Film
Eskimo Nell
- Comedy
- Light-hearted
A 1975 British comedy about three filmmakers hired to make an erotic film who descend into chaos when their producer absconds with the budget. They're forced to shoot three different versions of the same movie simultaneously—a western, kung-fu, and adult film—while dodging censors and keeping their fractious backers in the dark. Silly, anarchic, and deeply of its era.
Should you watch it?
Watch it if you enjoy cheerfully vulgar British smut-farce where the plot is a pretext for one double-entendre after another and the cast plays it with a straight face.
Skip it if you find innuendo wearying, since the jokes are crude and repetitive and the sketches have little narrative drive to carry them.
What it asks of you: Brisk at eighty-five minutes, it moves in loose, rackety bursts rather than building tension, and it wants you to laugh at its nerve more than its plotting.
Not sure? Find tonight's pick in a minute.
If you liked this
Withnail & I1987
Two unemployed actors stumble through London in a haze of alcohol and failed auditions, trading perfect insults. If you love ramshackle British comedy with impeccable performances and a script that rewards repeat viewings, this is essential.
But It's deliberately shapeless and plotless—just two men being miserable and hilarious. If you need a story that builds to something, you'll find it frustrating.
The Italian Job1969
Three thieves coordinate an audacious heist across Europe with style, charm, and genuine cleverness. It's a film that trusts you to enjoy the mechanics of a scheme unfolding, with perfect comic timing and real tension underneath.
But The heist logic requires some suspension of disbelief, and the film moves fast enough that if you're not paying attention you'll miss the setup for the payoff.
Don't Lose Your Head1967
The Carry On team at peak form: rapid-fire innuendo, physical comedy, and genuine wit that works on multiple levels. It's the French Revolution as an excuse for absolute chaos, and everyone's having the time of their lives.
But The humour is specifically British and very much of the 1960s—if you're not attuned to that register of comedy, it can feel like watching a locked language.
Not sure tonight? Get a pick in a minute, starting from Eskimo Nell
The wildcard
Something you would not have found on your own.
Head1968
Both films are about small groups trying to make a movie while everything falls apart, but Head takes that premise into complete psychedelic dissolution rather than trying to recover.
The Monkees' feature film is a surreal, anarchic fever dream—part concert film, part absurdist comedy, part genuine weirdness. It's like watching a band refuse to make the film they were hired to make and somehow creating something far stranger and better.
But It's genuinely bewildering and resists narrative logic entirely. If you need the film to make sense or explain itself, you'll bounce off immediately.
More like this (7)
Kind Hearts and Coronets1949
A masterclass in dark comedy: Dennis Price murders his way through the family tree while Alec Guinness plays eight roles. The script is clever without being showy, and the tone never wavers.
But It's a slower, more elegant film than modern comedy; if you need constant momentum and gags, it will feel restrained.
The Ladykillers1955
Five criminals posing as musicians rent a room from an elderly landlady who outwits them at every turn. It's perfectly constructed, genuinely funny, and Ealing Studios understood that the best laughs come from character and situation.
But The plotting is intricate and requires attention; if you're distracted, the jokes land differently.
Help!1965
The Beatles being chased around the world by a death cult, with surreal set pieces and genuine visual invention. It's silly and lovable, and the songs are great, but the comedy is what carries it.
But It's very much a 1960s artefact and can feel dated; the plot barely exists, which isn't for everyone.
The Pink Panther1963
Peter Sellers as Inspector Clouseau, accidentally destroying things while investigating a jewel theft. It's physical comedy paired with character—Sellers commits entirely to every mishap.
But The plot is thin and mostly an excuse for set pieces; if you need narrative momentum, you'll be frustrated.
A Fish Called Wanda1988
A heist comedy that actually commits to being clever about its heist while also being genuinely, consistently funny. The cast is perfect and the script never coasts.
But It's tightly plotted, which means if you miss setup, payoffs won't land—and it moves fast enough that distraction costs you.
The Adventures of Baron Munchausen1988
Both are about filmmaking in chaos, but where Eskimo Nell is farce, Munchausen is fever dream—competing visions of what a film should be colliding into something neither planned.
Terry Gilliam's baroque fantasia about a man telling impossible stories—a film that IS impossible stories, visually inventive to the point of madness. It's anarchic and digressive and beautiful and overwhelming.
But It cost a fortune and nearly bankrupt the studio because Gilliam kept making it more elaborate. The plot disappears regularly. It's exhausting in the best and worst ways.
Eolomea1972
Both are genre films from the 1970s that feel like they're made on a different planet from what you'd expect—but Eolomea achieves strangeness through seriousness rather than comedy, a mirror-image approach to genre rupture.
A Hungarian science-fiction film about a woman who returns from space fundamentally changed, watched by authorities trying to understand her. It's philosophical and strange and shot with complete commitment to its oddness.
But It's slow, contemplative, and in another language. There's minimal plot; it's about mood and implication. If you're watching Eskimo Nell for laughs, this will feel like stepping into a completely different universe.
People
Cast
Michael ArmstrongDennis Morrison- Terence EdmondClive Potter
Christopher TimothyHarris Tweedle
Roy KinnearBenny U. Murdoch
Rosalind KnightLady Longhorn
Lloyd LambleThe Bishop
Jonathan AdamsLord Coltwind
Christopher BigginsJeremy Longhorn
Katy ManningHermione Longhorn- Diane LangtonGladys Armitage
- Gordon TannerBig Dick
- Beth PorterBillie Harris
Directing
- Roger SimonsAssistant Director
- Martin CampbellDirector
Writing
- Michael ArmstrongWriter
- Stanley A. LongWriter
Production
- Barry JacobsExecutive Producer
- Stanley A. LongProducer
- Don CarmodyProduction Manager
- Ken TurnerProduction Manager