The Best of Benny Hill
| The Best of Benny Hill | |
|---|---|
 US DVD Cover | |
| Directed by | John Robins |
| Written by | Benny Hill |
| Produced by | John Robins Roy Skeggs |
| Starring | Benny Hill Patricia Hayes Henry McGee Nicholas Parsons Bob Todd Jackie Wright |
| Music by | Benny Hill Boots Randolph |
| Distributed by | EMI Films |
Release date | 1974 |
Running time | 83 min. |
| Country | U.K. |
| Language | English |
The Best of Benny Hill is a 1974 film spinoff from the television comedy series The Benny Hill Show. This movie features sketches from the early Thames Television years from 1969-1973. All of the sketches in the film are from the episodes produced and directed by John Robins.
Some Sketches include:
- Ye Olde Wishing Well (oad 11/19/69) - including an appearance by David Prowse
- Lower Tidmarsh Hospital Service (oad 11/19/69)
- Spuddo Blooper (oad 11/19/69) - parodies of television adverts, for products such as margarine and mashed potato.
- "Throw Open" Blooper (oad 11/19/69)
- The Life of Maurice Dribble (oad 12/25/69)
- Tommy Tupper in Tupper-Time (oad 2/4/70) - a parody of Simon Dee and the chat show Dee Time
- Song: "My Garden Of Love" (oad 3/11/70)
- The Party Blooper (oad 3/11/70)
- "After Dinner with Charlotte Fudge" Blooper (oad 3/11/70)
- Boutique Mask Dance (oad 10/28/70)
- Love Will Find A Way (oad 1/27/71) (from one of the three Black and White episodes)
- The Grass Is Greener (oad 3/24/71)
- Fred Scuttle's Health Farm and Keep Fit Brigade (oad 2/23/72)
- Pierre De Tierre: Avant-Garde French Film Director (oad 2/23/72)
- Chow-Mein at Customs and Immigration (oad 2/23/72)
- Benny's All-Star Finale (oad 2/23/72) - including Benny Hill's impersonations of Nana Mouskouri, Moira Anderson and Gilbert O'Sullivan
- Escaped Convict Chase Sequence (oad 3/22/72)
The version of "Yakety Sax" as heard during the ending chase sequence was used on 12/27/73.
This movie is similar to the 1971 film And Now For Something Completely Different which was a film spinoff from the television comedy series Monty Python's Flying Circus featuring favourite sketches from the first two seasons. The difference in both films are that the Pythons recreated all the sketches while Benny Hill used clips from the Thames years and edited them together to make the film.
The movie was produced and released in 1974 by Thames Television Ltd. via its feature-film subsidiary Euston Films and originally distributed by EMI Films. Current Worldwide Distribution by Canal + Image UK LTD.
Technical note
The original programmes were shot on videotape (studio interiors) and 16 mm film (location footage). For theatrical release the videotaped material was transferred to 35 mm film as a telerecording, and the 16 mm footage was blown up to 35 mm.
DVD releases
Anchor Bay Entertainment released the movie on DVD on 7/10/2001 in Region 1 format and was released by Network on DVD and Blu-Ray on 8/02/2016 in Region 2 format