The other day, Mrs Boba Phil was watching an art program on the TV. I wasn’t having any of this and grabbed the remote to turn over. After the fight, and I nursed my black eye, we ended up putting on The Rebel.
The Rebel, or Call Me Genius as it was known in the US, was one of my dad’s favourites. It’s about an artist whose world spins out of control. What was weird was how it’s very relevant today.
The Rebel stars Tony Hancock, George Saunders, Paul Massie, Margit Saad, George Aslan, Dennis Price, Irene Haldl, John Le Lesurier, Peter Bull and, a very young, Oliver Reed.
Hancock isn’t a big name in the US, but in the 1960s, in the UK, he was a staple of TV and radio. He’s a very dry comedian and I always found him very funny. I think The Rebel is his best work.
The Story
Tony Hancock gives up his day job to become an artist. He’s a lot of enthusiasm, but little talent, and critics dislike his work. Nevertheless, he impresses a talented artist.
Anothony Hancock (Hancock, yeah, they didn’t go all in for creating new names), works at United International Transatlantic Consolidated Amalgamation Ltd. He’s an accountant, he puts in numbers, adds them up, checks them, then ticks them off, over and over and over.
Tony is different though, as when he gets home and dons his artist barrette, he is an artist! He creates works of art of landscapes, portraits and coloured shapes. The only downside is that he has zero talent. This is his sculpture of Aphrodite at the Water Hole.
The other problem is that Tony has far too much self-belief. He thinks he’s ahead of his time, no one understands him and his talent shines through, but only to him. Frustrated with work, he gives up on everything moves to Paris to make his fortune.
He moves his Aphrodite with him, who loses her head on the way there and ends up at the bottom of the docks in London. It doesn’t matter, he’ll make a new one in France, with a head three times as big.
Mistaken Identity
When Tony gets to Paris, he meets Paul, another British artist struggling to make his mark. The good think about Paul is, he’s talented, he can paint, but he doesn’t have a voice like Tony.
Tony tries to teach Paul his new view on art, but it just doesn’t work. In the end, Paul decides to move back to London and get a job in an office. He leaves all of his paintings to Tony and heads back to Blighty.
Because of Tony’s voice and influence, a gallery hears of his work and goes to see him. Sir Charles Brewer (Saunders) sees Paul’s paintings and loves them. He thinks that Tony’s work is crap and, of course, thinks get out of hand. Tony, with Paul’s paintings, becomes famous.
Everything is a misadventure until Tony has to present new paintings in London.
Talent?
Watching The Rebel again was a treat. It’s a classic British comedy, which did bomb in the US when it came out, but did well over here. Hancock is a funny man, very dry, very droll and wonderful dead pan and sarcastic.
The thing that struck me was how relevant the movie is today. As we know, social media provided us with a new level of ‘entertainment’. We have movies, like The Rebel, which are written by talented writers, performed by wonderful actors and have sets, lighting, and locations.
Then there is social media, like Tiktok. We see people lip-syncing to other people’s work, there are people who explain how to use their 15 pronouns they have so as not to upset them. In fact, there was one lady that did a dance, while her baby was in hospital with a respiratory condition.
Holy shit pic.twitter.com/ZGotuvuI6z
— sandhya (@dollarbillbluez) December 19, 2021
OK, so let’s not open that can of worms, but you get the idea. Yes, there are some talented people on Tiktok, but there are also a lot of people like Tony, The Rebel. Talentless morons who have a voice and think they have something to say.
If you hate the Tiktok generation, you’ll love The Rebel, as it really rips the urine out of them. You are laughing at Tony because you can see he’s got zero talent. The only people that agree with Tony are the empty-headed, talentless morons, who think they are creative too.
Overall
It’s a British classic, and it’s not going to be for everyone, but The Rebel is a funny movie and it’s a treat to watch. Hancock is so funny in it, his sharp, dry wit is just my cuppa tea.
The movie focuses on the boringness of life, but also on remembering your limits. I like to think I would make a great movie director, but my talent keeps me grounded. Fine, push yourself, try new things, but know when to stop. Don’t give up your day job because you want to make it as a steamer on YouTube.
I like The Rebel and, as I said, it’s worth a watch, if you can find it. To quote Tony, at the end of the movie:
Ladies and gentlemen, I shall now bid you all good day. I’m off! I know what I was cut out to do and I should have done it long ago. YOU’RE ALL RAVING MAD! None of you know what you’re looking at. You wait ’til I’m dead you’ll see I was right!
