Comedy > 1976 Comedy

Granville!

Advantages: Ronnie Barker and David Jason
Disadvantages: Not very PC!

...that I can sometimes catch Open All Hours on the TV didn't stop me from wanting to buy, particularly now that Ronnie Barker is no longer with us. My only real criticism of the DVD is the humour can be a little grating after a while and I find I need a break from it for some considerable time. The show was made in the 1970s when political correctness hadn't quite reached TV producers, so there is some racist and sexist content that may offend some. ...

sunmeilan 09.12.2005 · Read full review
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Review of Open All Hours - Series 1 (DVD)

A Storm in a Teacup.

Advantages: THE BEST COMEDY SHOW EVER
Disadvantages: NOTHING

Porridge Series 3 Written by Dick Clement and Ian La Frenais. This is my all time favourite comedy. Set in prison you might think it a dour and confining place to make a comedy but with superb writing, comic genius and superb character acting from a class team of actors, you end up with a true classic that will absolutely stand the test of time. Let me take you on my appreciation tour of PORRIDGE. Time line: ~~~~~~~ It all ...
...when a pilot aired on the BBC called ‘Prisoner and Escort’. It followed Norman Stanley Fletcher being escorted to Prison by Mr McKay and Mr Barrowclough. Fletch had stolen a lorry load of ‘booze’ and was being transferred from Brixton to the ‘Wilds’ of Cumbria. Along the way he manages to Pee in the fuel tank causing the van to ‘conk’ out. He spends the cold night running around the fells thinking he has escaped from Barrowclough only to find he ...

Maximus-Qualitus 29.10.2009 · Read full review
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Review of Porridge - Series 3 (DVD)

Silent Movie

Advantages: No need for subtitles ;-)
Disadvantages: Probably stretched the joke out for too long

Now how to describe Silent Movie....well it's exactly what it says in the title: A silent movie (surprised?). In fact, it's a silent movie about the making of a silent movie! What a twist ! I'm sure Mel Brooks took a risk making this in the mid 70s...although I doubt it is classed as a geniune silent movie as there is one word of dialogue (and plenty of over the top sound effects!). Brooks stars as Mel Funn a has-been producer who's trying to get ...
...film in 40 years. He finds a near bankrupt studio,who are willing to take the risk. The movie continues as Mel and his 2 friends played by Dom DeLuise (how many Brooks movies is this guy in!) and Marty Feldman chase around Hollywood looking for stars for the movie. Cue a series of bizarre encounters with the likes of Burt Reynolds, James Caan, Paul Newman, Liza Minnelli and Anne Bancroft. Most of these were big names back in the 70s when this was ...

Fordc3 19.04.2006 · Read full review
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Review of Silent Movie (DVD)

Britain's best comedy - Series 2

Advantages: Great scripts, superb acting, hilarious!!
Disadvantages: Are there any?

...as the incompetent hotelier Basil Fawlty and he is more than ably assisted by the likes of Prunella Scales (Basil's wife, Sybille Fawlty), Andrew Sachs (Manuel, the waiter), Connie Booth (the maid, Polly) and the brilliant Ballard Berkeley (as the slightly senile yet lovable Major). As with the first series, most of the laughs come through the comic misunderstandings of Basil and his poor attempts at solving any problems and this formula definitely ...
...in the previous six episodes. However, this time it seems that a bit more emphasis is placed on the supporting characters, such as the Major, rather than just solely focusing on Basil, as seemed to happen more in the previous series. I think this works well overall, as all of the cast seem well able to make us laugh, and most of the characters play their roles to perfection. The six episodes on this DVD from the second series are: Communication ...

corkoz 26.07.2007 · Read full review
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Review of Fawlty Towers - Series 2 - Complete (DVD)

A train journey to remember...?

Advantages: great comical combination of Pryor and Wilder
Disadvantages: none

Director: Arthur Hiller Producer: Edward K. Milkis Writer: Colin Higgins Stars: Gene Wilder, Richard Pryor Jill Clayburgh, Ned Beatty and Pattrick McGoohan Released in late 1976 this near two hour movie takes us on a train journey which we will never forget…. **BRIEF PLOT** When George Caldwel, (played by Gene Wilder) starts his journey on the 'Silver Streak', a train running from Los Angelis to Chicago it is not long before he realises that ...
...thought… Whilst on the train, George meets the beautiful Hilly Burns, (played by Jill Clayburgh) and sees her art dealer boss murdered, but unfortunately for George he ends up disembarking the train earlier than he bargained for and ends up being suspected for the murder… Meanwhile, it turns out that FBI agent Bob Sweet, (played by Ned Beatty) is investigating the art dealings involving Roger Devereaux, (played by Patrick Mcgoohan), another art ...

blissman70 09.09.2008 · Read full review
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Review of Silver Streak (DVD)