Complete & Unadulterated
The Naughty Early Years - Set 1

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1. Benny Quickie: Unfaithful Wife
2. Benny's Ballad: "The Egg Marketing Board Tango"
3. French For Starters
4. The Messenger
5. The Grass Is Greener
6. Supermarket Dance
7. Benny Reveals All... about television!
8. The Ladybirds: "Close To You"
9. Cinema: The Vintage Years
10. Benny's International Bloopers
11. The Westminister Funsters
12. Chow-Mein and Cookie in the Restaurant
13. Closing: Yakkety Sax (not in the menu)

The Messenger is another silent segment, which features an historical setting of Old England and fast Victorian music where Benny delivers an important message. Everyone remembers this classic sketch. Look for a brief appearance with Jenny Lee-Wright as a blonde who runs Benny off into the woods for some fun and lets him have her clothes as a disguise. Great stuff. Benny then appears on a talk show in The Grass Is Greener as Mervyn Cruddy, a chorus boy interviewed by Andree Melly. Next is the unique Supermarket Dance with Benny and Kay Frazer in a supermarket who perform a kind of ballet, with lots of great pantomimes throughout, until they get arrested!

Benny Reveals All... about television! with Benny explaining different aspects of producing Television shows, even explaining different elements in a script and it's great to see Benny so candid with the audience. Benny introduces the Ladybirds in The Ladybirds: "Close To You" where they sing the classic Carpenters hit. As with many of these performances there are some pretty cool camera tricks with multiple images and wacky colors. Cinema: The Vintage Years is a send-up of movies you might see on the late, late show, complete with Benny as the hero on a cruise ship, Jenny Lee-Wright as his girl and Nicholas Parsons as the villain. Watch Benny and Jenny Lee sing "Tiptoe Through The Tulips". The idea here is all of the print damage to the movie, such as dialogue missing, skips and speed problems. Plenty of places where you get to fill in the blank. Use your imagination.

The lovely Bettine Le Beau introduces Benny's International Bloopers, where plenty of moments go wrong, this time in different languages. Benny is a dancer with Johnny Greenland (who choreographed the Supermarket Dance) as his partner, a little boy in a commercial, a French language "Bonanza", a German Margarine ad and Benny in drag in a German pub opposite Nicholas Parsons. Benny also does a German dance with Jackie Wright and Bob Todd and this also appears to be the beginnings of the partnership these three actors would have throughout the entire run of the series.

The Westminster Funsters is a puppet show sending up British politicians and is probably the only thing political I've ever seen in the series. Chow-Mein and Cookie in the Restaurant is the first segment where Benny and Bob Todd go head to head. Benny is Chow Mein and Bob is "Cookie", a Pakistani customer in Chow-Mein's Chinese restaurant. The language barrier is played up in this one and you can see Benny and Bob trying not to laugh. Hilarious word-play abounds and Nicholas Parsons is also one of the customers. Benny then says goodnight and the show closes with Benny as an old man being pushed in a wheel chair chasing the lovely Sue Bond and Lesley Goldie. There is plenty of classic stuff in this program.

1. Benny Quickie: Hotel Lift
2. Benny's Ballad: "The Beach at St. Tropez"
3. Benny's Bloopers
4. New England 1635
5. Chow-Mein: At Home with Henry McGee
6. St. John Bossom: Poet
7. Cruising on the S.S. Rumpo
8. The Ladybirds: "River Deep, Mountain High"
9. Fun in the Kitchen with Johnny & Cranny Faddock
10. The Movie Shakers: Mervyn Cruddy
11. Closing: Yakkety Sax (not in the menu)

Benny's Bloopers include a location shot in France; Benny on a date with Bettine Le Beau; Benny asking for a kiss from Jenny Lee-Wright, with Jenny getting mad and actually calling Benny by name! Bettine Le Beau gives fashion tips with some trouble; Benny plays a model doing a blindfold test for skin cream. An interview show is hosted by Carol Mills with Benny as a priest in an air-filled chair. A movie set features Benny and Jerrold Wells climbing a mountain and goofing up the shot. New England 1635 features Bob Todd in the stocks for having wicked thoughts. Benny sits with him and Andree Melly who keeps saying things that lead Benny's imagination to have wicked thoughts. Benny hits Bob when he has a wicked thought himself. Classic and hilarious!

Chow-Mein: At Home with Henry McGee is the first of many interviews that the two characters would have over the entire run of the series. Chow-Mein is visiting England and Henry cannot understand anything he says and this is the style their interviews would usually follow. Brilliant. St. John Bossom: Poet features Benny repeating a character from "Uplift", reading poems like "The Dirty Old Man" and "Norman". Cruising on the S.S. Rumpo features many of the cast regulars on a ship and some of the classic gags (the "seasick" gag with Benny & Jerrold Wells making Jackie Wright sick, remade in the 1983 "cruise" sketch) that Benny would use again in later years, as well as many you've never seen before. There's a great gag with Benny as the page turner for pianist Jose Stewart entertaining on the ship. Look for Mia Martin drying herself with a towel. Just watch Benny as the "slick" bartender" making drinks for Henry and Carol Mills. Watch where the olive goes! Brilliant sketch!

The Ladybirds: "River Deep, Mountain High" features the singing trio in pink outfits in front of a chroma-key backdrop. You can see a lot of scratches and debris in this segment due to the stock footage used. Fun in the Kitchen with Johnny & Cranny Faddock is a great send-up of cooking shows with Benny as the hostess and Bob Todd as his bumbling assistant who is drunk through the whole thing. The recipes turn out badly and Bob just seems to get drunker. Great stuff.

The Movie Shakers: Mervyn Cruddy is an interview with Benny as a conceited and effeminate actor interviewed by Andree Melly. They discuss his film career and the first film clip is hysterical where we only see hands and hear only "John" and "Marcia" spoken between two lovers, through their courtship, proposal, marriage and tragic ending. A real piece of genius! The next clip is "Home Is The Hero" where Benny returns home to the south from the war. Jenny Lee-Wright is his girl promised to another man. Bob Todd is hysterical as the black butler. Bob is holding back his giggles without success and can't even deliver his lines! Henry McGee also has a spot in this brilliant film parody. A classic sketch spoofing Hollywood stars. Benny says goodnight and the show closes with Henry McGee chasing Bettine Le Beau down the street until she kisses Benny and he runs away, (but not before Benny himself is chased by Marilyn Rickard), closing this great program.

1. Benny Quickie: Pub Bore
2. Benny's Ballad: "Gypsy Rock"
3. Fred Scuttle: Chief Drama Director and Dialogue Coach
4. The Dimpton Drinking Club
5. The Ladybirds: "Say A Little Prayer"
6. News At Ten with Reginald Boozenquet
7. The Great Pretender
8. Benny's International Bloopers
9. Closing: Yakkety Sax (not in the menu)

Next, Nicholas Parsons interviews Mr. Scuttle in Fred Scuttle: Chief Drama Director and Dialogue Coach. Scuttle gives his unique brand of advice to would be actors and actresses. Bob Todd also appears as a model that no one would hire, "Chunky". He's not only a slob, but not much more than a halfwit. Nicholas Parsons is not impressed. The Dimpton Drinking Club is a monologue by Benny about a drinking club that he used to be a member of. Benny uses his usual style at telling tall tales and stories.

The Ladybirds: "Say A Little Prayer" is another musical performance, which uses the same set as the previous episode with a psychedelic looking background for the chroma-key. The Ladybirds sing with their trademark harmonies and style. News At Ten with Reginald Boozenquet starts with a look into a woman's window when she is undressing and removing her stockings. This looks like the same girl that played the barmaid in the Pub Bore quickie! Then we switch to Benny as newscaster Reginald Boozenquet. This sketch starts off and film reels get mixed up with the wrong news items. Benny also appears in black face during a news report with Nicholas Parsons. You wouldn't get away with this in today's politically correct world. Needless to say he's very funny, in spite of how racist this is. Benny also sends up a German language professor. There is also a segment with Benny and Bob who talk with nothing but letters of the alphabet spoken as words. See if you can keep up and look out for Clovissa Newcombe in a bikini who steps out of the wardrobe.

The Great Pretender is a sketch where Benny is King and about to be married to a French girl. Rita Webb is his mother and Nicholas Parsons and Bob Todd are his lackeys. Clovissa Newcombe is the plotter. The Ladybirds help tell the story with short musical interludes. A messenger brings word of a plot to assassinate the king and it's up to Nicholas and Bob to stop it. They get the help of a man who is the spitting image of the king in everyway, (but how he talks) and send him in place of the king. The king shows up anyways. Lots of fun stuff and this is a classic sketch. Bettine Le Beau plays the girl the king is to marry.

Next up, Benny introduces Benny's International Bloopers. These include Benny as a German officer for an army recruiting film with Bob Todd. Look for Carol Mills taking off her top! A gaffe of Benny promoting better living in the city with Bettine Le Beau as the girl; a running gag with Benny and Bob as dirty old German toy makers putting their hands where they shouldn't (with Kay Frazer); a "father and son" ad with Benny taking a bite of something that's supposed to be a biscuit; Miss Dimpton on Sea with a bad close-up (Clovissa Newcombe); a tennis player doing a soap ad (with Mia Martin); a running gag with Benny as a Spanish guitarist and Bob Todd as the singer; the Black Theatre with Kay Frazer slapping Benny for putting his hands where he shouldn't (later remade in the Monte Carbolic sketch with Sue & Upton and Jerrold Wells); a soap ad with Carol Mills and a bra ad with Benny in drag. The show closes with some female Bobbies on the street getting chased by Benny and Bob. A great program filled with classic moments.

Summary

I was beginning to wonder if there ever was going to be a series of DVD's devoted to The Benny Hill Show which would contain complete episodes. Previous Benny Hill DVDs pale by comparison to this collection. We get to see the shows as they were originally broadcasted. The evolution of the show is apparent when watching them in a collection like this. Just like any variety show, Benny had his usual formulas, like Bloopers, musical guests and songs performed by himself at the beginning of each program. You'll also notice a lot of different actors and actresses who came and went during the period of this first three years. Important regulars for Benny included Nicholas Parsons, Jenny Lee-Wright and Eira Heath, who appear in many of these programs. Surprisingly, Henry McGee didn't seem to appear as much in these earlier shows compared to later years when he seemed to take over from Nicholas Parsons as Benny's right hand man.

We also get a special treat with this DVD to three excellent and rare Black & White programs that have never been available until now. We see the first appearance of the lovely Jenny Lee-Wright and the sexy Sue Bond who appears in these three shows almost exclusively. It's a shame that she didn't do more on the show. We also get the fabulous "Top Of The Tops" sketch which actually makes Episode No. 7 the very best show in this collection, in my opinion.

Audio

The Audio portion is definitely limited in a program of this vintage, but it is surprisingly clear throughout with very good clarity most of the time. The sound is presented in Dolby Digital Mono and will come from your center channel if you have a surround system. Music is usually very sharp, but there is distortion at times which never becomes distracting. Very good sound for a program of this age.

Bonus Features

This area of the disc is a little lacking. There is The Benny Hill Cheeky Challenge Trivia Quiz, which gives you a look at sexy Sue Bond's cleavage from "Opportunity's knocking" when you get the right answer! One or two questions, however, give an incorrect response. The other bonus is the excellent documentary, "Benny Hill, The World's Favourite Clown". This was presented on the "Golden Greats" disc, but those who passed on that collection will get it here. The picture is not as crisp as on that disc, but no matter. This is a documentary all fans will want to see. It runs about 52 minutes and is divided into 20 chapter, unlike the "Golden Great" collection which had no chapter divisions. For in-depth information, check out my complete review of Benny Hill, The World's Favourite Clown.

Packaging

I do have a small complaint about the packaging which is called "thin-packaging". Getting the discs out at first was pretty tricky, as it could bend the disc quite a bit and damage the data. After a time, they do get easier to remove thankfully, so be careful. Other than that, the set is presented nicely with chapter titles on the back of each case for finding what you want quickly and there is even a small booklet with some background on Benny included.

Menus

There are animated menus on this disc which show several clips while Yakkety Sax plays on your speakers. You can access every sketch instantly from the menus. However, they failed to include a "link" to the closing segments of the show, which actually adds another chapter to each program. You may have noticed in my review that I have indicated that the last chapter for each program is not embedded in the menus. Menus have lots of stills put together in a "collage" effect while you view the list of chapters. Very nicely done.

Close

I have been in touch with Devra Prywes of New Video and they are in charge of creating the bonus features for upcoming DVDs in this series. If all goes well, we may get audio commentaries with cast and crew, as well as background on just who is who in Hill's Angels. Oddly enough, as I was preparing to post this review, I received info from TVShowsOnDVD.com about the next set. Is that timing or what? Any changes and updates can always be found on the Site Map Page.

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© April 06, 2002.