Noises Off is a 1992 American comedy film directed by Peter Bogdanovich,[1] with a screenplay by Marty Kaplan based on the 1982 play by Michael Frayn.

[2] Its ensemble cast includes Michael Caine, Carol Burnett, Christopher Reeve, John Ritter, Marilu Henner, Nicollette Sheridan, Julie Hagerty and Mark Linn-Baker,[1] as well as featuring the last performance of Denholm Elliott, who died in October that year.

The film follows the rehearsal and performance of a dreadful farce called Nothing On, a hit British stage play that is preparing for its American debut in Des Moines, Iowa, with a second-rate, Broadway-bound theatrical troupe under the direction of Lloyd Fellowes.

Among the cast members are fading star Dotty Otley, hot-tempered Garry Lejeune, insecure matinee heartthrob Frederick Dallas, myopic leading lady Brooke Ashton, bubbly Belinda Blair, and alcoholic character actor Selsdon Mowbray who is hard of hearing.

Complicating matters are the personal problems and backstage relationships of the cast and crew, which are simmering under the surface during rehearsal but erupt into the open as the play works its way across the country en route to New York.

However, against all odds, they manage to sort out their personal differences and pull together for the Broadway debut, and the show becomes a massive hit.

"[8] Retrospectively, Bogdanovich said, "I purposely kept a lower profile on this picture because I didn't want people writing about me and my career.

[10] In his review in The New York Times, Vincent Canby noted, "There are a number of hefty laughs scattered throughout .

this woozy film adaptation" and added, "Noises Off is a practically perfect stage piece, constructed with such delicacy that any opportunistic adjustment can destroy it, which is what happens here .

The film's problem is more basic: the attempt to Americanize a fine English farce about provincial seediness.

"[11] Rita Kempley of The Washington Post observed, "The performers all seem to be relishing this sendup, but we're always aware that it is a vehicle better suited to the stage.

"[12] In The New Yorker, Michael Sragow said, "Most of the time, Bogdanovich sticks to Frayn's gleefully proscenium-bound play without making it work for the movies.

but the closeness of the home screen points up every flaw in Peter Bogdanovich's futile adaptation: anorectic visuals, bloated acting, broad timing, and often dull direction.

"[15] Channel 4 notes, "Frayn's frenetic farce was always going to be a difficult act to pull off on the big screen, but Bogdanovich and an enthusiastic cast do their damnedest to sustain the mayhem and the momentum.

Those who remember the original theatrical hit are bound to be disappointed by the lack of immediacy and the occasional sense of artifice, but this is perfectly serviceable.