on manouvres and one of them is injured. Mainwaring calls for a medic and Godferry eventually ambles up.

"What have you got " says Mainwaring

"Well, I've got some elastoplast and some ointment for wasp stings " says Godferry

"Good God this is a fighting unit, not a girl guides outing " shouts Mainwaring

.......absolutely brilliant ! you have to see it to appreciate it but it still has me rolling about and I've seen it 100's of times.

Steve Crook

Not me. Especially when we know that Robert Lindsay and Zoë Wanamaker are capable of so much more. They're really just working to set up their pension.

But has anybody else noticed the similarities with Butterflies?
The father is a dentist, the mother isn't a very good cook.
But to see any more similarities I suppose I'd have to watch it and I don't think I'm prepared to do that

Steve

DB7

It doesn't seem to bother me like it does many, it's just easy tv to kick back and relax to. Given it's been running for years I can only assume the audience figures must be respectable. (and the Jasper Carrot family sitcom was far worse)

oxfam1uk

I remember hearing Arthur Lowe reading "Diary of a Nobody" on the Radio in the early 70s, and finding it hilarious. He was just using his Mainwaring voice, and he brought the whole thing alive (I subsequently read the book, and found it not nearly so amusing).

I reckon the thing that makes Captain Mainwaring so funny is that he is in a long line of these pompous incompetents in British fiction, such as Mr Pickwick and Mr Pooter.

willothewisp

I can almost hear the outcry BUT
I find Dad's Army only slightly less dull than Last of The Summer Wine.
Give me Men Behaving Badly over those two any time!

tgunnell

Croft and perry had this great gift of being able to work a big cast arthur was a superb actor as were all the cast.i think each of the members can be analysed at great length .dad's army was a favourite of my dad ,my sons ,and myself.and will properly we wathced by generations to come absoloutely marvelous