MovieChat Forums > 'Allo 'Allo! (1982) Discussion > Crabtree - the most annoying character

Crabtree - the most annoying character

posted 17 years ago by PhillipSimons
16 replies | jump to latest

Arthur Bostroms character is, IMO just a stupid rip-off of Peter Sellers gags and style seen not only in the Pink Panther,..!

"If you gotta go, go with a smile."

[–] mgbrit 17 years ago

On the contrary, I think you miss the point.

This is a Brit masquerading as a Frenchman and even though he thinks he has a fluent French accent, he makes often and unfortunate mistakes in pronounciation.

There was very little of this in Peter Sellers / Pink Panther movies, although a couple (bomb/bum / room with a loo etc) jump to mind.

The French accent is generally amusing to the Brits and Crabtree's accent/character is doubly funny for this reason.

[–] Mil-Jor 17 years ago

The French accent is generally amusing to the Brits and Crabtree's accent/character is doubly funny for this reason.

Believe me, it's amusing to everyone, not just Brits. I have yet to meet a Frenchman who doesn't speak English with a funny stereotypical accent. But then so do most of us Danes... :o)

[–] rarema 17 years ago

I agree, he was a dull character.

[–] 17 years ago

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[–] CraigTaylor 17 years ago

Some of his lines were very amusing I thought, but I wasn't my fav. Edith annoyed me the most I recall. but even still, there was enough characters to suit everyones taste.

[–] rarema 17 years ago

Certainly there was.

I loved the way Mousieur Alfonse talked. Superb, I love that kind of French intonation.

Yvette was a hottie but her groaning ("Rheeneee!") wasn't exactly a turn-on! :)

[–] djgrrrl-1 16 years ago

Yeah, Yvette sounded a little too manly when she was saying Rheeneeeeee.....

[–] jonny_143 16 years ago

Crabtree was awesome! He was one of my favs. "I must love you now so good lick!".

Edith's mother annoyed me sometimes, with her whining "Why won't anyone come to my aassistaaaance!!" erk...

[–] Devinm1978 16 years ago

I have to agree with the first post...the "bad French" gag gets old quickly but yet it goes on and on in the subsequent episodes. Totally superfluous character in my opinion.

[–] 16 years ago

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[–] Pokes200 16 years ago

I found Crabtree annoying as well... However he could have been a better character if they didn't rely so much on the same catchphrases for him over and over like "good moaning" or always saying "pissing" instead of passing.

[–] k.m.bunting 10 years ago

I heard Arthur Bostrom say in an interview that Crabtree was intended to represent the kind of English person who speaks French very fluently but with little or no attempt at the correct accent, like the late Prime Minister Heath.

[–] louiseculmer 10 years ago

i thought he was very funny.

[–] HarryHart 9 years ago

It's just the absurd idea that you represent an Englishman in France by him speaking incorrect English with a bad French accent. (Rene - a "traditional Frenchman"? - seems to have less of a French accent than Crabtree.)

[–] furienna 9 years ago

Yeah, Crabtree was only funny in small doses. Then again, I used to like him better when I was younger. He was good for two things though:

1: If you needed to get an urgent message to Michelle, he was the only one, who seemed to know where to look for her.
2: He was the only one except for Michelle, who could speak to the British airmen (because the morons managed to spend five years in France without learning one word of French ).

So he wasn't a totally hopeless character. The airmen though... Yeah, they had their place in the story. But they were so damn stupid that they weren't even funny, so I have to say that they were more annoying than Crabtree, who could at least have a good moment now and then. And yeah, those lame girls from the communist resistence weren't that interesting either. Carbtree was a better character than them too.

Intelligence and purity.

[–] buddyboy28 9 years ago

Crabtree and the airmen are equally annoying to me.