''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, parody ...

''. This movie features sketches from the early

Thames Television Thames Television, commonly simplified to just Thames, was a franchise holder for a region of the British ITV television network serving London and surrounding areas from 30 July 1968 until the night of 31 December 1992. Thames Television broa ...

years, from 1969 to 1973. All the sketches in the film are from the episodes produced and directed by John Robins.

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 Dec ...

) * 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, Germ ...

, Moira Anderson 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 so ...

* 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 Biogra ...

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 announce ...

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 ...

* Jackie Wright *

Andrée Melly Andrée Melly (15 September 1932 – 31 January 2020) was an English actress. Career Born in Liverpool, Lancashire, she performed at the Old Vic in ''Romeo and Juliet'', ''The Merchant of Venice'' and T.S. Eliot’s '' Murder in the Cathedral ...

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 Lesley Goldie is a British actress of the early to mid-1970s, especially and better known for her appearances on ''The Benny Hill Show'' as guest star. Her works also include appearances with Mike & Bernie Winters, Frankie Howerd, Des O'Connor a ...

* Jackie Wright *

Penny Meredith Penny Meredith is a British actress. Filmography * ''The Flesh and Blood Show'' (1972) * ''Go for a Take'' (1972) * '' The Best of Benny Hill'' (1974) * '' The Ups and Downs of a Handyman'' (1975) * ''Confessions from a Holiday Camp'' (1977) * ' ...

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 par ...

Jenny Lee-Wright Jenny Lee-Wright (born 21 February 1947) is a British actress and dancer who later became a foley artist. At age 16, she left school to train with the Ballet Rambert. Within a year, she became part of a French cabaret group that traveled the wo ...

Pamela Cundell Pamela Isabel Cundell (15 January 1920 – 14 February 2015) was an English character actress. She played List of Dad's Army characters#Mrs Fox, Mrs Fox in the long-running TV comedy ''Dad's Army''. She was a descendant of Henry Condell, one ...

Arthur Hewlett Arthur Hewlett (12 March 1907 in Southampton, Hampshire – 25 February 1997 in London) was a British actor. Hewlett made his stage debut in 1930 at Plymouth Rep, and his theatre work included the original British production of Bernard Shaw ...

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 ...

* 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 (location footage); the videotaped material was transferred to

35 mm film 35 mm may refer to: * 135 film, a type of still photography format commonly referred to as 35 mm film * 35 mm movie film 35 mm film is a film gauge used in filmmaking, and the film standard. In motion pictures that record on f ...

as a telerecording, 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 headquartered ...

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 st ...

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

Contents

Cast

Production

Home media releases

References

External links