Cinema: The Vintage Years

Production[]

Episode: 9
Date: March 24, 1971
Time: 50:24
Musical Director: Ronnie Aldrich
Vocals: The Ladybirds
Choreography: Johnny Greenland
Producer: John Robins
Director: John Robins
Writer: Benny Hill

Episode[]

Quickie: Unfaithful Dance
Ballad: The Egg Marketing Board Tango
French for Starters
The Messenger
The Grass is Greener
Supermarket Dance
Benny: Behind The Scenes
The Ladybirds: Close to You
Cinema: The Vintage Years
Bloopers - 3
The French Bonanza
- German Butter
- Cavern Keg Beer
- Opportunitie Knokkes
Westminster Funsters
Chow Mein's Restaurant
Tag: Man in a Wheelchair

Highlights[]

French For Starters
The Messenger
Supermarket Dance
Passengers of Love

Cast[]

Quotes[]

Andree Melly - "I believe you played leads..."
Merwyn Cruddy - "Oh yes, and Manchester and Birmingham."

Andree Melly - "You lived life with a big "L.""
Merwyn Cruddy - "And sometimes I suffered pain with a big "P.""

Andree Melly - "She was a masochist!"
Merwyn Cruddy - "She spoke perfect English!"

Benny Hill - "Can you get my script? It isn't there? I think I left it up in Jenny's room. Or maybe it was Bettine's room. Or many The Ladybirds' room..... Not a funny show, but a happy show."

Benny Hill - "What do you call a man who marries another man? A Vicar...."

Benny Hill - "How do male elephants find female elephants in the long grass? Very nice."

Edward Heath - "Now, boys and girls, I want to talk about our little party. Now, because I don't want you in our party."
Harold Wilson - I don't want to join your rotten little party. All you do is go around and around in concentric circles in your own inflationary spiral."

Mamood Ramsun - "I would like a little service."
Chow Mein - "Then go to a little church."

Chow Mein - "Do you want to spirit?"
Mamood Ramsun - "No, I don't want to spill it, I want to drink it."
Chow Mein - "I didn't say spirit, I said spirit. Don't you know the Queen's English?"
Mamood Ramsun - "I'm sure he is."

Chow Mein - "How you like your coffee?"
Mamood Ramsun - "Like I like my women... Hot and sweet."

Chow Mein - "If you can't see it, and you can't smell it, we ain't got it."

Trivia[]

First appearance of Andree Melly
The series once again reverts back to color after three episodes in black and white.
This episode was recorded on March 4, 1971.
This was the highest-ever rated "Benny Hill Show" in all its years on Thames, seen in a reported 9.83 million homes - or by 21.63 million viewers.
In an open moment with the audience, Benny also mentions "The Mike and Bernie Winters Show" also filmed at Thames Studios.
The opening quickie features a husband (Benny Hill) departing for work and leaving his wife (Jenny Lee-Wright) with her lovers (a biker, an African hunter, Oliver Hardy and a bespectacled sailor - all played by Benny)
- The people at the bus stop are Bettine Le Beau, Jackie Wright and Nicholas Parsons.
- Benny also plays Oliver Hardy in Nor Iron Bars A Cage in 1977 with Jackie as Stan Laurel and in Otto Schtuk und die Bavarian Schtompers in 1989 with Sue Upton as Stan Laurel. According to his later bios, Oliver Hardy was one of Benny's top comedic influences.
The castles in the Messenger skit are Sissinghurst in Kent and Edinburgh Castle in Scotland.
The female dancer with Benny in the Supermarket Dance is Kay Frazer. They're joined by Jackie Wright as the manager and Bob Todd and Bettine LeBeau as the arresting officers. The sketch incorporates ballet, salsa and other music themes with pantomime.
Bettine Le Beau introduces a string of fake gaffes and bloopers:
- A camera pulling back from a Spanish dancer (Benny) revealing his stand-in (Johnny Greenland)
  - The "camera pull back" gag would be repeated in the "Hot Gossamer" sketch of March 14, 1979.
- A French child actor (Benny) filming a scene and knocking a basket of eggs off the table (Bettine plays the mother)
- A badly dubbed French version of "Bonanza" with a map of Connecticut and an actress dubbing the voice of the Native American (Benny plays Ben and Big Hoss; Bob Todd is the Indian. The voices are from Benny and Bettine,)
- The spokesman for Stück butter (Benny) is confronted by the angry husband (Bob) of a housewife (Bettine) (The by-standers are Lesley Goldie, Jenny Lee-Wright and Jackie Wright)
  - This was a remake of a German ad parody Benny did in one of his BBC shows in 1965. "Stück" is a play on Stork, a brand of margarine sold in the UK.
- The lady spokesman of German Ale Beer (Benny) lets a customer (Nicholas Parsons) sample a taste little knowing its paint thinner from a worman (Jackie) in the tavern
- Dissension between three performers (Benny, Bob and Jackie) on "Opportunitie Knokkes"
"Opportunitie Knokkes" was a parody of the British TV series "Opportunity Knocks." Benny previously parodied it in 1970.
The Westminster Funsters shows a rare political satire directed at Edward Heath (Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1970 to 1974), Harold Wilson (Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1964 to 1970) and Enoch Powell (Conservative Member of Parliament from 1950 to 1974).
- Heath was voiced by Nicholas Parsons, Wilson by Bob Todd, and Powell by Benny Hill.
- The "Ted and Harold and Enoch" poster would later be reused for the Fred Scuttle "Striptease Cabaret" sketch of December 27, 1972.
The ending tag features an old man (Benny) pushed by his valet (Jackie) chasing after two girls (Sue Bond and Lesley Goldie) with the valet rolling off unattended in the wheelchair.
The Production Number for this episode is VTR 4000.
Several clips from this episode made it into the The Best of Benny Hill.

Sequence[]

Last Episode: Undercover Sanitary Inspector
Next Episode: Fun in the Kitchen