Dinner for One
Directed by Heinz DunkhaseAt Miss Sophie's 90th birthday dinner, her butler James must fill in for her four departed friends - and that includes lots of drinks before every course.
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Dinner for One Ratings & Reviews
- RichardNovember 6, 2025Dinner for One. The black and white ritual that somehow became the New Year’s Eve tradition across Germany and anyone with a nostalgic heart and access to regional TV. I must’ve seen it dozens of times, always around the holidays, always with a grin. It’s not Christmas without Miss Sophie and her increasingly inebriated butler James. The setup is simple: Miss Sophie celebrates her 90th birthday with a dinner party for four long dead friends. Her butler, James, must impersonate each guest and drink their toasts. What follows is a masterclass in physical comedy, timing and escalating absurdity. Freddie Frinton’s performance is legendary: the tiger rug trip, the slurred toasts, the increasingly chaotic service, it’s all perfectly choreographed chaos. What makes it magic isn’t just the comedy, but the ritual. The repetition. The fact that you know what’s coming and you still laugh. Whether it aired on NDR, WDR, or a Dutch channel with subtitles, it became part of the cultural fabric. And let’s be honest, the line “Same procedure as every year, James” is practically a seasonal greeting at this point.
- heinrich_kJanuary 6, 2026It is a cult classic. In Germany this recording of a comedy play is traditionally watched on New Years Eve.
Dinner for One Trivia
Dinner for One was released on June 8, 1963.
Dinner for One was directed by Heinz Dunkhase.
Dinner for One has a runtime of 18m.
Dinner for One was produced by Heinz Dunkhase.
The key characters in Dinner for One are James (Freddie Frinton), Miss Sophie (May Warden), Narrator (voice) (Heinz Piper).
Dinner for One is rated Not Rated.
Dinner for One is a Comedy, Short film.
Dinner for One has an audience rating of 8 out of 10.