I love this movie so much

In truth, there is barely enough story here to make a film.

This is a small, humorous movie in some ways, but it has a huge heart. What a nice experience.

This is one of the best movies I’ve seen in a very long time. You have to go and see this on the big screen.

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".

The poster who compared "Dinner For One" to the candies yams on Thanksgiving comes very close to the truth of the success of "Dinner For One". The other poster who brags about the sophisticated British sense of humor doesn't seem to know that bragging with one's own sense of humor only shows that person's lack of it. Watching "Dinner For One" on New Year's Eve in Germany, Denmark, Sweden, the Netherlands and some more European countries is a tradition and at least in Germany you have lots of dialect versions and parodies of it. "Dinner For One" may not be the greatest comedy piece on earth but it surely has its qualities, mostly butler James's absolute loyalty toward Miss Sophie which causes him year after year to act as her four late friends which seem quite different characters. This elderly man seems fully aware of the consequences of his part in this story from the very start and he hates it. His loyalty and his being caught in this tradition ("Same procedure as every year") make him a kind of tragic figure, especially when in the end you get aware that poor old James, who's already dead drunk, after dinner in Miss Sophie's bedroom may have to do the work of four men again ("Well, I'll do my very best").I give it 7 and next year I'll watch it again.

In Denmark, this is the ESSENCE of New Years Eve. Aired every year (except one which I bet the TV station regrets because it was stormed by angry viewers) this is what really spells New Year's Eve in danish! Aired since god knows when, it's simply not new year until you've seen this!I know that the same thing is true for Germany and a lot of other countries.Trivia: Freddie Frinton (The Butler) wouldn't even participate in the skit in Germany in the first place, but eventually agreed, as long as it was kept in English. To this date it's one of the few non-dubbed movies in German television

Even here in Australia one is not spared the ritual of "Dinner for One".For many years SBS (the multi language public broadcaster here) has shown "Dinner for One" on New Year's Eve.The version that is shown is the 1963 German TV version with English subtitles for the German introduction. (Although for some reason they have edited out the Heinz Piper's German explanation of the English dialogue!)It remains a simple pleasure to be savoured each year!