The specter of atomic warfare raises its head once again in this bizarre 1969 black comedy, directed by
Richard Lester and hatched from the mind of twisted British comic
Spike Milligan. England lays in ruins after World War III, and a number of dazed survivors try to carry on as if nothing is wrong, even when one woman (
Rita Tushingham) announces that she is seventeen months pregnant, and others begin to mutate into parrots, wardrobes, and bed-sitting rooms. The often slapstick comedy provides a surreal foreground for the bleak, devastated settings, portions of which were filmed in actual, environmentally blasted industrial areas in Wales. The comedy duo of
Dudley Moore and
Peter Cook appear as hapless government officials, while
Marty Feldman makes his screen debut in a film that could best be described as England's answer to Dr. Strangelove. ~ Don Kaye, All Movie Guide