In 1988, John Cleese, former Python and the mastermind behind Fawlty Towers, teamed up with the veteran Ealing Comedy director Charles Crichton (The Lavender Hill Mob) to produce another classic of British comedy.
Cleese plays Archie Leach, a weak-willed barrister who finds himself embroiled with a quartet of ill-matched jewel thieves – two American con artists played by Jamie Lee Curtis and Kevin Kline, Michael Palin’s animal-loving hitman and London gangster Tom Georgeson – when Georgeson is arrested. Only he and Palin know the whereabouts of the diamonds, prompting plenty of farce and in-fighting as well as some embarrassing nudity and the unfortunate demise of some innocent pooches.
Extras
- Commentary by writer and star John Cleese
- Brand-new appreciation by Vic Pratt of the BFI National Archive
- Brand-new interviews with composer John Du Prez, production designer Roger Murray Leach, executive producer Steve Abbott and makeup supervisor Paul Engelen
- John Cleese’s Final Farewell Performance, a 1988 documentary on the making of A Fish Called Wanda featuring interviews with actors Cleese, Jamie Lee Curtis, Michael Palin, Kevin Kline and director Charles Crichton
- Something Fishy, a 15th anniversary retrospective documentary featuring interviews with Cleese, Curtis, Kline and Palin, executive producer Steve Abbott and director of photography Alan Hume
- Fish You Were Here, a documentary on the film’s locations hosted by Robert Powell
- 24 deleted/alternative scenes with introductions by Cleese
- A Message from John Cleese, a tongue-in-cheek introduction recorded for the film’s original release
- Gallery
- Trivia track
- Theatrical trailer
A Fish Called Wanda DVD-$39.95
