Early Benny Hill

I.D.'s of some key people in some of the following photos:



This photo was from one of the three B&W shows of 1970-71, more specifically the "Love Will Find a Way" sketch of Jan. 27, 1971. Shown here are Benny, Jackie Wright, and Lesley Goldie (Ms. Goldie is holding Mr. Wright).



The kid with Benny and Louise English in this pose (taken during the making of the "Superteech" sketch of Jan. 5, 1983) was Robert Falk, one of the last "stage children" ever hired for the show before Mr. Hill started using children of key cast and crew members.



Here, the fair lady with Benny (taken during the making of the famed Shakespeare blooper of Oct. 28, 1970) was Rona Newton-John - Olivia's sister.

 

Am in the middle of watching the documentary "50 Questions of Pollitical Incorrectness".

And just as i guessed, it had a thing on Benny Hill, Nicolas Parsons was on and defended the show (as always. Gotta love Parsons).

But I noticed all they showed was all the tit quickies and "rude bits" all from the 1970 edition before it when black and white (the episode that has song about the hippy and the suitcase).

One thing that I was even more shocked by a former cast members comments. Her name as written on the video is Cherry Gilham.
I have transcribed her exact words:
"I think Benny's views of women, showed through on the show. He had, not, just a dislike of women, i think he had, a hatred of women" And yet, she appears in the show for quite a few years.

The doco also attacks the Winds of Change sketch, although one young man finds it a briliant sketch. One odd dude with an afro called the show old fashioned and sexist and said benny eventually paid the price for it when he got sacked. Although others got a bit more attacking, the comments on benny although short, were mostly very harsh.

Bernard Manning also got heavily attacked.

2 things that alarmed me is:

They attacked Micheal Bates (aint half hot mum, last of the summer wine) for blacking up and playing an indian on "It Ain't Half Hot Mum", Yet they don't mention that Micheal Bates himself is was born in India!.

They also attacked Sir Spike Milligan for blacking up various times. Yet they also fail to mention he was born in india (or Poona as he calls it on the best of dvd) and that he was also part irish.

Others attacked included Kenny Everett, Dick Emery, even Ronnie Barker. Pretty much all of our favorite british comedians were attacked. Although these people were also defended.

 

Reading Mark Lewisohn's bio of Hill (Funny, Peculiar), I noticed a thread in Benny's life where he had what could be charitably called a passive/aggressive personality behind the scenes - alas, not just towards women. He kept the same theatrical agent (Richard Stone) for decades, but continually griped and groused about him behind his back to some friends, especially in the '80's after he made it in America, yet never moved to another agent; he duly did three shows (one of his own and another of an Anglo-American co-production called Spotlight) for the ATV network in 1967 (as part of a handshake agreement with Lord Lew Grade), but was according to some accounts a terror on the set because, unlike at the BBC and later Thames, he had no control over the circumstances of production, and after taping the last of those shows never worked for ATV again. It has been said that comedians as a class are perpetually hostile - it seems Mr. Hill's aforementioned passive/aggressive streak was one manifestation of this basic fact. Yet it would also seem Ms. Gilham has had something of an axe to grind for whatever reason, on and off, over the years.

 

Not hard to recognize Jane Leeves (Daphne on Frasier) in the first pic on post #50.

 

Jenny Lee-Wright (standing pic left, to Benny's right) and Louise English (kneeling left) are likewise easy to pinpoint. Can't say as to the one kneeling right, though.

 

http://www.veoh.com/watch/v6352085zFNPPGJP?h1=Benny+Hill:Hot+Gossamer

Probably my favorite Hill's Angels's sketch, as it's not all filth and is mostly hillarious comedy.

Henry McGee play's Kenny Everett great. I love the dancing with Benny and Jackie at 2:13. Anyone know what that dance move is called? it cracked me up.

 

Actually, this preceded the forming of Hill's Angels by a year; not only that, this was the catalyst for its forming.

 

Here's the dick head who was attacking all the comedy shows in "50 Questions of Political Incorrectness". This is the dude who critisized "old outdated" comedy stereotypes and attacked Micheal Bates for blacking up as an indian in "it aint half hot mum" (bates was born in india).

As you can see in this video, this man is doing exactly what he was critisizing people for. He is using stereotypes and un-pc humor: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zY-z1IZIGVQ (using a jamaican stereotype in this video).

 

Does any of the 16mm exist anymore that were inserted into the show? as even up to his last thames special, those sequences look very rough (though the 89 ones have more vibrant color's). One of the worst quality bit's i've noticed are the scout one from '77. Do

And also why did Benny use 16mm right up to his last thames special? (not including those 3 or 4 episodes which he used videotape).

 

He tempted her with his treacle tarts and his tasty wholemeal bread,
And when she seen the size of his hot meat pies it very near turned her head.

 

I think part of it was the technicians' unions which, in Britain, were heavily resistant to any changes in technology; plus, filming segments for speeding-up in those days seemed easier than with videotape. However, it did seem in 1973-74, on three of the shows from that season, Benny used 35mm rather than 16mm (with John Robins at the helm, he used several Hammer guys - such as cinematographer Rodney "Chic" Anstiss and film editor Archie Ludski) on that group of shows.

As for the wildly varying quality of the film color, part of it would seem to have to do with the calibration of the Rank Cintel film chains used by Thames in their studios, and another part would have been the way they were filmed. No two film chains, as I'm sure those who've worked in the industry can attest, replicates the same film or slide in the same way.

 

I wondered about that, as the last two shows from '73 or at least the sketch at the construction site, looked quite good, compared to most of the other filmed bits.

 

It seems original film elements still exist: http://forums.ebay.com/db2/topic/Movies-Memorabilia/Benny-Hill-Original/1000099429

 

Oh W.B. you'd know this.

What edition does the "Sportsview with Peter Dimmock" in which Peter Vernon interviews Mrs Emily Biscuit come from?

I am unsure whether this comes from 29.03.58 which is an imcomplete show or 26.4.58 which is the earliest complete show.

 

It was from April 26, 1958. I've seen the whole show a few times, at what is now the Paley Center for Media.

 

How the hell do you get to see these things?, you're very lucky. It seems that none of Hill's BBC shows, except for one from 68 filmed of a monitor, are anywhere on the net. I wish his BBC stuff (apart from the dvd) was easier to find.

 

The Paley Center in New York is amazing. You can punch up virtually any television show on a keyboard and watch it on a monitor. If I lived there, I'd be there every day!

 

here has not been a time that Benny did not make me laugh out loud...brilliant simple comedy.

 

Many of his early BBC stuff is amazing and very innovative. I almost guarantee he influenced the likes of Spike Milligan, The Two Ronnies and even Python. Benny was really the first to do observational comedy on tv. I feel that Benny observed human behaviour, then twisted it all into characters and comedy sketches, which related to the audience, which is why it was so successful.

Many aspects of Hill's humor seem to turn up in other shows of the era. Many Two Ronnies sketches are very much influenced by Hill's humor, and even a few Python sketches feel like they have a Hill influence to them.

 

Interestingly, since you speak of The Two Ronnies, some Pythons wrote for the show on the side in the early '70's; plus a few key people from both that show and Hill's having made guest supporting appearances from time to time. But what you said about Hill's humor, especially in his BBC days, carrying a wide influence throughout the comedy spectrum, has been what I've noticed and been saying all along.

 

Do you know what edition the clip in this video comes from?: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IHdFYRlsrwM

It's Alma Cogan (british female singer) with benny hill. late 50's.

 

Here's Everett on the set of "Hot Gossamer"


And a nice pic i found:

 

This also appears to come from April 26, 1958. Ms. Cogan was on that show, too; as well as Dave Freeman (his co-writer then) and Jessie Robins (who later played Ringo's "Aunt Jessie" in The Beatles' home made-for-TV movie Magical Mystery Tour).

 

W.B. Is the backing vocals on this song the same "Ladybirds" which where later on benny's show: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0yID8Xb7qKM This tune was also used as the theme tune to the German Music Shows "Beat-Club" and "Musikladen".

 

Truly funny man. Used to watch him on the box.