![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
The Benny Hill Show, dir. John Robins, 1974
Episode: “Film Time at the National Film Theater”. I’ve already made some comments complimenting Hill as a performer and a writer. This episode also gave me a greater appreciation of Bob Todd and especially Henry McGee; McGee has a great speaking voice and does well being the straight man, quite able to hold his own against Hill. A vocal group called Design appears on the show in what could be a proto-music video: their song begins with closeups of the singers, but later, it’s obvious several sequences were shot with the group in different poses and configurations. It’s crude by today’s music video standards, but definitely not just a filmed performance.
And while this is a perfectly obvious thought, just because The Benny Hill Show was a variety show with low-brow comedy doesn’t mean the actors didn’t have to memorize all those lines and rehearse, and I was impressed with some of the longer single-take scenes. I also once read somewhere Hill discouraged ad-libbing and preferred everyone kept to the script.
A skit called “The Minstrel Boy” takes place in medieval times, but Hill and Todd are speaking in coarse modern accents. When I closed my eyes and just listened, it sounded like dialogue from a Guy Ritchie film.
Finally, at about 40:40 when Hill, auditioning in character for a talent scout, goes through a brief but rapid patter of different accents and characterizations, which made me think of some of Robin Williams’ manic routines.
Tel Aviv Tears b/w The Hand, Dynamicaracket, 1988
Tears was a recording of a live performance. I announced to the audience that we had written the song only an hour earlier, and unfortunately that was patently obvious. Not one of our better moments! However, The Hand was written for a horror movie Duane made and, similar to The 12th Sign, it sounded like something from a 1980s Italian horror or sci-fi movie, or perhaps a modern soundtrack for The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari (dir. Robert Wiene, 1920).
Sing, Sweet Sister, Dynamicaracket, 1987
This was another “soundtrack” for a film we made, except none of the music actually appeared in the film. Rather, it was a series of pieces inspired by the film and expanded upon. One piece, “Bobby’s Death”, sounds like Stanley Kubrick had asked Lene Lovich to score the stargate sequence for 2001: A Space Odyssey. SSS was definitely one of our better works, and while my singing ability varied from one album to another, I definitely knew how to generate original vocal samples and play them. Unfortunately, the sound quality on SSS is terrible. Most of the other tapes are in good condition, so I don’t know why this one sounds like we recorded it with the mic under a pillow.
Old Cartoons, 1934-1962
Watching randomly chosen cartoons had worked so well before, I thought I would try it again. And again, aside from the occasional racial stereotypes, I found the majority of them charming and beautifully rendered. The three “musicals”—The Penguin Parade, Katnip Kollege, and Rhapsody in Rivets—were by far the best. Wikipedia says the professor in Katnip is a parody of bandleader Kay Kyser. I hadn’t heard of him before, so I looked him up, and found what looks to be a fun Kyser film, You’ll Find Out (dir. David Butler, 1940), that includes Bela Lugosi, Peter Lorre, and Boris Karloff! I was also intrigued by the voice of the hapless nerd cat “Johnny”, portrayed by singer Johnnie “Scat” Davis, as well as some of the male close harmony singing in both Penguin and Katnip. The lion conductor in Rhapsody is wonderfully expressive. Watching these old cartoons and films certainly is an education.
01. Jolly Little Elves, 1934, dir. Manuel Moreno and Bill Nolan
02. The Penguin Parade, 1938, dir. Tex Avery
03. Katnip Kollege, 1938, dir. Cal Howard and Cal Dalton
04. Thugs with Dirty Mugs, 1939, dir. Tex Avery
05. The Haunted Mouse, 1941, dir. Fred Avery
06. Rhapsody in Rivets, 1941, dir. Friz Freleng
07. What’s Buzzin’ Buzzard?, 1943, dir. Tex Avery
08. Northwest Hounded Police, 1946, dir. Tex Avery
09. The Cat That Hated People, 1948, dir. Tex Avery
10. Lucky Ducky, 1948, dir. Tex Avery
11. Calypso Cat, 1962, dir. Gene Deitch
12. Landing Stripling, 1962, dir. Gene Deitch
Bish Bosch, Scott Walker, 2012
Scorpio Rising, dir. Kenneth Anger, 1963
As I’m writing this, I learned Anger died just yesterday at 96 (May 24, 2023)! Note: I later discovered he actually died May 11, but the news was delayed until the 24th while his estate was being settled.
Episode: “Film Time at the National Film Theater”. I’ve already made some comments complimenting Hill as a performer and a writer. This episode also gave me a greater appreciation of Bob Todd and especially Henry McGee; McGee has a great speaking voice and does well being the straight man, quite able to hold his own against Hill. A vocal group called Design appears on the show in what could be a proto-music video: their song begins with closeups of the singers, but later, it’s obvious several sequences were shot with the group in different poses and configurations. It’s crude by today’s music video standards, but definitely not just a filmed performance.
And while this is a perfectly obvious thought, just because The Benny Hill Show was a variety show with low-brow comedy doesn’t mean the actors didn’t have to memorize all those lines and rehearse, and I was impressed with some of the longer single-take scenes. I also once read somewhere Hill discouraged ad-libbing and preferred everyone kept to the script.
A skit called “The Minstrel Boy” takes place in medieval times, but Hill and Todd are speaking in coarse modern accents. When I closed my eyes and just listened, it sounded like dialogue from a Guy Ritchie film.
Finally, at about 40:40 when Hill, auditioning in character for a talent scout, goes through a brief but rapid patter of different accents and characterizations, which made me think of some of Robin Williams’ manic routines.
Tel Aviv Tears b/w The Hand, Dynamicaracket, 1988
Tears was a recording of a live performance. I announced to the audience that we had written the song only an hour earlier, and unfortunately that was patently obvious. Not one of our better moments! However, The Hand was written for a horror movie Duane made and, similar to The 12th Sign, it sounded like something from a 1980s Italian horror or sci-fi movie, or perhaps a modern soundtrack for The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari (dir. Robert Wiene, 1920).
Sing, Sweet Sister, Dynamicaracket, 1987
This was another “soundtrack” for a film we made, except none of the music actually appeared in the film. Rather, it was a series of pieces inspired by the film and expanded upon. One piece, “Bobby’s Death”, sounds like Stanley Kubrick had asked Lene Lovich to score the stargate sequence for 2001: A Space Odyssey. SSS was definitely one of our better works, and while my singing ability varied from one album to another, I definitely knew how to generate original vocal samples and play them. Unfortunately, the sound quality on SSS is terrible. Most of the other tapes are in good condition, so I don’t know why this one sounds like we recorded it with the mic under a pillow.
Old Cartoons, 1934-1962
Watching randomly chosen cartoons had worked so well before, I thought I would try it again. And again, aside from the occasional racial stereotypes, I found the majority of them charming and beautifully rendered. The three “musicals”—The Penguin Parade, Katnip Kollege, and Rhapsody in Rivets—were by far the best. Wikipedia says the professor in Katnip is a parody of bandleader Kay Kyser. I hadn’t heard of him before, so I looked him up, and found what looks to be a fun Kyser film, You’ll Find Out (dir. David Butler, 1940), that includes Bela Lugosi, Peter Lorre, and Boris Karloff! I was also intrigued by the voice of the hapless nerd cat “Johnny”, portrayed by singer Johnnie “Scat” Davis, as well as some of the male close harmony singing in both Penguin and Katnip. The lion conductor in Rhapsody is wonderfully expressive. Watching these old cartoons and films certainly is an education.
01. Jolly Little Elves, 1934, dir. Manuel Moreno and Bill Nolan
02. The Penguin Parade, 1938, dir. Tex Avery
03. Katnip Kollege, 1938, dir. Cal Howard and Cal Dalton
04. Thugs with Dirty Mugs, 1939, dir. Tex Avery
05. The Haunted Mouse, 1941, dir. Fred Avery
06. Rhapsody in Rivets, 1941, dir. Friz Freleng
07. What’s Buzzin’ Buzzard?, 1943, dir. Tex Avery
08. Northwest Hounded Police, 1946, dir. Tex Avery
09. The Cat That Hated People, 1948, dir. Tex Avery
10. Lucky Ducky, 1948, dir. Tex Avery
11. Calypso Cat, 1962, dir. Gene Deitch
12. Landing Stripling, 1962, dir. Gene Deitch
Bish Bosch, Scott Walker, 2012
Scorpio Rising, dir. Kenneth Anger, 1963
As I’m writing this, I learned Anger died just yesterday at 96 (May 24, 2023)! Note: I later discovered he actually died May 11, but the news was delayed until the 24th while his estate was being settled.
