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''The Best of Benny Hill'' is a 1974 film version of material from the television comedy series ''
The Benny Hill Show ''The Benny Hill Show'' is a British comedy television show starring Benny Hill that aired on the BBC and ITV (from 1969) between 15 January 1955 and 1 May 1989. The show consisted mainly of sketches that were full of slapstick, mime, paro ...
''. This movie features sketches from the early
Thames Television Thames Television, commonly simplified to just Thames, was a Broadcast license, franchise holder for a region of the British ITV (TV network), ITV television network serving Greater London, London and surrounding areas from 30 July 1968 until th ...
years, from 1969 to 1973. All the sketches in the film are from the episodes produced and directed by John Robins.


Contents

Some Sketches include: * Ye Olde Wishing Well (19 November 1969) - including an appearance by
David Prowse David Charles Prowse (1 July 1935 – 28 November 2020) was an English actor, bodybuilder and weightlifter. He portrayed Darth Vader (voiced by American actor James Earl Jones) in the original ''Star Wars'' trilogy and a manservant in Stanle ...
* Lower Tidmarsh Hospital Service (19 November 1969) * Spuddo Blooper (19 November 1969) - parodies of television adverts, for products such as margarine and mashed potato. * "Throw Open" Blooper (19 November 1969) * The Life of Maurice Dribble (25 December 1969) * Tommy Tupper in Tupper-Time (4 February 1970) - a parody of
Simon Dee Cyril Nicholas Henty-Dodd (28 July 1935 – 29 August 2009), better known by his stage name Simon Dee, was a British television interviewer and radio disc jockey who hosted a twice-weekly BBC TV chat show, ''Dee Time'', in the late 1960s. Af ...
and the chat show ''Dee Time'' * Song: "My Garden Of Love" (11 March 1970) * The Party Blooper (11 March 1970) * "After Dinner with Charlotte Fudge" Blooper (11 March 1970) * Boutique Mask Dance (28 October 1970) * Love Will Find A Way (27 January 1971; presented in black and white, as production occurred during ITV's
Colour Strike The Colour Strike was a period of industrial action by technicians at all ITV companies from 13 November 1970 to 8 February 1971 (although some shows made during this period in black-and-white were having their first transmission as late as Dece ...
) * The Grass Is Greener (24 March 1971) * Fred Scuttle's Health Farm and Keep Fit Brigade (23 February 1972) * Pierre De Tierre: Avant-Garde French Film Director (23 February 1972) * Chow-Mein at Customs and Immigration (23 February 1972) * Benny's All-Star Finale (23 February 1972) - including Benny Hill's impersonations of
Nana Mouskouri Ioanna "Nana" Mouskouri ( el, Ιωάννα "Νάνα" Μούσχουρη ) (born 13 October 1934) is a Greek singer. Over the span of her career, she has released over 200 albums in at least twelve languages, including Greek, French, English, Ge ...
,
Moira Anderson Moira Anderson (born 5 June 1938) is a Scottish singer. Life and career Moira Anderson was born on 5 June 1938 in Kirkintilloch, Dunbartonshire, Scotland. She was educated at Lenzie Academy, She then attended the Royal Scottish Academy of Musi ...
and
Gilbert O'Sullivan Raymond Edward "Gilbert" O'Sullivan (born 1 December 1946) is an Irish singer-songwriter who achieved his most significant success during the early 1970s with hits including " Alone Again (Naturally)", " Clair", and "Get Down". O'Sullivan's s ...
* Escaped Convict Chase Sequence (23 February 1972)


Cast

*
Benny Hill Alfred Hawthorne "Benny" Hill (21 January 1924 – 20 April 1992) was an English comedian, actor, singer and writer. He is remembered for his television programme ''The Benny Hill Show'', an amalgam of slapstick, burlesque and double ente ...
*
Patricia Hayes Patricia Lawlor Hayes (22 December 1909 – 19 September 1998) was an English character actress. Early life Patricia Hayes OBE was born in Streatham,Dennis Barker, "Hayes, Patricia Lawlor (1909–1998)", ''Oxford Dictionary of National Biog ...
*
Henry McGee ''For the American businessman and academic, see Henry W. McGee.'' Henry James Marris-McGee (14 May 1929 – 28 January 2006) was a British actor, best known as straight man to Benny Hill for many years. McGee was also often the announcer ...
*
Nicholas Parsons Christopher Nicholas Parsons (10 October 1923 – 28 January 2020) was an English actor, straight man and radio and television presenter. He was the long-running presenter of the comedy radio show '' Just a Minute'' and hosted the game show '' ...
*
Bob Todd Brian Todd (15 December 1921 – 21 October 1992), known professionally as Bob Todd, was an English comedy actor, mostly known for appearing as a straight man in the sketch shows of Benny Hill and Spike Milligan. For many years, he lived in T ...
*
Jackie Wright John Wright (24 September 1904 – 11 January 1989), credited professionally as Jackie Wright, also nicknamed Little Jackie and Uncle Jackie, was a Northern Irish comedian. He is best known for being the bald-headed sidekick of Benny Hill on h ...
* Andrée Melly *
Rita Webb Olive Rita Webb (25 February 1904 – 30 August 1981), later known as Olive Rita Thompson, was an English character actress, mainly in comedy roles. She was the eldest child of Henry Augustus Webb (1880–1926) and Rose Jeannette Keysor. She had ...
* Lesley Goldie *
Jackie Wright John Wright (24 September 1904 – 11 January 1989), credited professionally as Jackie Wright, also nicknamed Little Jackie and Uncle Jackie, was a Northern Irish comedian. He is best known for being the bald-headed sidekick of Benny Hill on h ...
* Penny Meredith *
Michael Sharvell-Martin Michael Sharvell-Martin (2 February 1944 – 28 October 2010) was a popular British television and stage actor whose career spanned more than three decades. He was a familiar character actor on British television screens, guest-starring in sever ...
*
Bettina Le Beau Bettina Le Beau (23 March 1932 – 8 September 2015), also known as Bettine Le Beau, was a Belgian actress known for her film, radio and television appearances in the UK. Life During the Second World War, Le Beau was separated from her pare ...
* Jenny Lee-Wright *
David Prowse David Charles Prowse (1 July 1935 – 28 November 2020) was an English actor, bodybuilder and weightlifter. He portrayed Darth Vader (voiced by American actor James Earl Jones) in the original ''Star Wars'' trilogy and a manservant in Stanle ...
*
Pamela Cundell Pamela Isabel Cundell (15 January 1920 – 14 February 2015) was an English character actress. She played Mrs Fox in the long-running TV comedy ''Dad's Army''. She was a descendant of Henry Condell, one of the managers of the Lord Chamberla ...
* Arthur Hewlett *
Roy Scammell Royston Edwin Scammell (28 July 1932 – 15 May 2021) was a British stuntman and actor. Life and career Scammell was born in July 1932 in Hendon, Middlesex, England. He died at Luton and Dunstable University Hospital in Luton, Bedfordshire B ...
* David Hamilton * Ken Sedd * Freddie Wiles


Production

The original programs were recorded on
videotape Videotape is magnetic tape used for storing video and usually sound in addition. Information stored can be in the form of either an analog or digital signal. Videotape is used in both video tape recorders (VTRs) and, more commonly, videocasse ...
(studio interiors) and shot on
16 mm film 16 mm film is a historically popular and economical Film gauge, gauge of Photographic film, film. 16 mm refers to the width of the film (about inch); other common film gauges include 8 mm film, 8 and 35mm movie film, 35 mm. It is ...
(location footage); the videotaped material was transferred to 35 mm film as a
telerecording Kinescope , shortened to kine , also known as telerecording in Britain, is a recording of a television program on motion picture film, directly through a lens focused on the screen of a video monitor. The process was pioneered during the 194 ...
, and the 16 mm footage was blown up to 35 mm.


Home media releases

Anchor Bay Entertainment Anchor Bay Entertainment (formerly Video Treasures and Starmaker Entertainment) was an American home entertainment and production company. It was a subsidiary of Starz Inc. Anchor Bay Entertainment marketed and sold feature films, television se ...
released the movie on DVD in 2001 for Region 1 format; it would later be re-released by
Lionsgate Lions Gate Entertainment Corporation, doing business as Lionsgate, is a Canadian- American entertainment company. It was formed by Frank Giustra on July 10, 1997, domiciled in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada and is currently headquarter ...
Home Entertainment following Lionsgate's 2016 acquisition of Anchor Bay. It was released by Network on DVD and
Blu-ray The Blu-ray Disc (BD), often known simply as Blu-ray, is a digital optical disc data storage format. It was invented and developed in 2005 and released on June 20, 2006 worldwide. It is designed to supersede the DVD format, and capable of s ...
in Region 2 format in 2016.


References


External links

* 1974 films Films based on television series 1974 comedy films British comedy films 1970s English-language films 1970s British films Films edited from television programs {{1970s-UK-comedy-film-stub