The Best of Benny Hill
The Best of Benny Hill is a 1974 film version of material 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.
| The Best of Benny Hill | |
|---|---|
 US DVD Cover | |
| Directed by | John Robins |
| Produced by | John Robins Roy Skeggs |
| Written by | Benny Hill |
| Starring | Benny Hill Patricia Hayes Henry McGee Nicholas Parsons Bob Todd Jackie Wright |
| Music by | Benny Hill Boots Randolph |
Production company | |
| Distributed by | EMI Films (original) StudioCanal (current) |
Release date | 1974 |
Running time | 83 min. |
| Country | U.K. |
| Language | English |
While Fremantle owns Thames' Benny Hill Show through its ownership of the Thames library, StudioCanal holds the rights to The Best of Benny Hill, through its acquisition of EMI in 2012.
Contents
Some Sketches include:
- Ye Olde Wishing Well (19 November 1969) - including an appearance by David Prowse
- Lower Tidmarsh Hospital Service (19 November 1969)
- Spuddo Blooper (19 November 1969) - parodies of television adverts, for products such as margarine and mashed potato.
- "Throw Open" Blooper (19 November 1969)
- The Life of Maurice Dribble (25 December 1969)
- Tommy Tupper in Tupper-Time (4 February 1970) - a parody of Simon Dee and the chat show Dee Time
- Song: "My Garden Of Love" (11 March 1970)
- The Party Blooper (11 March 1970)
- "After Dinner with Charlotte Fudge" Blooper (11 March 1970)
- Boutique Mask Dance (28 October 1970)
- Love Will Find A Way (27 January 1971, in b/w )
- The Grass Is Greener (24 March 71)
- Fred Scuttle's Health Farm and Keep Fit Brigade (23 February 1972)
- Pierre De Tierre: Avant-Garde French Film Director (23 February 1972)
- Chow-Mein at Customs and Immigration (23 February 1972)
- Benny's All-Star Finale (23 February 1972) - including Benny Hill's impersonations of Nana Mouskouri, Moira Anderson and Gilbert O'Sullivan
- Escaped Convict Chase Sequence (23 February 1972)
The original programmes were recorded on videotape (studio interiors) and shot on 16 mm film (location footage); the videotaped material was transferred to 35mm 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 in 2001 for Region 1 format and was released by Network on DVD and Blu-Ray in Region 2 format in 2016.