Are You Being Served? The Movie
Writers Jeremy Lloyd and David Croft managed something quite clever with this, the film version of the 1970s sitcom Are You Being Served? The idea of this cheery collection of comedy stereotypes--the pompous one, the vulgar one, the camp one, the shifty one, and so on--being confined within a department store was a master stroke, as it allowed any kind of situation to arise without the plot having to exceed the restrictions imposed by the set. How, then, to keep the same theme for the big screen without just offering the television series writ large? Simple: send the whole cast on holiday together but make sure they can't leave their hotel, a state of affairs contrived easily enough by throwing a guerilla uprising into the plot. So it is, then, that the staff of Grace Bros. descends on the Costa Plonka while the store is closed for refurbishment. There are all the usual jokes involving knickers, boobs, toilets, and gay sex (sometimes all at once), adding up to a good slice of nostalgic fun for anyone who was there when lapels really were that wide. Incidentally, this item is worth having just for the wonderful Frank Langford caricatures on the cover. --Roger Thomas
The Best of Benny Hill
Benny Hill was always best at quasi-silent slapstick, so it's no surprise that some of the best stuff on The Best of Benny Hill seems to owe more to the work of Mack Sennett and Fatty Arbuckle than to mainstream TV comedy. It may also be no coincidence that, unusually, this release began life in the cinema. There's some classic material on offer here: the extended opening item, "Lower Tidmarsh Hospital," for example, almost transcends buffoonery to become social comment, but best of all is the sketch which features Hill as a chat-show host (people really used to wear matching shirts and ties) attempting to deal with a West End star and starlet, the former monosyllabic, the latter catastrophically plastered. Among the other items featured, the knowing send-up of the pretentiousness of avant-garde French cinema is also very funny, while the short linking items include a wicked parody of Alan Whicker and a sideswipe at barely literate actresses ("What's that in the road? A head?"). Fans will be pleased to know that Hill's regular supporting cast, including Patricia Hayes, Nicholas Parsons and Rita Webb, are all present. --Roger Thomas
You should see it, make no mistake this is a definite blockbuster!
Wow! I really loved the movie Bloody Good British Comedies. The movie is absolutely stunning with top-notch graphics and visuals while Benny Hill deliver some award-winning performances in this movie.
Jul 8, 2008 Jul 16, 2008 Jul 17, 2008 Jul 18, 2008 Jul 19, 2008 Jul 20, 2008 Jul 21, 2008 Jul 22, 2008 Jul 23, 2008 Jul 25, 2008 Jul 26, 2008 Jul 27, 2008 Jul 28, 2008 Jul 29, 2008 Jul 30, 2008 Jul 31, 2008 Aug 1, 2008 Aug 2, 2008 Aug 3, 2008 Aug 4, 2008 Aug 5, 2008 Aug 6, 2008 Aug 7, 2008 Aug 8, 2008 Aug 9, 2008 Aug 10, 2008 Aug 11, 2008 Aug 12, 2008 Aug 13, 2008 Aug 14, 2008 Aug 15, 2008 Aug 16, 2008 Aug 17, 2008 Aug 18, 2008 Aug 19, 2008 Aug 20, 2008 Aug 21, 2008 Aug 22, 2008 Aug 23, 2008 Aug 24, 2008 Aug 25, 2008 Aug 26, 2008 Aug 27, 2008 Aug 28, 2008 Aug 29, 2008 Aug 30, 2008 Aug 31, 2008 Sep 1, 2008 Sep 2, 2008 Sep 3, 2008 Sep 4, 2008 Sep 5, 2008 Sep 6, 2008 Sep 7, 2008 Sep 8, 2008 Sep 9, 2008 Sep 10, 2008 Sep 11, 2008 Sep 12, 2008 Sep 13, 2008 Sep 14, 2008 Sep 15, 2008 Sep 16, 2008 Sep 17, 2008 Sep 18, 2008 Sep 19, 2008 Sep 21, 2008 Sep 22, 2008 Sep 23, 2008 Sep 24, 2008 Sep 25, 2008 Sep 26, 2008 Sep 27, 2008 Sep 28, 2008 Sep 29, 2008 Sep 30, 2008 Oct 1, 2008 Oct 2, 2008 Oct 3, 2008 Oct 4, 2008 Oct 5, 2008 Oct 6, 2008 Oct 7, 2008 Oct 8, 2008 Oct 9, 2008 Oct 10, 2008 Oct 11, 2008 Oct 12, 2008 Oct 13, 2008 Oct 14, 2008 Oct 15, 2008 Oct 16, 2008 Oct 17, 2008 Oct 18, 2008 Oct 19, 2008 Oct 20, 2008 Oct 21, 2008 Oct 22, 2008 Oct 23, 2008 Oct 24, 2008 Oct 25, 2008 Oct 26, 2008 Oct 27, 2008 Oct 28, 2008 Oct 29, 2008 Oct 30, 2008 Oct 31, 2008 Nov 1, 2008 Nov 2, 2008 Nov 3, 2008 Nov 4, 2008 Nov 5, 2008 Nov 6, 2008 Nov 7, 2008 Nov 8, 2008 Nov 9, 2008 Nov 10, 2008 Nov 11, 2008 Nov 12, 2008 Nov 13, 2008 Nov 14, 2008 Nov 15, 2008 Nov 16, 2008 Nov 17, 2008 Nov 18, 2008 Nov 19, 2008 Nov 20, 2008 Nov 21, 2008 Nov 22, 2008 Nov 23, 2008 Nov 24, 2008 Nov 25, 2008 Nov 26, 2008 Nov 27, 2008 Nov 28, 2008 Nov 29, 2008 Nov 30, 2008 Dec 1, 2008 Dec 2, 2008 Dec 3, 2008 Dec 4, 2008 Dec 5, 2008 Dec 6, 2008 Dec 7, 2008 Dec 8, 2008 Dec 9, 2008 Dec 10, 2008 Dec 11, 2008 Dec 12, 2008 Dec 13, 2008 Dec 14, 2008 Dec 15, 2008 Dec 16, 2008 Dec 17, 2008 Dec 18, 2008 Dec 19, 2008 Dec 20, 2008 Dec 21, 2008 Dec 22, 2008 Dec 23, 2008 Dec 24, 2008 Dec 25, 2008 Dec 26, 2008 Dec 27, 2008 Dec 28, 2008 Dec 29, 2008 Dec 30, 2008 Dec 31, 2008 Jan 1, 2009 Jan 2, 2009 Jan 3, 2009 Jan 4, 2009 Jan 5, 2009 Jan 6, 2009 Jan 7, 2009 Jan 8, 2009 Jan 9, 2009 Jan 10, 2009 Jan 11, 2009 Jan 12, 2009 Jan 13, 2009 Jan 14, 2009 Jan 15, 2009 Jan 16, 2009