WHAT THE BUTLER SAW is a rare foray into comedy for Hammer Films, a tale of upper class twits and far-eastern exoticism wrapped up in a Wodehousian whole. The whole thing is cheap and rather static, shot in just a couple of rooms in a country house as were so many of Hammer's pictures from the time. The plot sees an eccentric earl coming back from the 'Coconut Islands' (I'm not making this up) with his butler in tow; unfortunately for them, a young native girl has stowed away in the luggage and proceeds to wreak havoc in the house. Some of the jokes aimed at the stuffy upper classs hit home, and the actors - including WENT THE DAY WELL's Edward Rigby - try their very best, but mostly this is an embarrassment, reeking of old-fashioned racism and racial stereotypes and feeling very, very dated indeed.
Review of What the Butler Saw
