Every Home Should Have One (1970)

Every Home Should Have One is a cheeky little time capsule of British comedy, the kind that takes a gloriously silly premise—selling frozen porridge by making it “sexy”—and spins it into a satire of advertising’s shameless ingenuity and the era’s moral hand-wringing. Marty Feldman is perfectly cast as the harried ad man whose bright ideas keep escalating, and the film’s best laughs come from how commercials and real life start to blur into one another, as if the whole world has become a pitch meeting. The vibe is bawdy-but-breezy rather than mean-spirited, with a knowingly “naughty” innocence that keeps it playful even when it’s pushing buttons. It’s not for viewers who want their comedy squeaky-clean—there’s sexual humor and brief nudity—but if you’re in the mood for a mischievous, distinctly 1970 kind of farce, it’s an enjoyably irreverent watch.

Every Home Should Have One is clearly aiming for a cheeky, satirical swipe at advertising and Britain’s “clean up TV” moral panic, using a ridiculous product (frozen porridge) as the launchpad for increasingly absurd, sexy commercials. The problem is the comedy often lands with a thud: it’s frantic, broad, and heavy on mugging, with Marty Feldman’s lead performance coming off more leering than lovable for many viewers. If you’re hoping for sharp wit or a clever media satire, you may find it more smutty and scattershot than incisive, with an affair subplot that can feel grubby rather than funny. That said, if you enjoy dated, innuendo-driven 1970s British farce and can tolerate a bit of nudity and sleaze, there are occasional inspired gags in the ad-parody segments (the Goldilocks riff being the standout).