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Benny Hill - Golden Greats

Benny Hill - Golden Greats

List Price: $39.98
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Rating: 2 stars
Summary: Not the real classics
Review: This DVD was kind of a letdown. They cover the Benny Hill period when he went kind of lazy on the comedy and basically depended on gimmicks such as "Hills Angels" and endless and witless musical numbers. These are the shows that were shown years ago on HBO "uncensored" and that were such a disappointment to fans.

None of the classic, funny routines that made him famous in the U.S. are here. The quality of the DVD is great and it is nice to have some Benny Hill shows available( they aren't currently shown on any cable tv station), but this is not Benny at his best.

Rating: 2 stars
Summary: Not the real classics
Review: This DVD was kind of a letdown. They cover the Benny Hill period when he went kind of lazy on the comedy and basically depended on gimmicks such as "Hills Angels" and endless and witless musical numbers. These are the shows that were shown years ago on HBO "uncensored" and that were such a disappointment to fans.

None of the classic, funny routines that made him famous in the U.S. are here. The quality of the DVD is great and it is nice to have some Benny Hill shows available( they aren't currently shown on any cable tv station), but this is not Benny at his best.

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: One of the Greatest British Comedians.
Review: This set brings back the great comic genius of Benny Hill to America. Though many feminists found offense at his use of scantilly clad women, the comedy of Benny Hill has much more to it than that. Hill was a throwback to a more slapstick style of comedy made famous in the 20's and 30's cinema. His shows contained a great mix of visual comedy, verbal jokes, and lots of charming song and dance routinues. Watching the Benny Hill show is almost like a vaudeville show from the turn of the century. His comedy was definitely more than just women in their underwear.

This DVD set presents six one hour episodes of his show. While there is a good mix of famous skits, this set barely scratches the surface of his 50 year comedy career. The set also seems to focus on the 80's shows and I would have liked to have also had something from the 70's in the set.

However, the episodes look picture perfect and the mono sound is good and true to the original broadcasts. There is also a nice documentary about Hill that shows him in the early 90's and tells about his history. Stars like Burt Reynolds and Mickey Rooney also share their thoughts of Hill. The discs also contain a pretty nice verbal bio of Benny Hill and a still gallery from the shows.

Not the ultimate set, but well worth the price. I just hope for more releases in the future. Highly Recommended.

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: Benny Hill, the Later Years
Review: This set contains Benny Hill episodes that were produced later in his sucess. The big sets, music and dancing creates a variety show atmosphere that is different than the intimate earlier years of Benny Hill. The fabulous sets, costumes and dancing in Benny Hill's CARMEN skit shows a new facet to this comedy genious. The site gags are big and broad. Just the CARMEN opera spoof is worth the price of the set. I laugh out loud every time I think of it, especially the gag of Benny hitting the high notes in the grand finale after skewing CARMEN with his sword.

The video transfers are excellent, even better quality than some of the broadcast tapes that are shown on cable channels.

The documentary on Benny Hill is a very interesting look into this bachelor comedian life and career. It shows what a perfectionist and workaholic he was, contributing probably to not having a family of his own.


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