The Secret Policeman's Other Ball (1982)

Directed by

Julien Temple

Genre

comedy, music, tv movie

Country

United Kingdom

Runtime

1h 39m

Rated

R

Rating

6.3 of 10 from 6 voters

Elsewhere

IMDb

How it feels

This film compiles performances from a 1981 Amnesty International benefit show held in London. It features comedy sketches and musical acts, all aiming to raise money and awareness for human rights causes.

livelyhumorousearnestenergeticwarmvariedinclusive1960s-vibe

What happens

The Secret Policeman's Other Ball was the fourth of the benefit shows staged by the British Section of Amnesty International to raise funds for its research and campaign work in the human rights field. It was the second of many shows to bear the celebrated "Secret Policeman's" title that became the iconic series known informally as The Secret Policeman's Balls. The show took place at the Theatre Royal, Drury Lane in London over four nights between Wednesday 9 September and Saturday 12 September 1981. It was a successor to the 1979 show The Secret Policeman's Ball. Not all artists appeared at all performances: Phil Collins, for example, could not commit to all four shows, and was only present at the last two shows. The show was directed by Monty Python alumnus John Cleese and produced by Martin Lewis and Peter Walker (Amnesty's fundraising officer). It subsequently yielded two separate movies (one version for the UK, directed by Julien Temple, and a quite different version for the US) and two record albums (one each of comedy and music performances). The film was distributed by Miramax. The budget of the 1981 film was £125,000 with finance coming from Amnesty. (from Wikipedia, CC BY-SA)

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