Bio[]
El Paso is an American town somewhere in the American Southwest best known as the home of the Halitosis Kid and other gunslingers, such as Thunderclap and The Gay Caballero. It is unrevealed if it is the same one in Texas.
In the 1890s, the town is seen as a single row of buildings around a hotel and saloon with a small population of less than 30. It is revealed that one of the locals, Benny The Kid (Benny Hill), is in love with a girl named Feleena (Claire Ruane) who dances at Rosa's Cantina he surrounded by the other girls (Lorna Nathan/Leanne Robinson/Jenny Westbrook). When he goes for a drink there, the bartender (Henry McGee) slides his drink down and he misses it, causing it to douse one of the girls (Dilys Watling). Swooning over Feleena from a far makes steam come out of his ears, but he must still battle her other suitor, The Man In Black (Jackie Wright). They get in a duel with Benny getting hit by a portrait and the Man in Black's gun holster trapped in a chair. However, Benny has one shot go off that takes the life of the Man in Black. Rejected by Feleena, he must flee to Mexico. Although he meets a beautiful barmaid (Monica Ringwald), his thoughts return to Feleena and he returns to El Paso to discover a bounty on his head. Several gunmen (Henry McGee, Jack Wright, Eddie Buchanan and two unidentified) take turns trying to shoot him, but he either eludes them one by one or defeats them until taking a fatal wound. After trying to fall into the arms of a beautiful dancer (Monica Ringwald), he is finally caught by Feleena who blows cigarette smoke into his face before giving him one last kiss.
In modern years (1988), the town shows signs as having modern conveniences such as automobiles and the telephone. The laid back idyllic town is entertained by a musical pan handler (Benny Hill), who entertains the ladies (Louise English and Gilian Adams), but he gets upstaged by a phony lasso artist (Jon Jon Keefe) and punched in the jaw, his sneeze later loosening the underwear of a local lady (Sue Upton). Several of the ladies (Cheryl Mortimer and Jane Conaway) and some of the men (Jackie Wright) wear their names and nicknames on their shirts.
However, the town is still under the control of the outlaw Thunderclap (or his descendant) who appears with his Mexican sidekick (Jon Jon Keefe). He first appears looming over the wall of a young lady (Elfrida Ashworth?) as his sidekick shoots the people (Lesley Woods/ Jackie Wright/Elfrida Ashworth/Jon Jon Keefe/Cheryl Mortimer/Gilian Adams) in line ahead of Thunderclap at the phone booth. When Thunderclap is caught by the sheriff (Jackie Wright), he ducks behind a local business man (Benny Hill) and escapes. The two outlaws soon hold up another local man (Benny Hill) in a blue suit with jewelry. The businessman goes on to try and get a look at a baby, but its mother and grandmother (Tracy Evans and Jenny Lee Wright) block him so he makes a pass at the mother.
The town has a local dance hall entertained by the Hill's Angels and featuring Louise English, who wears a tuxedo and imitates British comedian Tommy Cooper. In the act, the Angels wear ponchos and sombreros which they reveal to their skimpy outfits. In the audience, a woman (Jenny Lee Wright?) is annoyed by the smoke from the cigar of her husband (Benny Hill) and takes it away from him, but he accidentally picks up the lipstick of the lady next to him. Several men wear designer sunglasses (Jackie Wright)/Jon Jon Keefe/Henry McGee). When a local gunfighter (Benny Hill) enters, he's briefly sent to the bathroom by three people at a table, but he later ends up at the bar and briefly tries to muscle the bartender (Jon Jon Keefe) as a young lady (Corinne Russell) talks to Thunderclap. When she ends up offended by beer on her dress, Thunderclap calls out the gunfighter, the townsfolk and Angels flee the scene as the gunfighter fights back with a combination of marksmith skills and magic tricks. Humiliated, the outlaw leaves and the gunfighter treats the remaining townsfolk to drinks.
Out on the street, an organ grinder (Jackie Wright) plays for loose coins. Two girls (Cheryl Mortimer and Jane Conaway) give a few coins, but a gorilla (Ken Sedd?) comes out of the bar after one man (Henry McGee) starts leaving without giving anything and re-convinces him. Meanwhile, Thunderclap tries to get the jump on the gunfighter and his girlfriend (Elfrida Ashworth), but she drives him off. Meanwhile, with less people giving to the organ grinder, the gorilla comes out of the bar, puts down his beer and plays the saxophone, starting a party in the center of town.
Trivia[]
- The name for the town comes from the song "El Paso" which Eddie Buchanan sang on December 17, 1975 for a sketch in which Benny plays a gunslinger hero battling outlaws for his girlfriend. The exterior set was first used in The Deputy in 1973 and later re-used in The Halitosis Kid on January 13, 1988. By this point, some of the out-lying set pieces had been destroyed or damaged beyond repair. Bob Todd played a similar outlaw in that sketch and in the Hill's Angels "Lady Godiva" routine.
- The 1975 sketch is done without dialogue, much like Beyond the Bamboo Curtain and the Keep Fit Brigade among several others. It is covered by Eddie Buchanan singing "Legend of El Paso," originally covered by American entertainer Marty Robbins.
- Benny and Jackie's characters in the 1975 sketch aren't named; they have only been named "Benny The Kid" and "The Man In Black" here for clarity purposes.
- At the start of the 1975 sketch, Henry McGee is the Mexican sidekick to Benny.
- The head in the table in 1975 is Eddie Buchanan. He also plays the Mexican bandit in the cantina scene.
- Missing the beer and the gun belt looped through the chair are re-used gags from the Cole 1970s quickies. Several other gags (jumping on the post, chasing the horse, struck by a branch...) are repeated in The Deputy and The Halitosis Kid.
- In 1975, when Dilys gets doused by the beer, her wet dress allows some nudity to get into the sketch. This might have kept the sketch from appearing on American TV. William Brown of "Benny's Place" also speculates music copyright issues with the estate of Marty Robbins may be another reason this sketch was kept from being aired in syndication.
- Two of the 1975 shooters are unidentified. They might be extras or two of the actresses in men's clothes.
- Sue's husband in the 1988 sketch is played by Henry McGee.
- The Angels in the 1988 musical number are Corinne Russell, Jane Leeves, Tracy Evans, Elfrida Ashworth, Cheryl Mortimer, Jane Conaway and Gilian Adams coming on stage as Louise finishes her act.
- Louise English imitates British comedian Tommy Cooper, who collapsed from a heart attack while on TV on April 15, 1984, thirteen months after this episode first aired. She also channels a bit of actor Leonard Rossiter, who died within a few months of Tommy Cooper in 1984
- The people at the table as Benny enters are Jon Jon Keefe, Henry McGee and Gilian Adams.
- For some reason, the Hill's Angels routine for this episode is called "Wild Wild West" in VHS and DVD packages despite the fact it features Corrine Russell stretched out on a car, people getting shot out near a phone booth and a gorilla as one of the citizens.
