Sir Henry at Rawlinson End Quiz | S

Quiz Answer Key and Fun Facts

1. The film opens with this monologue; what is the missing word? 'English as _____, changeless as canal water; nestling in green nowhere, armoured and effete...'

Answer: Tuppence

'...Bold flagbearer; hermit crab tightfist eremite, feudal-still reactionary Rawlinson End' is read in Vivian Stanshall's unique voice as the camera pans over the decaying country pile.

The film was shot cheaply and it shows in the strange grainy black and white camerawork, filtered to an almost sepia look.

2. What are the names of the Rawlinsons' elderly servants?

Answer: Scrotum and Mrs. E

They are Scrotum, the wrinkled retainer (how we laughed at that one) and Mrs. E, played by very reputable British/Irish thesps, Denise Coffey and J.G.Devlin, who enjoyed themselves immensely even though the script called for some rather undignified things from them.

3. Sir Henry sits at the breakfast table, eating winkles and talking to his nephew Ralph. What is Ralph doing?

Answer: Playing snooker on horseback

Yes, Ralph is playing snooker on horseback and consequently doing considerable damage to the floor of the billiard room at the stately home where the film was shot. Daniel Gerroll, who played Ralph, showed quite a high degree of horsemanship in the making of this scene, although it was a stuntman who jumped the horse through the window at its end.

4. In flashback, Aunt Florrie remembered Mr. Cumberbatch the gardener breaking his leg. How did Sir Henry deal with him?

Answer: Shot him

Dear Henry; he couldn't bear to see even the lowliest of creatures in pain...

5. Who are held behind barbed wire at Rawlinson End?

Answer: The Germans

'The krauts, playthings only, long postwar' who in return for good pay and fine dining, have to devise ways to escape from Sir Henry's small but daunting prisoner of war camp to keep the mad old fellow amused.

Although he takes a few shots at them with his Webley, Sir Henry doesn't try to imprison Nice and Tidy. The dinosaur only appears in the radio series and is permitted to roam fairly freely. Amazingly, there don't seem to be any Morris dancers in the film, and they would be right at home, too...

6. What is the name of the pagan feast held yearly at the Hall?

Answer: The Blazing

The Blazing, which seems to date back to Viking times, involves a longsword called Shortener and causes considerable collateral damage to the locals. Trevor Howard in tweeds and a Viking helmet steals the show reciting the Saga of Old Rawl. As he says elsewhere, vintage stuff!

7. Like all stately piles, Rawlinson End is haunted, in its case by the ghost of Sir Henry's dead brother, Humbert. He walks the house in search of what?

Answer: His trousers

No, just his trousers. Humbert was shot, arguably accidentally, by a drunken Sir Henry while he, Humbert, was fleeing trouserless from an assignation with Rosie Onetooth, the local publican's wife.

He wanders Rawlinson End with his (now stuffed) faithful Bulldog, Gums, and sometimes talks with his possibly dead mother. As for revenge, he just isn't that sort of chap.

8. During the course of the film, two villains inveigle their way into the house. Who are they?

Answer: The Reverend Slodden and Buller Bullethead

It was Slodden and Buller, played by Patrick Magee and Harry Fowler, another two British actors taking a trip well outside their comfort zones. Magee is at his sinister best here as the creepy yet incompetent Slodden, not really aware of quite who and what he is taking on, while Fowler kicks his standard 'cockney geezer' act up a further notch as Slodden's equally useless henchman.

Gibbon, Lefevre, Tewkes and Kipple are all characters from the original radio broadcasts which appeared from time to time on 'The John Peel Show'.

Lorimer and Hunter were footballers (soccer players, if you must) who used to play for Leeds United. Just seeing if you were awake at the back.

9. What does Sir Henry's unusual brother keep in his room?

Answer: A massive collection of fruit

Hubert keeps a massive collection of fruit, which as it rots is slowly eating through the rafters into the dining hall below. This is why Sir Henry wears a sou-wester at the dinner table.

Hubert is played by Vivian Stanshall himself, and indeed most reviewers consider Hubert to be almost Viv's alter-ego. If he looks a bit... out of it in some scenes, they were probably the ones shot after lunch when the brandy had been passed a little too freely. Viv freely admitted to being drunk for most of the making of the film and indeed, the seventies.

10. Now, to see if you paid attention to the credits, which English stately home played Rawlinson End? (Clue: you might have gone to a festival here).

Answer: Knebworth House

Knebworth House in Hertfordshire, has been home to the Lytton family since the 1490s. There was no studio work done on the film - it was completely shot on location. Knebworth has been home to rock concerts and English Civil War battle reenactments and has a magnificent dinosaur park, though obviously not when the film was being made or the dinos would surely have featured.

The other three are also genuine English stately homes. I used to work as a guide at Ormesby Hall, which has a ghost but sadly not one without trousers.

Source: Author spaceowl

This quiz was reviewed by FunTrivia editor jmorrow before going online.
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Sir Henry at Rawlinson End Trivia Quiz

Produced by a drunk, written by a drunk, directed by a drunk and starring a drunk...and that's a comment from the producer. What do you know about this classic piece of comic British surrealism?

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