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This was the first collection of programs released on DVD by HBO Video. There are six programs in this 2 disc collection and you'll find the links for each program in the right hand column of this page. This page looks at the bonuse features.
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In order to accomodate those who do not have Pop-Up Support in their browsers, there are two links for each gallery. The Photos in the gallery are 235 pixels wide by 170 pixels high. Note: William Brown has put together some screen capture comparisons of the Golden Greats DVD and the A&E Complete & Unadulterated DVDs. You will find these images after the photos for the Benny Hill: The World's Favorite Clown captures in the gallery. There are 12 images in all.
As far as bonus features on this collection, there aren't very many besides the wonderful documentary about Benny, which is on Disc One. Disc Two contains a very short feature called "Benny Hill Biography" which shows a picture of Benny to the left side of the screen and narration of the text information as it scrolls by on the right. It's not very impressive, especially with the cheesy music. In addition, there is a Benny Hill Photo Gallery, which includes twenty pictures of Benny and the cast. This is a disappointing feature because there are so few pictures and they are very small. Many well put together DVDs have galleries with pictures that fill the screen. With this gallery, the pictures scroll by automatically and there is the same narrator and music as with the Biography feature. It would have been very nice to see a more expansive photo gallery added along with information on all the cast members and the identities of the Angels provided. As well, I prefer photo galleries where you press a button on your remote to get to the next picture.
Both discs include the feature, "Your Favorite Benny Hill Scenes". This extra allows you to watch a series of clips from the show under different headings, such as "Song And Dance with Hill's Angels" or "Doctor, Doctor". This isn't really much of an extra, since it only links you to chapters that already exist within the programs on this DVD. Below are the headings for this feature as well as the chapters that are included.
Benny Hill The World's Favorite Clown
(50 minutes)
Burt Reynolds:
"I'm blown away by his lyrics, music… um … and I think he has very good choices of… of… ladies… um… and garter belts which we all love a lot"
Woman on the street:
"Because it puts the women in a position like she's ugly, you know. He doesn't see the beauty of the woman as everybody should see. He laughs at women in a way that I don't like it"
This is a very excellent documentary on Benny Hill, which was made in 1991 and not very long before Benny's death, I would assume. It's a very involving and insightful documentary and includes many comments from people who knew Benny best, as well as people in the entertainment industry like Burt Reynolds, Mickey Rooney, Walter Cronkite and Michael Caine, as well as Benny himself.
We also get to see Benny receiving the Charlie Chaplin award for his contributions to comedy, which Benny was very proud of. He also received the award from Chaplin's son in Switzerland and we even get to hear Benny give his acceptance speech in French. Benny also talks a little bit about his love for Chaplin as well.
There are also some very old clips of Benny's work for Thames and the BBC throughout the years. One in particular has Benny in the kitchen doing an interesting sketch where he and a girl playing husband and wife make breakfast and the sound effects created by pots and pans and other kitchen utensils are beat in time to the music, something which Benny would do again years later. There's even a clip from a foreign commercial for some kind of crackers, which features Benny in different costumes.
Benny talks a little bit about his childhood and he tells us about the relationship he had with his parents. His cousin Christopher Hill talks about Benny and his family as well. When Benny was sixteen he actually drove a milk cart and this was the influence for his song "Ernie, The Fastest Milkman In The West".
Benny tells us about his work habits and how he would always have a pen and paper in his pocket while vacationing in Sweden or France and if he had, for instance, read something in the paper there that gave him an idea for a sketch he would quickly jot it down and use it in his show. For him, the writing process was something he had to do on his own and we even get to see his notes for a sketch and Benny explains how he organizes his notes according to dialogue and descriptions of the action the viewer would see.
There is also a candid moment where Benny pops into a magazine shop and picks up his newspapers and while there the girl behind the counter says "your copies of Mayfair and Men Only have come in", embarrassing him in front of the camera.
Louise and Sue are in this documentary and both of them have interesting things to say about Benny. Sue tells us about Benny's incredible tap dancing abilities. Louise talks about how shy Benny could be.
Louise English:
"He's not too shy with people he knows terribly well, the team that works with him, he's quite confident, but if anyone comes into the studio that he doesn't know or perhaps into the rehearsal room, I think he tends to withdraw slightly and perhaps become a bit shy".
Benny talks a little bit about "Hill's Angels" and how it was actually influenced by Kenny Everett and "Hot Gossip" on his show. This was obviously the influence for the "Hot Gossamer" segment with Hill's Angels. There are also comments from women in the street who feel offended by Benny's use of women in their knickers. Michael Caine says the problem is that the feminists lack a sense of humor and don't realize that everything and everybody is sent up in the show.
Richard Stone:
"So it was a tremendous surprise to me when Benny was dismissed from Thames rather summarily. After Philip (Jones, Head of Light Entertainment at Thames) had retired. This would never have happened in Philips day. If it had been necessary to say to Benny, the shows are too expensive, will you cut down, could you make simpler shows… nothing! He was sent for like a schoolboy and told that Thames didn't want his shows anymore. This to the biggest export, to the man who made millions for Thames and was still a huge star all over the world. I and the rest of show business found it incomprehensible!"
Benny:
"… and I really got quite a surprise. I went in a 10 o'clock and came out at about two minutes past 10, having been told thank you and, uh, for several, you know, reasons, and I know business is business and I don't mind them saying, we've had enough or we can't afford it or whatever, but I still would've liked a little bit of a small pat on the back because I'd been there for 22 years".
Henry McGee:
"All around the world you can go and you can see Benny. The one place you can't see him is here… and that's typical of us as a nation. Almost frightened of success, because he is the most successful comedian this country has ever produced".
This is an excellent documentary that looks at the career of Benny Hill and even takes a look at the controversy around his show and the loss of his show as well. It's really a great addition to this DVD.
This part of the DVD is not a very great addition. Simply put, this is a quick way to access certain sketches on the DVD that have a particular theme. I feel the "Song and Dance with Hill's Angels" could have been much better if this collection contained earlier routines like "Runaway" and "I Will Survive".
1. Song and Dance With Hill's Angels:
"Cost-A-Coco", Carmen, Pepys's Diary, Happy Days, The Bill, Boon
2. Benny In The Bedroom:
Newlyweds, Underneath The Covers, Any Other Lovers, The Window Cleaner
3. Doctor, Doctor:
Just A Wee Bit Pregnant, Doctor's Prescription, Pain In The Back
4. Credit Roll Chase Scenes:
Dibble's Health Farm, Welcome President Fartas!, Babysitting
1. Song and Dance With Hill's Angels:
Home For The Summer, Club Bizarre, Preacher Man, The work-Out, The Boys Are Back in Town, Country Song And Dance
2. Benny In The Bedroom:
The Married Woman, Newlyweds, Wake-Up!
3. Doctor, Doctor:
The Psychiatrist, The Vitamin Tonic, Compulsive Liar, "92", Expecting
4. Fred Scuttle:
Scuttlevision
5. Credit Roll Chase Scenes:
At The Beach, The Hospital, The Crook Report
The good thing about this DVD is that the discs are dual-layered and this really adds to the picture. There are no real problems with these transfers and the quality is pretty consistent throughout. The sound itself is quite clean but you will need to turn up this DVD as the transfers were made from older videotapes. Overall this DVD is well put together for picture and sound and there is little to distract the viewer.
The menus on this disc are generally basic. There is a nice animated menu at the beginning of the disc which shows Benny in his cupid costume shooting arrows when you press the enter button on your remote and this opens up the next menu screen. The rest of the menus besides the main menu are still pictures. The Chapters for each program have individual pictures for each chapter with the title under each and this is very convenient for finding a particular part of the disc.
I got Benny Hill Golden Greats for Christmas in 2001 and was devastated at the content on it. I had expected to see many of the classic Hill's Angels routines as well as the classic songs and sketches that Benny was known for throughout his career. Unfortunately, this DVD includes material near the end of the series when the interest groups had leaned on Thames and Benny made the decision to change the content of his show. I feel that the Little Angels were really there to make the program more acceptable for family viewing and prime time. As the show progressed I think that Benny was under more stress all the time and this lead to his weight gain.
The other disappointing thing about this collection was the addition of other cast members like Anna Dawson who did nothing to improve the show and how others in the cast receded into the background. Louise wasn't as involved in Hill's Angels and I think this was because she was disappointed with where the show was going and she wanted to get more involved in acting in the theatre. As for the Hill's Angels segments on this disc, my brother Andrew and I consider most of them "Neutered Angels". The only good angels segments are the one in "Club Bizarre" and "The Work-Out". Of all the girls who performed in many of the very best Hill's Angels routines like Corinne Russell, Clare Smalley and Samantha Spencer-Lane, only Sue Upton and Louise English perform in this collection. I also think that many of the girls in the Hill's Angels may have even started to get criticized for their involvement and decided that they would disassociate themselves from the show. This is of course all conjecture.
The straight comic material throughout this collection is very flat and there are far too many one-joke segments to keep you interested. You find yourself waiting for something to happen in most of these programs. This collection shows the Benny Hill Show past its prime.
This DVD could have been much better. I think it would have been wiser to give each of these programs more distinct titles than just "Golden Guffaws" or "Golden Yucks" as this makes it very hard to remember which program contains a particular sketch you may be looking for. There are only 2 programs on this collection worth watching, "Golden Laughs" and "Golden Sniggers". Thankfully, there is the wonderful documentary that gives us more of a glimpse into the man that was Thames greatest export and Britain's most successful comedian.
I do hope that in the future, we may see DVDs which contain the original Benny Hill specials released year by year. If sales from this collection, as well as the superior "Golden Classics" collection are strong, then we may yet see this come to pass.
(Out of 5 Stars)
Picture: ***1/2
Sound: ***1/2
Extras: **1/2
Programs: **
Overall Value: **