Classic comedy shows on dvd.
Will Hay DVD
William Thompson Hay was an incredible comedian from the 20's. He was not only a character comedian of the first rank, but was also an astronomer of high repute - he discovered the spot on the planet Saturn in 1933 - and a fully qualified air pilot; he was once an engineer. Born at Stockton on Tees in 1888, he became interested in astronomy at school and carried on his research work in this direction after he had finished his nightly stage entertainments. He was first "on the air" in 1922 and his then comedy sketches of "St. Michaels School" (of which he was the headmaster) slowly became the number one on radio. This character was transfered to film and became equally successful. You can find all the best films on this Will Hay DVD. He worked at Elstree Studios, then Gainsborough, then Ealing; the Gainsborough period was the most consistently successfully, particularly when he worked with the team of Marcel Varnel (director), Val Guest and Marriott Edgar (writers), and Moore Marriott and Graham Moffatt (supporting cast). By the time he made his first film, he was in his mid forties and his last role came less than a decade later. Between 1934 and 1943, he was a prolific and popular film comedian. He was credited on several films as a writer or co-ordinator, and was arguably the dominant 'author' of all the films in which he appeared, in that they were built around his persona and depended on the character and routines he had developed over years on the stage.
Norman Wisdom
Sir Norman Wisdom was an English comedian, singer and actor of legendary status. Norman Wisdom was born in the London district of Marylebone. His father was a chauffeur and his mother a dressmaker. After a difficult and poverty-stricken childhood he joined the army and began to develop his talents as a musician and stage entertainer.After he left the army he went into show-business, gradually becoming one of Britain's most successful stars. In 1954 he released the best-selling single that is still closely associated with his name, "Don't Laugh At Me (Cause I'm A Fool)".Moving into film in the 1960s, he created an accident-prone, clownish character called Norman Pitkin, a lovable fool who appeared in several successful films, most notably The Early Bird (1965). To see all of his best films try this Norman Wisdom DVD. His famous and widely imitated cry as Pitkin was "Mr Grimsdale! Mr Grimsdale!" You all remember hat! In 1967, he was widely praised for his performance as a serious actor in The Night They Raided Minsky's , but his career began to decline in the 1970s and he was out of favour with British tastes in comedy for many years. On 11 February 1987 Norman Wisdom was the subject of Thames Television's This Is Your Life.He became widely popular again in the 1990s, helped by the young comedian Lee Evans, whose act was heavily influenced by Wisdom's work. The highpoint of this new popularity was the knighthood he received in 1999 from Queen Elizabeth II. After he was knighted, true to his accident-prone persona, he couldn't resist pretending to trip on his way out off the platform.
The Marx Brothers
Considered to be among the greatest comedy geniuses of the 20th Century, the Marx Brothers utilised wit, satire and slapstick to make them notorious the world over, both as individuals and as a family. For their best classic comedy films check this Marx Brothers DVD.