View source for The Best Pair of Legs in the Business

{{Use dmy dates|date=June 2016}}
{{Use British English|date=June 2016}}
{{Infobox film
| name           = The Best Pair of Legs in the Business
| image          = The_Best_Pair_of_Legs_in_the_Business.jpg
| image_size     =
| caption        = 
| director       = Christopher Hodson
| producer       = Andrew Mitchell<br />[[Johnny Goodman (TV producer)|Johnny Goodman]]
| screenplay     = [[Kevin Laffan]]
| story          = Kevin Laffan
| starring       = [[Reg Varney]]<br />[[Diana Coupland]]<br />[[Lee Montague]] 
| cinematography = Jimmy Allen
| music          = [[Harry Robertson (musician)|Harry Robinson]]
| editing        = [[Richard Best (film editor)|Richard Best]]
| studio         = Sunny Productions
| distributor    = [[Anglo-EMI Film Distributors]] {{small|(UK)}} 
| released       = {{Film date|df=y|1973|02|09|UK}}
| runtime        = 88 minutes
| country        = United Kingdom
| language       = English
}}
'''''The Best Pair of Legs in the Business''''' is a 1973 [[Cinema of the United Kingdom|British]] [[comedy film|comedy]]-[[drama film]] directed by Christopher Hodson starring [[Reg Varney]], [[Diana Coupland]] and [[Lee Montague]].<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://ftvdb.bfi.org.uk/sift/title/147364|title=BFI &#124; Film & TV Database &#124; The BEST PAIR OF LEGS IN THE BUSINESS (1972)|date=5 February 2009|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090205180745/http://ftvdb.bfi.org.uk/sift/title/147364|archive-date=5 February 2009}}</ref> A comic/female impersonator at a [[holiday camp]] is concerned about the future.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.allmovie.com/movie/the-best-pair-of-legs-in-the-business-v123956|title=The Best Pair of Legs in the Business (1973) - Christopher Hodson &#124; Synopsis, Characteristics, Moods, Themes and Related &#124; AllMovie|via=www.allmovie.com}}</ref> However he manages to secure both a job and a wife.

The film is a cinematic version of an episode of ''[[ITV Playhouse]]'' ([[Yorkshire Television]]) by the same writer and director and also starring Reg Varney, transmitted on 28 December 1968.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www2.bfi.org.uk/films-tv-people/4ce2b6f427e3e|title=The Best Pair of Legs in the Business (1968)|website=BFI}}</ref>

==Plot==

Sherry Sheridan's career is dying. He is tolerated rather than valued at the holiday camp. His wife Mary is having an affair with the outgoing camp manager who tries to persuade her to leave with him. Every time she is about to, something happens to prevent it.

Sherry's agent drops him. He drinks heavily. The only people who show him any form of affection are two girls who prefer him to two randy boys.

His estranged son Alan turns up in an attempt to heal relations. He invites his father to meet his fiancée and her parents including the father who is a vicar. Sherry attempts to puff himself up as a big shot entertainer who knows the Queen. Having disgraced himself, he goes back to the holiday camp alone.

The two jilted boys find Sherry peeping into the caravan window of the two girls, who are undressing. They throw him in the swimming pool where he protests that he cannot swim. He is rescued by his son. In a final reconciliation scene, the son explains that the critical comment about having the best legs in the business was actually a compliment after a friend protested that he was embarrassed by his own father's legs in a [[knobbly knees competition]].

==Cast==
* [[Reg Varney]] - Sherry Sheridan
* [[Diana Coupland]] - Mary Sheridan
* [[Lee Montague]] - Charlie Green
* Jean Harvey - Emma Cooper
* David Lincoln - Ron
* [[George Sweeney (actor)|George Sweeney]] - Dai
* Clare Sutcliffe - Glad
* [[Penny Spencer]] - Eunice
* Michael Hadley - Alan Sheridan
* [[Bill Dean]] - Bert
* [[Reginald Marsh (actor)|Reginald Marsh]] - Fred
* Karen Kessey - May
* [[Johnny Briggs (actor)|Johnny Briggs]] - Millet
* [[Geoffrey Chater]] - Rev. Thorn
* Clare Kelly - Mrs. Thorn
* [[Jane Seymour (actress)|Jane Seymour]] - Kim Thorn
* Jenny Thompson - Edna Pilbeam
* [[Claire Davenport]] - Eating Lady
* Claire Shenstone - 1st Chemist
* Jane Cardew - 2nd Chemist
* [[Preston Lockwood]] - 3rd Chemist

==Production==
The film was shot at [[Elstree Studios (Shenley Road)|EMI-MGM Elstree Studios]], Borehamwood, Hertfordshire, and on location in [[Hertfordshire]] and [[West Sussex]]. The holiday camp location was Riverside Caravan Centre in [[Bognor Regis]].<ref>{{Cite web |title=Best Pair of Legs in the Business, The |url=https://www.reelstreets.com/films/best-pair-of-legs-in-the-business-the/ |url-status=live |access-date=27 February 2022 |website=ReelStreets}}</ref>

==References==
{{reflist}}

==External links==
*{{IMDb title|0068266}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Best Pair of Legs in the Business, The}}
[[Category:1973 films]]
[[Category:1973 comedy-drama films]]
[[Category:Films shot at EMI-Elstree Studios]]
[[Category:British comedy-drama films]]
[[Category:1970s English-language films]]
[[Category:1970s British films]]