Pleasure at Her Majesty's

The version I saw of this show was much longer than the one mentioned here and in the other reviews. It was 106 minutes and it had quite a few problems that prevent it from being a must-see for fans of British comedy. Part of the problem might just be because in restoring the missing footage, a lot of uninteresting material (especially pre-show preparations) was included. So, instead of a straight filming of the live comedy show (which I'd hoped for), it's more like a documentary of the show. Another problem is no captions or closed captions on the DVD. British audiences may have less need of captioning (as they can probably understand the accents more readily) but this is not the only reason I would have loved captioning--it is because the sound quality is often quite poor and even a Brit might appreciate captions. Finally, the biggest problem is because it is a documentary and not a straight recording of the show, too often the comedy routines are abbreviated or cut in half (inserting irrelevant backstage banter and scenes into the middle of a funny skit--thus ruining the flow). The bottom line it that this is also a pretty lousy looking documentary--seeming random and slapped together.

So is it worth seeing despite these serious problems? Well, it depends on you. If you love British comedy and can accept the show with all its limitations, yes...watch it. There are some very funny skits (my favorite was the scene with the Pope and the painting of the Second to Last Supper). But, if you aren't that familiar with Monty Python, Peter Cooke (who's very good here), the Goodies and the rest, don't bother--you won't appreciate them as much because they simply aren't at their best.

Gets more and more enjoyable the further into the future we hurtle (RIP TBT most recently) although I take the points about the annoyance of breaking up the sketches and not everything being included. I like seeing behind the scenes with these talented and funny people. Nowadays we'd have the whole show filmed, from all the angles, and all the backstage bits as endless dvd extras, but this was the 70s (and a new type of event) so we have to understand the gaps.

Apparently, The Goodies also performed 'Funky Gibbon' in Stone Age-style fake fur outfits during a lull in this event. I have indeed seen a photo of them adopting 'gibbon' poses in said outfits - it looks staged for publicity rather than taken during the show. I'd love to find the source.

It's been years since I saw this show, but some of it still rings in my memory.

It should be noted that this is a filmed record of a live performance, a benefit for Amnesty International, which became an annual festivity. (There are 2 other documentaries of later installments of this event, "The Secret Policeman's Ball" and "The Secret Policeman's Other Ball".) It was a gathering of most of the famous "Oxbridge" comedians, including several members of the "Beyond The Fringe" troupe of the early 60's (Peter Cook and Jonathan Miller), most of the Pythons, and such other comedy luminaries as Barry Humphries doing his Dame Edna Everedge character. It includes some behind-the-scenes footage (which is good) but it cuts short some of the performances (which, we hope, improves them, but we'll never know.)

Th Python material is mostly familiar, although a few things do happen in Live performance to vary the known script. But the real delight is the other stuff. Jonathan Miller's dry wit, and the late Peter Cook's absolutely devastatingly funny routines, "I Wanted to be a Judge" and "I've a Viper in this Box."

Overall, it is as full of good material as any single Python show ever was, perhaps more full. For a true Python fan, it represents a chance to see where the Pythons drew much of their style and inspiration from. For everyone else, it is an excellent chance to see some of the best British comedians of the 60's and 70's.

"I wanted to be a judge, but I didn't 'ave the Latin. You need a lot of latin to pass the judgin' exams. They're very rigorous. the judgin' exams are. People come staggerin' out, going 'Ow my Gawd, wha' a rigo'ous exam!" So I decided to become a miner instead. A coal miner. They're not near so rigorous, the coal miner's exams. They've only got one question, "What is your name?" And I scored 75%!"

The Amnesty International benefit shows began here - later transmogrifying into the Secret Policeman's Ball. It's essentially a bundle of well-worn Beyond the Fringe skits, Python bits and fragments of stand-up as well as the Goodies doing their single. As a film it's more of a lean piece documentary than anything, capturing moments across the three nights and some behind the scenes capering. It's a fascinating bit of UK comedy history and lovely to watch a wild smorgasbord of luminaries in their element but it has a deeply "random collage" vibe that robs it of some energy and tonally it feels very patchy.

It was the meeting of the giants of British comedy from the 1960's and 1970's, Monthy Python(minus Eric Idle), Fringe (minus Dudley Moore),The Goodies, Dame Edna, Elenor Bron, Neil Innes... pretty much everyone other than the Goons performing in the first of the Amensty International events that were later the stuff of legend in the Secret Policeman's Balls. The legends of comedy performing the classics of comedy to mixed results.

The show is funny. Of that there is no doubt but its strangely put together. Mixing both on stage material with the performers backstage it shows you stuff that no other film of the events does. Its mostly wonderful stuff always bringing smiles if not down right laughs to the viewer but whom ever put it together chopped up the bits in a very awkward way so that you get the Peter Cook piece on being a miner broken in parts by backstage talk or the lecture on comedy inter-cut with Jonathan Miller talking about the bit on stage. Its nice for a documentary, but not as a record of a comedy performance in that it kills the timing.

The film also suffers from the fact that the film was shot in an almost archaic style of one or two cameras in one position filming all of the action. There are almost not cut aways only a shift in focus or a turn of the camera to follow the action. Its quaint, but they never considered how it might look years later with changes in camera technique.

The problem of time ravaging the print is a serious one. Although the running time is 75 minutes the print I saw runs several minutes shorter and is extremely scratchy. Its sad that a cultural document like this wasn't better cared for. I would love to see all the footage shot (especially the backstage stuff) but my guess is that its probably gone or in in such poor condition there could never be a restoration. Then again considering how some of the later Policema's Ball films of more recent vintage are also in bad shape and are now missing entire performances we should feel lucky to have what we have.

If you want 70 odd minutes of mirth see the film. And if you can buy it, the money goes to a good cause.