Review: Benny Hill: The Hill’s Angel Years

Benny Hill: The Hill’s Angel Years

Benny Hill, Dennis Kirkland

A&E TV

Street: 01.06

England’s Benny Hill became a huge hit on American TV in the 70s and 80s. His fast-motion silent skits were choreographed well enough to make Charlie Chaplin one of his biggest fans, and his misogynist humor was raunchy enough (for its time) to make most of his fellow Englishmen blush.

This DVD chronicles his last three seasons in the late 80s, where after two decades on TV, he remained true to form as our favorite sexist Brit, set to what is perhaps the goofiest soundtrack of all time. While most people remember Hill’s low-brow verbal comedy (don’t get me wrong, it’s good stuff), many forget his skills as a silent comedian who could be compared to the likes of Chaplin, Harry Langdon or Jacques Tati.

By the end of his television run he didn’t appear to have lost much steam, this is a great DVD for the final chapter of Hill’s career. -Jeff Guay