This film is currently unavailable
How to Get Ahead in Advertising
Richard E. Grant and director Bruce Robinson’s companion piece to Withnail and I is a dark satire about an ad-man who grows a second head.
Director: Bruce Robinson
Overview
Richard E. Grant and director Bruce Robinson’s companion piece to Withnail and I is a dark and delicious satire about an embittered advertising agent who begins to develop an alarming boil on his shoulder. Eventually the boil turns into a second head, which is forthright in expressing its contrasting views about the evils of the advertising profession.
One of the oddest comedies of the 1980s, notable for Grant’s tour de force performance, it remains an under-seen film that’s just as deserving of cult status as Grant and Robinson’s more famous collaboration.
Related
The Queen of Spades The Queen of Spades
Fantasy 1949 95 mins Director: Thorold Dickinson
Thorold Dickinson's most dazzling success, based on Pushkin’s 1834 tale of black magic and gambling.
O Lucky Man! O Lucky Man!
Comedy 1973 178 mins Director: Lindsay Anderson
A coffee salesman travels England in Lindsay Anderson's profane and satiric vision of English high and low life.
Gremlins Gremlins
Comedy 1984 106 mins Director: Joe Dante
One Christmas, Billy and his cute friend Gizmo try to save themselves and their whole town when diabolical creatures take over.
Blind Willow, Sleeping Woman Blind Willow, Sleeping Woman
Animation & Artists Moving Image 2022 108 mins Director: Pierre Földes
Impressive and captivating animated adaptation of Haruki Murakami’s short stories.
Orlando Orlando
Fantasy 1993 93 mins Director: Sally Potter
Tilda Swinton stars in Sally Potter's dazzling interpretation of Virginia Woolf's novel.
After Blue (Dirty Paradise) After Blue (Dirty Paradise)
Fantasy 2021 129 mins Director: Bertrand Mandico
A mother and daughter living in a post-apocalyptic future are sent to hunt down and kill an evil demon hell-bent on destruction.
Fat Man on a Beach Fat Man on a Beach
Documentary 1974 41 mins Director: Michael Bakewell
A simple brief - for the influential writer and filmmaker BS Johnson to talk direct to camera - yielded one of the most extraordinary works of 1970s British television.
Fragment Fragment
Drama 1966 11 mins Director: Norman J. Warren
Norman J. Warren's short film tells the story of a young woman's desperation after a brief love affair ends in bitter disappointment.
Poem Poem
Animation & Artists Moving Image 1971 1 mins Director: B.S. Johnson
A poignant short film set to the fourth part of Samuel Beckett's Quatre Poèmes, as narrated by frequent BS Johnson collaborator William Hoyland.
Untitled Film Untitled Film
Animation & Artists Moving Image 1964 9 mins Director: David Gladwell
Slow motion black and white experimental short film in which a series of concurrent actions and movements are drawn together.
Unfair! Unfair!
Campaigning film 1970 8 mins Director: B.S. Johnson
Directed by B.S. Johnson, this trade union short depicts an argument between a worker and his employer.
Up Yours Too Guillaume Apollinaire! Up Yours Too Guillaume Apollinaire!
Animation & Artists Moving Image 1968 2 mins Silent Director: B.S. Johnson
Invited to imagine how Apollinaire would have worked with modern technology, writer/director B.S. Johnson turned John Furse's drawings into an animation that is equally elegant, explicit, surreal and hilarious.
Withnail & I Withnail & I
Comedy 1988 107 mins Director: Bruce Robinson
Richard E. Grant steals the show in the indomitable cult classic following two washed-up actors as they embark on a booze-filled getaway to the Lake District.
Hidden City Hidden City
Thriller 1987 108 mins Director: Stephen Poliakoff
Charles Dance stars in Stephen Poliakoff’s debut feature film about a writer whose research uncovers a conspiracy of hidden artefacts.
Food of Love Food of Love
Drama 1997 109 mins Director: Stephen Poliakoff
Richard E. Grant leads a dramatic reunion as friends and lovers gather to perform Shakespeare’s Twelfth Night in Stephen Poliakoff’s romantic comedy.
Queen and Country Queen and Country
Comedy 2015 115 mins Director: John Boorman
John Boorman’s follow up to Hope and Glory finds 18-year-old Bill called up for National Service against the backdrop of the Korean War.
Withnail & I Withnail & I
Comedy 1988 107 mins Director: Bruce Robinson
Richard E. Grant steals the show in the indomitable cult classic following two washed-up actors as they embark on a booze-filled getaway to the Lake District.
Stephen Stephen
Drama-documentary 2023 78 mins Director: Melanie Manchot
Artist Melanie Manchot’s debut feature is a visually striking film-within-a-film, exploring mental health and addiction.
Red Island Red Island
Drama 2023 117 mins Director: Robin Campillo
French writer-director Robin Campillo offers a searching exploration of memory and politics, in this boldly conceived story of boyhood in 1970s Madagascar.
Drift Drift
Drama 2023 93 mins Director: Anthony Chen
Cynthia Erivo delivers a captivating performance as a young refugee, who after fleeing war-torn Liberia finds hope when she meets a fellow lost soul.
Late Night with the Devil Late Night with the Devil
Horror 2023 93 mins Director: Colin Cairnes and Cameron Cairnes
Like Ghostwatch reimagined as a cheesy 1970s chat show, this deviously clever found-footage horror has scares to spare.
Drifter Drifter
Drama 2023 79 mins Director: Hannes Hirsch
A scintillating portrait of a young man coming to terms with life, love, sex and relationships in contemporary Berlin.
Boys on Film 24: Happy Endings Boys on Film 24: Happy Endings
Anthology 2024 174 mins Director: Jason Bradbury, Jesse Ung, Diego Alvarez Parra, Itai Jamshy, Fabia Martin, Alejandro Sandoval Bertín, Sara Larrota, Benjamin Belloir, Jeremy McClain and Arthur Cahn
A compilation of new gay short films showcasing unashamedly positive stories of love, sex and romance to move, inspire and uplift.