Eat the Rich
Encyclopedia
Eat the Rich is Peter Richardson's 1987 British
comedy, from the team behind the popular television series The Comic Strip Presents...
.
The film stars Al Pillay
, and features a number of cameos, including appearances from the likes of Miranda Richardson
and Nigel Planer
as vile DHSS
clerks, Robbie Coltrane
, Rik Mayall
as a union boss, Paul McCartney
, Shane MacGowan
, Jennifer Saunders
, Jimmy Fagg
, Kathy Burke
, Koo Stark
, Dawn French, Bill Wyman
, Jools Holland
, Hugh Cornwell
, Adrian Edmondson
, Angela Bowie
, and Lemmy.
restaurant named 'Bastards', where the protagonist, Alex (Alan Pellay), works. Alex, a disgruntled waiter, is subject to daily contempt and disgust of the upper-class customers, and gets fired for being obnoxious and rude to the clientele. After witnessing an act of terrorism on an embassy, he robs a benefits office and goes on the run with his new friend.
Meanwhile, Nosher Powell
plays the Home Secretary
, a menacing, beer-swilling, fornicating, lovable lout who has his own no-nonsense way of dealing with trouble, usually with his fists. He's the darling of the voters, the press and the gorgeous Fiona (Fiona Richmond
), a glamorous KGB
agent. He was also the one who ended the terrorist situation that Alex witnessed earlier in the movie. However, Nosher has enemies, including the sinister Commander Fortune (Ronald Allen
), who plots a people's revolution with a difference, and General Karprov (Dave Beard
) and Spider (Lemmy), who plot to derail the Home Secretary's campaign of becoming Prime Minister.
After assembling a four-person team of would-be anarchists, Alex returns to 'Bastards' and lays waste to the clientele and staff. He begins serving them up to other rich people in their new restaurant, 'Eat the Rich'. When Commander Fortune and Spider find out about these changes to the menu, they formulate a plot to get rid of the conservative Home Secretary for good.
(Motörhead's second guitarist at the time).
The album also featured several pieces of incidental music from the film, as well as synth-pop track, Pistol In my Pocket, by Alan Pillay (credited as Lannah).
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
comedy, from the team behind the popular television series The Comic Strip Presents...
The Comic Strip
The Comic Strip is a group of British comedians, known for their television series The Comic Strip Presents.... The core members are Adrian Edmondson, Dawn French, Rik Mayall, Nigel Planer, Peter Richardson and Jennifer Saunders, with frequent appearances by Keith Allen, Robbie Coltrane and...
.
The film stars Al Pillay
Al Pillay
Alan "Al" Pillay also known as "Al Pillay" , the star of Eat the Rich is a person of many names and two genders, starring in The Comic Strip Presents as Alan Pellay playing Himself in Gino as Alana Pellay playing Herself in The Bullshitters and, finally, as Lana Pellay playing Mary in the feature...
, and features a number of cameos, including appearances from the likes of Miranda Richardson
Miranda Richardson
Miranda Jane Richardson is an English stage, film and television actor. She has been nominated for two Academy Awards, and has won two Golden Globes and a BAFTA during her career....
and Nigel Planer
Nigel Planer
Nigel George Planer is an English actor, comedian, novelist and playwright.Planer is perhaps best known for his role as Neil Pye in the cult BBC comedy The Young Ones. He has appeared in many West End musicals, including Evita, Chicago, We Will Rock You, Wicked and Hairspray...
as vile DHSS
Department of Health and Social Security
The Department of Health and Social Security was a ministry of the British government in existence for twenty years from 1968 until 1988, and was headed by the Secretary of State for Social Services.-History:...
clerks, Robbie Coltrane
Robbie Coltrane
Robbie Coltrane, OBE is a Scottish actor, comedian and author. He is known both for his role as Dr...
, Rik Mayall
Rik Mayall
Richard Michael "Rik" Mayall is an English comedian, writer, and actor. He is known for his comedy partnership with Ade Edmondson, his over-the-top, energetic portrayal of characters, and as a pioneer of alternative comedy in the early 1980s...
as a union boss, Paul McCartney
Paul McCartney
Sir James Paul McCartney, MBE, Hon RAM, FRCM is an English musician, singer-songwriter and composer. Formerly of The Beatles and Wings , McCartney is listed in Guinness World Records as the "most successful musician and composer in popular music history", with 60 gold discs and sales of 100...
, Shane MacGowan
Shane MacGowan
Shane Patrick Lysaght MacGowan is an Irish musician and singer, best known as the original singer and songwriter of The Pogues.-History:...
, Jennifer Saunders
Jennifer Saunders
Jennifer Jane Saunders is an English comedienne, screenwriter, singer and actress. She has won two BAFTAs, an International Emmy Award, a British Comedy Award, a Rose d'Or Light Entertainment Festival Award, two Writers' Guild of Great Britain Awards, and a Peoples Choice Award.She first came into...
, Jimmy Fagg
Jimmy Fagg
Jimmy Fagg Jimmy Fagg Jimmy Fagg (born 1929 in Gravesend, Kent is an English stand-up comedian, musician and actor. He is most notable for his roles in the Comic Strip Presents.. and separate roles in other British comedy films....
, Kathy Burke
Kathy Burke
Katherine Lucy Bridget Burke is an English actress, comedienne, playwright and theatre director. She is best known for her portrayals of Perry in the Harry Enfield film Kevin and Perry Go Large, and of Linda La Hughes in the British sitcom Gimme Gimme Gimme...
, Koo Stark
Koo Stark
Kathleen Dee-Anne Stark, better known as Koo Stark , is an American film actress and photographer. She is known for her appearance in the film Emily and subsequent relationship with Prince Andrew, son of Queen Elizabeth II of the United Kingdom, before his marriage to Sarah, Duchess of York.-...
, Dawn French, Bill Wyman
Bill Wyman
Bill Wyman is an English musician best known as the bass guitarist for the English rock and roll band the Rolling Stones from 1962 until 1992. Since 1997, he has recorded and toured with his own band, Bill Wyman's Rhythm Kings...
, Jools Holland
Jools Holland
Julian Miles "Jools" Holland OBE, DL is an English pianist, bandleader, singer, composer, and television presenter. He was a founder of the band Squeeze and his work has involved him with many artists including Sting, Eric Clapton, George Harrison, The Who, David Gilmour and Bono.Holland is a...
, Hugh Cornwell
Hugh Cornwell
Hugh Alan Cornwell is an English musician and songwriter, best known for being the vocalist and guitarist for the punk/new wave group, The Stranglers, from 1974 to 1990.-Career:...
, Adrian Edmondson
Adrian Edmondson
Adrian Charles "Ade" Edmondson is an English comedian. He is probably best known for his comedic roles in the television series The Young Ones and Bottom , for which he also wrote together with his long-time collaboration partner Rik Mayall.-Early life:Edmondson, the second of four children, was...
, Angela Bowie
Angela Bowie
Angela Bowie is an American cover girl, model, actress and musician. She is the former wife of English musician David Bowie and mother of film director Duncan Jones.-Early life:...
, and Lemmy.
Synopsis
The film begins in a high-class LondonLondon
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
restaurant named 'Bastards', where the protagonist, Alex (Alan Pellay), works. Alex, a disgruntled waiter, is subject to daily contempt and disgust of the upper-class customers, and gets fired for being obnoxious and rude to the clientele. After witnessing an act of terrorism on an embassy, he robs a benefits office and goes on the run with his new friend.
Meanwhile, Nosher Powell
Nosher Powell
Nosher Powell is known both as an actor and as a boxer.-Life and career:Powell was born in Camberwell, London, England...
plays the Home Secretary
Home Secretary
The Secretary of State for the Home Department, commonly known as the Home Secretary, is the minister in charge of the Home Office of the United Kingdom, and one of the country's four Great Offices of State...
, a menacing, beer-swilling, fornicating, lovable lout who has his own no-nonsense way of dealing with trouble, usually with his fists. He's the darling of the voters, the press and the gorgeous Fiona (Fiona Richmond
Fiona Richmond
Fiona Richmond is a former glamour model and actress. She is the daughter of the Reverend John Harrison. Born Julia Rosamund Harrison, she became a British sex symbol in the 1970s for her appearances in numerous risqué plays, comedy revues, magazines and films.-Acting career:She made her film...
), a glamorous KGB
KGB
The KGB was the commonly used acronym for the . It was the national security agency of the Soviet Union from 1954 until 1991, and was the premier internal security, intelligence, and secret police organization during that time.The State Security Agency of the Republic of Belarus currently uses the...
agent. He was also the one who ended the terrorist situation that Alex witnessed earlier in the movie. However, Nosher has enemies, including the sinister Commander Fortune (Ronald Allen
Ronald Allen
Ronald John Allen was an English character actor who achieved the status of a soap opera star.Allen was born in Reading, Berkshire...
), who plots a people's revolution with a difference, and General Karprov (Dave Beard
Dave Beard
Charles David Beard is a former right-handed pitcher in Major League Baseball for the Oakland Athletics, Seattle Mariners, Chicago Cubs, and Detroit Tigers from to ....
) and Spider (Lemmy), who plot to derail the Home Secretary's campaign of becoming Prime Minister.
After assembling a four-person team of would-be anarchists, Alex returns to 'Bastards' and lays waste to the clientele and staff. He begins serving them up to other rich people in their new restaurant, 'Eat the Rich'. When Commander Fortune and Spider find out about these changes to the menu, they formulate a plot to get rid of the conservative Home Secretary for good.
Cast
- Les BubbLes Bubb-Career:Les Bubb who was born in Liverpool, started his miming career way back in 1982, where he performed in pubs and cabaret clubs.He got his big break in 1988, after appearing on Jim Davidson Introduces: New Entertainers, Friday Night Live twice, and on the kids' show Going Live!, all of which...
- Waiter - Kathy BurkeKathy BurkeKatherine Lucy Bridget Burke is an English actress, comedienne, playwright and theatre director. She is best known for her portrayals of Perry in the Harry Enfield film Kevin and Perry Go Large, and of Linda La Hughes in the British sitcom Gimme Gimme Gimme...
- Kathy - Robbie ColtraneRobbie ColtraneRobbie Coltrane, OBE is a Scottish actor, comedian and author. He is known both for his role as Dr...
- Jeremy - Sean ChapmanSean ChapmanSean Chapman is an English-born actor. He is best known for playing Frank Cotton in Clive Barker's Hellraiser, and its sequel, Hellbound: Hellraiser II. He is also known for voicing the character Sgt...
- Mark - Rik MayallRik MayallRichard Michael "Rik" Mayall is an English comedian, writer, and actor. He is known for his comedy partnership with Ade Edmondson, his over-the-top, energetic portrayal of characters, and as a pioneer of alternative comedy in the early 1980s...
- Micky - Al PillayAl PillayAlan "Al" Pillay also known as "Al Pillay" , the star of Eat the Rich is a person of many names and two genders, starring in The Comic Strip Presents as Alan Pellay playing Himself in Gino as Alana Pellay playing Herself in The Bullshitters and, finally, as Lana Pellay playing Mary in the feature...
aka Alan Pellay - Alex - Jimmy FaggJimmy FaggJimmy Fagg Jimmy Fagg Jimmy Fagg (born 1929 in Gravesend, Kent is an English stand-up comedian, musician and actor. He is most notable for his roles in the Comic Strip Presents.. and separate roles in other British comedy films....
- Jimmy - Adrian EdmondsonAdrian EdmondsonAdrian Charles "Ade" Edmondson is an English comedian. He is probably best known for his comedic roles in the television series The Young Ones and Bottom , for which he also wrote together with his long-time collaboration partner Rik Mayall.-Early life:Edmondson, the second of four children, was...
- Charles - Dawn French - Debbie Draws
- Paul McCartneyPaul McCartneySir James Paul McCartney, MBE, Hon RAM, FRCM is an English musician, singer-songwriter and composer. Formerly of The Beatles and Wings , McCartney is listed in Guinness World Records as the "most successful musician and composer in popular music history", with 60 gold discs and sales of 100...
- Banquet guest - Lemmy - Spider
- Jools HollandJools HollandJulian Miles "Jools" Holland OBE, DL is an English pianist, bandleader, singer, composer, and television presenter. He was a founder of the band Squeeze and his work has involved him with many artists including Sting, Eric Clapton, George Harrison, The Who, David Gilmour and Bono.Holland is a...
- Sun reporter - Miranda RichardsonMiranda RichardsonMiranda Jane Richardson is an English stage, film and television actor. She has been nominated for two Academy Awards, and has won two Golden Globes and a BAFTA during her career....
- DHSS Blonde - Ron TarrRon TarrRonald "Ron" Tarr was a British actor who played minor roles in television series and films. He died of cancer in 1997....
- Ron
Soundtrack
The soundtrack album was released on the Filmtrax label, and featured six tracks by Motörhead, including the track Eat the Rich, written especially for the film. The track also appeared on the Motörhead album Rock 'n' Roll, and was released in the UK as a single in its own right. It also featured a solo track, "Bess", by WürzelWürzel
Michael Burston commonly known by the stage name Würzel, was an English musician and formerly a guitarist in the British heavy metal band, Motörhead....
(Motörhead's second guitarist at the time).
The album also featured several pieces of incidental music from the film, as well as synth-pop track, Pistol In my Pocket, by Alan Pillay (credited as Lannah).
Track Listing
- Motörhead – "Eat the RichEat the Rich (Motörhead song)"Eat the Rich" is a song by the heavy metal band Motörhead. It was released as a single in 1987, in 7" and 12" vinyl pressings. Both formats featured the b-side "Cradle to the Grave", and the 12" also included "Just 'Cos You Got the Power"....
" - Simon Brint – "Terrorists"
- Motörhead – "Built for Speed"
- Danny Eccleston – "Nosher in the Bar"
- Motörhead – "Nothing Up My Sleeve"
- Simon Brint – "Arriba Salsa"
- Motörhead – "Doctor Rock"
- Motörhead – "On the Road"
- Lannah – "Pistol in My Pocket"
- Simon Brint – "Car Approach"
- Motörhead – "Orgasmatron"
- WürzelWürzelMichael Burston commonly known by the stage name Würzel, was an English musician and formerly a guitarist in the British heavy metal band, Motörhead....
– "Bess" - Danny Eccleston – "End Titles Theme"