The Best of Benny Hill

The Best of Benny Hill is a 1974 film version of material from the television comedy series The Benny Hill Show. This movie features sketches from the early Thames Television years from 1969–1973. All of the sketches in the film are from the episodes produced and directed by John Robins.

The Best of Benny Hill
US DVD Cover
Directed by	John Robins
Produced by	John Robins Roy Skeggs
Written by	Benny Hill
Starring	Benny Hill Patricia Hayes Henry McGee Nicholas Parsons Bob Todd Jackie Wright
Music by	Benny Hill Boots Randolph
Production company	Euston Films (Thames Television)
Distributed by	EMI Films (original) StudioCanal (current)
Release date	1974
Running time	83 min.
Country	U.K.
Language	English

Some Sketches include:

• Ye Olde Wishing Well (19 November 1969) - including an appearance by David Prowse
• Lower Tidmarsh Hospital Service (19 November 1969)
• Spuddo Blooper (19 November 1969) - parodies of television adverts, for products such as margarine and mashed potato.
• "Throw Open" Blooper (19 November 1969)
• The Life of Maurice Dribble (25 December 1969)
• Tommy Tupper in Tupper-Time (4 February 1970) - a parody of Simon Dee and the chat show Dee Time
• Song: "My Garden Of Love" (11 March 1970)
• The Party Blooper (11 March 1970)
• "After Dinner with Charlotte Fudge" Blooper (11 March 1970)
• Boutique Mask Dance (28 October 1970)
• Love Will Find A Way (27 January 1971, in b/w owing to the Colour Strike)
• The Grass Is Greener (24 March 71)
• Fred Scuttle's Health Farm and Keep Fit Brigade (23 February 1972)
• Pierre De Tierre: Avant-Garde French Film Director (23 February 1972)
• Chow-Mein at Customs and Immigration (23 February 1972)
• Benny's All-Star Finale (23 February 1972) - including Benny Hill's impersonations of Nana Mouskouri, Moira Anderson and Gilbert O'Sullivan
• Escaped Convict Chase Sequence (23 February 1972)

This movie is similar to the 1971 film And Now For Something Completely Different which was a film spinoff from the television comedy series Monty Python's Flying Circus featuring sketches from the Python's first two seasons. The difference is that the Pythons recreated all the sketches for the film, while this theatrical release used clips from the original shows. The original programmes were recorded on videotape (studio interiors) and shot on 16 mm film (location footage); the videotaped material was transferred to 35mm film as a telerecording, and the 16 mm footage was blown up to 35 mm.

Interestingly, while Fremantle owns Thames' Benny Hill Show through its ownership of the Thames library, StudioCanal holds the rights to The Best of Benny Hill, through its acquisition of EMI in 2012.