The Final Programme

Director: Robert Fuest
Writers: Robert Fuest (screenplay) Michael Moorcock (novel)
Starring: ‎Jon Finch, Jenny Runacre, Graham Crowden, Patrick Magee, Hugh Griffith
Year: 1973
Duration: 91 mins
BBFC Certification: 15

In the mercurial world of the film industry, a critical and commercial failure can mean two things. In the first, more forgiving scenario, artists can disappear for a while to lick their wounds before re-emerging, pride hopefully healed, to try again with a new project. The other, cruller alternative, is that a failure can quite simply kill a career dead, which is what happened with 1973’s The Final Programme, a bizarre British sci-fi romp that arguably claimed not just one but two careers – that of its director Robert Fuest as well as that of its star, Jon Finch.

Based on the a novel by the cult British sci-fi writer Michael Moorcock, The Final Programme is set in an alternative reality of 1970s Britain, where cars are piled high in Trafalgar Square, Amsterdam has been reduced to ashes and the Vatican destroyed in Rome. Navigating his way through this dystopian wilderness is Jerry Corneluis (Jon Finch) a Nobel prize winner with a penchant for black nail varnish and chocolate digestives. After the death of his father, Jerry finds himself entangled with a trio of scientists led by the icy Miss Brunner (Jenny Runacre), who are all looking for ‘The Final Programme’,  a computer code developed by Jerry’s father that may hold the key to humanity’s salvation. When the code is stolen, Jerry and Miss Brunner must chase down the thief and recover the code before all hope for humanity is lost forever.

To be fair, the plot of The Final Programme is probably one of its least important aspects. The story lurches from one scene to the next with seemingly little logic, with the film’s focus squarely aimed at delivering offbeat characters, visually arresting production design and comedic one liners. Thankfully, the film mostly succeeds in this regard,  escaping the bounds of its rather incoherent plot and instead presenting its audience with a fun fuelled 90 minutes of quirky sci-fi and offbeat humour.

One would expect a film of this sort, especially one made in Britain at the start of the 70s, to be cheap and garish in its execution, yet The Final Programme happily confounds expectations. A clue as to why can be found in the opening credits, where Fuest is credited not just with writing and directing the film, but designing it into the bargain. Looking at Fuest’s background, perhaps this shouldn’t come as much of a surprise, starting, as he did, as a production designer in the 1960s. For The Final Programme, he certainly splashes all that skill and experience right up on the screen. From a carnival inspired gambling club to a sci-fi house filled with vertical chessboards and multicoloured tunnels, the film is never less than wildly imaginative. Its production values also consistently impress, never more so than towards the end where the characters run around and fight on a Ken Adams inspired underground lair, complete with submarine. Combined with some stylish camerawork, The Final Programme is a treat to watch, with Fuest consistently throwing something fun and new at his audience.

The cast, too, are fantastic. Filled with British character actors, from Hugh Griffith to Patrick Magee (as well as a humorous cameo from Sterling Hayden) everyone delivers fun, highly charismatic turns that help uphold the film’s offbeat, irreverent tone. Yet Jon Finch deserves the most plaudits. Magnetic, funny and sexy, he completely commands the film from the first frame to the last, delivering a dashingly effective comedic performance that stands in stark contrast to his far darker work in Polanski’s Macbeth and Hitchcock’s Frenzy. One of the most significant moments in Finch’s career was when he turned down the opportunity to play James Bond in 1973’s Live and Let Die (the role eventually went to Roger Moore). For anyone who feels sad that they never got to see Finch play Bond (for my money, I think he would have been magnificent) then The Final Programme certainly feels like the closet you’ll ever get, as Finch shoots, runs and rolls around Fuest’s elaborate sets like an adrenaline fuelled Austin Powers.

Yet, despite the commitment of its cast and Robert Fuest’s inventive visuals, The Final Programme unfortunately bombed both critically and commercially. Moorcock, as the author of the source material, hated what had been done to his work and and the wry, offbeat tone of the film clearly didn’t catch on with contemporary audiences. Which, ultimately, is a great shame, as both Fuest and Finch’s career never really recovered.

Fuest himself had great potential as a director. The tone of The Final Programme most closely reflects the two Dr. Phibes films he made with Vincent Price, yet his versatility as a filmmaker is evident when you consider that he also made And soon the Darkness, a brilliant and gripping thriller about two English tourists who get lost in the French countryside. As Kim Newman points out in his interview on the disc, Fuest could very well have been another Ken Russell, yet sadly The Final Programme ensured that he never really got the opportunity to pick himself back up after the film’s failure.

As for Jon Finch, his career derailment cannot solely be laid at The Final Programme’s door. Only a few years previously, he found himself caught in a meteoric rise, having made a film with both Polanski, one of Hollywood’s hottest new directors, and with Hitchcock himself. Yet both Macbeth (along with another film called Lady Caroline Lamb) were commercial failures. The Final Programme appeared to be the final nail in the coffin of what was promising to be a very exciting career (although turning down James Bond certainly couldn’t have helped).

Watching The Final Programme today, while the film certainly didn’t deserve to fail as much as it ultimately did, it is still very much a product of its time, presenting itself as the bastard offspring of Kubrick’s Clockwork Orange, 2001 and a Dr. Who episode on an acid trip. At times being too quirky, irreverent and uneven for its own good, it is still a visually inventive and highly entertaining watch and, with an added vein of darkness about an impending apocalypse that chimes very much with today’s zeitgeist, this oddball slice of very British sci-fi deserves to be re-watched and re-discovered.

Film:

The Final Programme is being released on Blu Ray and DVD by StudioCanal as part of their new Cult Classics range. Apart from a rather ropey opening credit sequence, the rest of the film boasts great picture quality throughout. Colours are rich and vibrant, while detail and clarity are fantastic. Overall, this appears to be a great transfer and will greatly appeal to fans of the film. Audio, which comes in its original stereo, is clear and legible throughout.

There are a few extras on the disc. The first is a ten minute interview with Jenny Runacre (who plays Mrs Brunner), where she discusses her early career, as well as her experience working with Robert Fuest and Jon Finch. The second extra is a fifteen minute interview with Kim Newman, who discusses Fuest’s career in more depth.

The disc is rounded out with an alternative Italian title sequence (2mins) and some trailers. Like the rest of the Cult Classics range, The Final Programme also comes with a slipcase and three art cards.

Disc/Extras: