Complete & Unadulterated
The Hill's Angels Years - Set 6

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1. Benny Quickies: Frank Talking!
2. Scuttle's Circus
3. Benny's Ballad: Anna Marie
4. Benny Quickies: Frank Talking II
5. Heroes Through the Ages
6. Misunderstandings
7. Chow Mein: Home Catering
8. Hill's Angels: Photocall
9. Misunderstandings II
10. Jungle Antics
11. Closing Chase (not in the menu)

The show opener for this program is Benny's Ballad: Anna Marie with Benny stepping out in a mexican outfit and guitar. The lighting provides a nighttime setting and the girls wear frilly blouses and skirts. The girls provide a little vocal backing. (Given that the opening song of his very first Thames show was called "Anna Marie," it's likely that the actual song title for this could have been "Café Olé." - William Brown). We then get more short bits in Benny Quickies: Frank Talking II, beginning with Benny getting a pink pullover sweater for his dog. Next, Joanna Kirkland asks Richard Whatling how old he is at the bus stop and determines he is four because he doesn't smoke, drink or go out with girls. At the barber shop, a fire engine is heard and Benny tells Henry McGee the barber he has to run to his girlfriend's house because his girlfriend's husband is a fireman. Finally, at the office, Benny gets a call from several of the kids asking for Stinky Jones. Benny says there is no Stinky Jones there and finally gets a call from Stinky Jones asking if he got any messages. Naturally, it's a practical joke by the kids.

Heroes Through the Ages starts with several Angels dancing to "Holding Out For A Hero", (a 1983 hit for Bonnie Tyler, performed here by Francesca Boulter who was credited along with The Ladybirds as "Vocal Backing" on this show. - William Brown), in what appears to a POW Camp. It starts with cavemen Benny and Bob Todd fighting over sexy cavewoman, Lorraine Doyle. They fight each other with sticks, with Benny winning Lorraine, until Bob throws a stone behind him and accidentaly hitting Benny on the head. Next, Benny and his sidekick are vikings that invade a small village and they try to kidnap Lorraine Doyle and another girl. (The sidekick in this case may have been Duggie Small. - William Brown). In the end, Benny gets bopped on the head and Jon Jon Keefe, Lorraine and Bob run off together. In France, Benny duels with Bob Todd to protect Lorraine Doyle. Benny gives Bob some snuff and Benny walks away with all of the women. Then, a duel between Henry McGee and Benny. Henry's gun blows up and Benny walks away with the girl. We move to World War I and Benny throws a hand grenade to German Bob Todd who holds it just a little too long. In World War II, Benny is a sniper attempting to assassinate Adof Hitler. However, he is distracted by the beautiful Lorraine Doyle covered in nothing but at a towel through her bedroom window. Benny escapes from some Nazi soldiers who spot him, but is ambushed by Lorraine Doyle and another girl as German officers. They make Benny strip down to his underwear. Then they strip down to their bustiers, stockings and heels and use his clothing as a disguise. Benny is then captured and put in the middle of a firing squad who wind up shooting each other. It all ends back in the POW Camp. All of the girls run off with soldiers. Johnny Hutch winds up with Bob Todd in drag.

Hill's Angels: Photocall begins with several girls modeling for the camera with captions under each of them. Look for Lorraine Doyle, Sue Upton, Sara Throssell, Helen Carpenter, Susie Waring and Nicola Bacon as Hill's Angels, "The Seven Foolish Virgins". We then move to the sidewalks with some nuns dancing, then, Benny showing off his leather zippers to his girl. Lorraine Doyle's luggage gets frisky with another piece of luggage, (with the background music from the Feb. 10, 1982 "Little Dimpton Street Party" opening heard again. - William Brown). Johnny Hutch puts the moves on Sue Upton until he is chased by several brief cases and is devoured by a large trunk. Next, is a German Kabaret with Hill's Angels Mit Otto Schtuk und die Bavarian Schtompers. The Angels dance to a bavarian style tune wearing German costumes with shorts. Johnny Hutch plays tuba and Bob Todd hangs his underwear on Jon Jon Keefe's trombone. Benny and Johnny Hutch do a hand-slapping and clapping routine that Benny did with Jackie Wright years before. Then, Benny, Henry, Bob, Jon Jon, Johnny Hutch and Lorraine Doyle do a dance wearing bells of different pitch are attached to their legs and arms. Their movements to the music create the tune. Lorraine Doyle wears a set of bells on her "chest"! Lorraine only shakes when Benny can't see her. Then, Sue Upton and Benny do a Laurel and Hardy routine, with Sue eating her clarinet and Benny sitting on his trumpet and squashing it. At the end the girls are thrown tambourines and dance and shake them. Finally, Benny comes out and does some fancy stuff with a tambourine.

Misunderstandings II contains more quickies and starts with Bob Todd having dinner with the kids and asking them what their father does before each meal. Louise Whatling says, "Go easy on the butter". Then, Bob Todd is the fortune teller for Anna Dawson who expects her future to include a wedding, but learns she is going to become a druid. Next, We go to the park with Benny trying to read and being interrupted by the kids playing musical instruments. Benny pays the kids to get lost. Then, Benny and Bob Todd are thinking of a pocket calculator as a gift for a friend. We then move to a bus stop with Benny and Anna Dawson looking at a punk that Benny thinks no woman would want. Anna Dawson disappears very quickly. The Marriage Guidance office features Jon Jon Keefe and Lorraine Doyle arriving late to see Henry McGee. Their still in their wedding clothes and Lorraine is the one who fixed the flat tire! Finally, Lorraine Doyle has been babysitting for Anna Dawson and says that the only who gave her trouble was Johnny Hutch, Anna's husband!

Jungle Antics is a silent sketch with Benny exploring the forest and blowing a pipe. He gets pierced with a poison arrow by a native, (played by Duggie Small - William Brown). He also must fight off a giant spider. Lorraine Doyle shows up as a sexy native girl who sucks out the poison and helps him. Lorraine gets stuck with a poison leaf and Benny removes it for her, but doesn't get to suck the poison out! Benny goes back to her camp, but is put into a giant stew pot. He makes his escape and climbs a tree to escape a tiger. He also evades an alligator and an elephant, which leads into the Closing Chase (not in the menu), with Benny running away from the elephant. He knocks over a tree which was Johnny Hutch's home and climbs a tree to escape them, grabs a vine and winds up swingin right back into Lorraine Doyle's stew pot. Lorraine Doyle licks her lips and rubs her tummy, ending this program.

1. Benny Quickies: (not in the menu)
   a. Where Is Granny Now?
   b. Peeping Tom
   c. Sex Life Of A Tiger
   d. Eye Of The Beholder
   Pepys's Diary
2. Benny Quickies: Getting Away With It
   a. Can You Lend Me $5
   b. The Morgue
   c. The Window Cleaner
3. The Good Guys
4. Marriage Guidance
5. Benny Hill: A Single Life
6. Hill's Angels: TV Shows Titles
   Tales of The Unexpected (not in the menu)
   Hill's Angels: Happy Days (not in the menu)
   The Bill (not in the menu)
   Boon (not in the menu)
7. Benny Quickie: You're Next!
8. School Master
9. Hill's Little Angels: Gone Fishing
10. Closing Chase (not in the menu)

Then Henry McGee introduces squire Benny who steps out to sing Pepys's Diary, with several members of the cast singing backup. The tune is based on the diary of Samuel Pepys. They all wear traditional Victorian costumes. Benny performed this song in an early B&W show broadcast on Feb. 24, 1971, (and also on his earliest-surviving BBC special, which first aired April 26, 1958. - William Brown).

We get more shorts in Benny Quickies: Getting Away With It, opening with Benny as Sammy and Bob Todd as Milton, (last seen in the "Can You Lend Me $50?" quickie from 04/27/88. - William Brown), with Bob asking "Can You Lend Me $5". Benny pretends to have a hearing problem. In "The Morgue", Anna Dawsn must identify her husband's body for mortician Henry McGee. She is upset that it isn't her husband's body. Finally, "The Window Cleaner" features Lorraine Doyle's husband Henry McGee bursting into their bedroom because he suspects she's been fooling around. Benny pretends to be a window cleaner using his pants to clean the window.

The Good Guys is a send-up of cop shows, (with the theme music from The A-Team. - William Brown). It begins with a dog lineup with Officer Henry McGee and Derek Deadman looking over the dogs to figure out which one tore the seat out of Derek's pants. At the Police Station the guys crowd around the TV, while Sue prefers to do her hair or nails. Carla De Wansey likes to keep her food hot on top of the TV set. Watch Benny drop his shaver down his shirt or Jon Jon Keefe pull the cord through the bottom of his pant leg. Henry McGee announces to everyone that the Chief Inspector is coming, played by Bob Todd. Benny picks him up. They witness a robbery by Johnny Hutch, Derek Deadman and Jon Jon Keefe. They follow the crooks, but thanks to Benny's incompetence, Bob is kidnapped. Benny and the gang attempt a rescue. The crooks make a list of demands which reads like a grocery list. Benny disguises himself to look female and could have rescued Bob, but after threats of being busted down in rank, the gang leaves him behind.

Marriage Guidance features Anna Dawson and Benny visiting councillor Henry McGee. They hurl some insults and Henry offers his advice. I personally think this would have been much better with Helen Horton as Benny's wife. Henry recommends that they read a booklet he offers them. In the end, Henry gets a call from his wife and we learn that he is even more insulting to his wife than Benny is to Anna. (This had been titled "Making Your Marriage Work" in Golden Guffaws. - William Brown).

Benny Hill: A Single Life is another monologue by Benny. He talks about getting letters asking him why he never married. (Indeed, the prior Golden Guffaws called this monologue "Why I'm Not Married." - William Brown). He also says it wouldn't be easy for a woman to be married to a comedian. He then brings out the Hill's Angels who wear spandex leotards and carry giant signs with letters on them. He then introduces them in "TV Show Titles".

Hill's Angels: TV Shows Titles features the girls on a completely white set carrying the signs with letters on them and attempting to form naughty phrases. It's cute and worth a chuckle. Its the sexuality that many fans miss in these later Hill's Angels routines that led up to the end of the series. Tales of The Unexpected (not in the menu) is an unusual bit which features three characters only in silhouette on a mustard background. The mime starts with Derek Deadman (I believe), pinching a girl's bottom. Benny is the cop who arrests him.

Next is Hill's Angels: Happy Days (not in the menu) which is probably the weakest Hill's Angels installment of them all. The scene is a 50's style dinner with the theme from the Hit TV Series, "Happy Days" as the music. None of the elements that make up a classic Hill's Angels routine are evident here. The music is totally inappropriate and the fact that there are guys dancing with the girls who wear poodle skirts just makes things worse. Forgettable.

The Bill (not in the menu) is a brief bit which appears to be another cop show sendup. (It was; The Bill has been running on British TV since the 1980's; ironically, one of the former bit-part Angels, Lisa Maxwell, is today one of that show's co-stars as DS / Acting DI Samantha Nixon. - William Brown). It takes place at a bus stop with Bob Todd stealing Anna Dawons's purse. Benny grabs it back for her and she repeatedly hits him with her purse anyways. Then there is a police line holding back the crowds while Bob picks officer Benny's pockets. The crooks then rip off the cops' clothing, revealing Sue Upton and Susie Waring(?) in their stockings. This is a sketch that seems to make little sense. (And the faux "ending titles" appear to be little more than a cheap shot at various people who'd gone after Benny in print the last few years before this show. - William Brown).

Boon (not in the menu) is a dance number that is a little better than the previous "Happy Days" one. It begins with Benny on a motorcycle in leathers and holding a picture of himself with two biker chicks. The setting is a dark street at night in the fog. The girls and guys dance in front of and on several motorcycles. The tune is okay and the dancing isn't bad. This could have been called a Hill's Angels routine more easily than the "Happy Days" one and I wonder why they didn't. Benny Quickies: You're Next!, features Benny sitting next to a breat-feeding Sue Upton in the barbershop who says "You're Next". Benny misunderstands naturally.

In the Closing Chase (not in the menu) the cops have captured the bad guys and the kids take off with Benny around the park. Richard Whatling pulls on a fishing pole connected to a sea monster. At the end Benny and the kids are seen walking together hand in hand. This closes this program and ends Benny's twenty year career with Thames Television, which regrettably, could have ended on a higher note.

Summary

I did not look forward to reviewing this collection. The last few years of The Benny Hill Show saw the end of so many elements that made the show famous. Benny's trademark humor which lead your imagination towards the bawdy, the sexy girls in revealing costumes and doing erotic dances and the excellent musical arrangements of Ronnie Aldrich which later become more synthetic. (In some cases, literally so; most notably the use of synthesizers for the "How Will I Know" number in the "Hill's Angels: A Night on the Tiles" segment. - William Brown). The musical guests of earlier years were long gone and Benny seemed to lack the twinkle in his eye that he once had. He didn't seem capable of writing great show openers, which became more and more conservative. (This was also reflected in the quickies, which from 1988 onwards appeared more and more in the vein of the late Dave Berg's "The Lighter Side of . . . " cartoons in Mad magazine, as opposed to the early 1980's quickies which could have been cribbed from the one-panel cartoons in Playboy magazine. - William Brown). The show seemed to be geared towards the very old or the very young. (And his own performances became more lifeless, rote and formulaic, more "been there, done that," more of an "automatic pilot" quality, reminiscent of latter-day Jackie Gleason [after his 1964 move to Miami Beach] or Lucille Ball [post-The Lucy Show / Here's Lucy] or other performers who continued long past the point where their respective shows "jumped the shark." - William Brown). Conservative costumes and a whole new roster of actors took over. Jackie Wright had left the series, (and died less than a month before the airing of the Feb. 8, 1989 show. - William Brown). Also, the interest groups had put the pressure on Thames and this pressure landed on Benny, who was compelled, I believe, to change the format.

Hill's Angels routines were no where near what they used to be and seemed more likely to appeal to Lawrence Welk audiences. When I think of the things that girls like Corinne Russell and Sue Upton did in front of the camera, I can only admire their courage to be that daring. The girls on the show were always asked if they would be comfortable with wearing skimpy costumes and performing provocative dances for the camera. This became a trademark for the series and was one of the main elements that made the show such an international success. To think that in later years there would be routines with such long skirts and guys in the routines would have been unthinkable a few years earlier. I am always amazed at viewers who thought that if they didn't like a program, it was their right to keep other people from watching it and even stranger still, that they could dictate how the program should be produced. My philosophy is that if I don't like a given program, I just don't watcht it.

Although this is easily the weakest collection of all six sets from A&E, there are a few bright spots. Louise English singing La Vie en Rose; the European Television sketch of Hott Sexe, Free Loofa und Lust orgie or the The New York Slob sketch with Helen Horton reprising her role as Miriam. Also, Lorraine Doyle was always a treat to see and it looks like Benny was grooming her to be a fan favorite the way Louise English and Sue Upton had been for so long. The Halitosis Kid segment wasn't bad and the Have a Butchers sketch is one of the best with Benny dropping his pants for Anna Dawson!

Another reason for the drop in quality of the show was the fact that Benny could not write the naughty bits that he had years earlier. Perhaps he had become so accustomed to this writing style that to abandon it become a stumbling block for him. (And the repetition of gags became such an issue, that concerns among Thames executives arose that the show was falling further into perpetual mediocrity - which was cited as one of the reasons for the show's cancellation. - William Brown). At any rate, it's great to see the entire series finally released on DVD and fans can now enjoy the shows again and again.

"Hill's Angels In Conversation"
Featurette (10 Min.)

Alison Thomas starts this discussion by remembering the very fist time she met Benny in his flat. Alison and Jo Thomas talk about how his living room had been decorated by the TV Times for a "homes of the celebrities" feature. They also saw that the only things Benny had were boxes of video tapes and scripts. They reveal that he could have afforded anything, but he would bring his scripts to work in a tescos carrier bag. In fact, the girls would buy him new briefcases year after year. He also studied the films of Charlie Chaplin. Sometimes Benny would call them at home out of the blue. Alison Bell briefly recalls her bit as the famous Bus Stop She-Hulk, as well as Wanda The Wicked West Wickham Whip Woman and as the female vampire in the Park.

Jo Thomas and Alison Bell also talk about their time as singers and dancers in a revue show in the evenings and working at Teddington Studios during the day. The three of them were also in a dance group together called "Foxy Feeling", (and also featured at one time or another, other once and/or future Hill dancers and/or Angels such as Mandy Perryment and Erica Lynley. - William Brown), which was part of the "Little and Large" Show. They also recall arriving in the morning at the studios and their preparations for shooting, as well as about how Benny would stop in to see each of them and ask how they were doing.

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© April 06, 2002.