Clevercell Very disappointing...

Listonixio Fresh and Exciting

SanEat A film with more than the usual spoiler issues. Talking about it in any detail feels akin to handing you a gift-wrapped present and saying, "I hope you like it -- It's a thriller about a diabolical secret experiment."

Fleur Actress is magnificent and exudes a hypnotic screen presence in this affecting drama.

diktor-1 I saw a review from a Dane and I can only agree. Like in Denmark it's always shown on SVT here in Sweden on every New Year's Eve. It happens that I miss "Ring, klocka, ring" (a tradition that this poem is read by some famous Swedish actor from Skansen in Stockholm at midnight that day), but I never ever miss Dinner for One. Even if the number of times I've seen it is now is close to 40, I never get tired of it. In my opinion is it the best, funny short movie that ever is done together with The Plank and Mr. H Is Dead. The acting is superb and the story is funny, even if it's a simple one, or just maybe because it's so simple. And I'm certain, there will be no New Year if I don't see it. :)

MartinHafer Freddie Frinton and May Wharton star in this short film about a crazy old lady who is celebrating--and doesn't quite seem to understand that her four dinner guests are not there (you assume they have died, as the woman throwing the party is quite elderly). So, her butler helps in the ruse by posing as each of the guests. As the dinner proceeds, he makes toast after toast for each guest and becomes more and more drunk. It all ends with a racy finale.My wife and I were in South Africa a few days ago and somehow the conversation with some local friends got to the topic of television traditions. After discussing how "It's a Wonderful Life" has somehow become a Christmas tradition, our friends Elle, Anika and Claire all began talking about the wonderful New Years Eve tradition of watching the German-made short "Dinner for One". They were surprised when we told them that this is NOT a tradition here in the States and we had no idea what the film was. So, at their insistence, I looked for a copy of the film to see what the fuss was about as well as whether or not I agreed with them. While I thought the film was a cute sketch, I couldn't exactly see why it is so famous that this is traditionally shown across the globe (according to IMDb). Clever and cute---it still didn't seem THAT good to me. Of course, for that matter, the same could be said for "It's a Wonderful Life".

Tweekums I hadn't heard of this short film a couple of hours ago, then there was an item on BBC Radio Four about how just about everybody in Germany watched it every New Years Eve. None of the British contributors found it remotely amusing but they did say it was on YouTube and that it was only ten minutes long... given that information I had to check it out for myself! Having seen it I'm surprised that it is considered a classic anywhere but equally it wasn't that bad either. The plot is simple; the elderly Miss Sophie is hosting a dinner party for her four friends... the joke is that none of them are present! As the dinner progresses James the butler serves each course to Miss Sophie then pours drinks for everybody and takes the part of each person in turn to return Miss Sophie's toasts with inevitable results.There are chuckles to be had as Freddie Frinton's James gets increasingly drunk although however the gag about him tripping over the tiger skin rug is rather spoilt by the fact that he tripped over it before he'd touched a drop! The rather suggestive ending was clearly meant to be funny but just seemed creepy to me. This was interesting to watch as a curiosity but it certainly won't become a tradition for me.I have since learnt that there are two versions made the same year with the same cast; this is the Swiss version; there is also a longer German version with a German narration, presumably that is the version they watch!

snoopdoc15 Well, in my opinion this is just a great movie, even though it s rather old...what can I say...it is just perfect. I watched it about 5-10 times (and I only discovered it half a year ago) and still I can laugh...and it cheers me up. It also is a good party / new year's eve movie, I think.Everybody should watch this at least one in their lifetime...or you'll miss a true masterpiece of cinematic work.Hm, I guess there's nothing more to say, really...you gotta watch it. But in order to make this comment fit the IMDb guidelines...I had to add this last line.