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They are both okay but the best film is 'The Rebel'. It features Hancock as an aspiring artist whilst sending up the art world's fashions. He does bicycle painting then turns his hand to a stone piccasso type sculpture - in his flat, upstairs! If you cannot tell great modern art from a childs daubings and are mystified how some can applaud one picture of cubes as a work of genious whilst another is castigated as total rubbish then this is for you. Set in the mid 60s with the beatnik crowd nad living in poverty in Paris for your art I loved this. Neither is on tele much so buy these!
Verified purchase: Yes | Condition: Pre-owned
Two films starring one of the great British comedians best known for his radio and TV sitcom. One - The Rebel - was a mild success; the other- The Punch & Judy Man-was an utter flop. Hancock was an alcoholic and a depressive who died far too young. He did appear in other films but these were his only starring roles. Hancock's problem was that he was at his best as an ensemble player, but wanted all the success for himself. As a consequence he got rid of the other performers whose combined efforts made his show a success. Other performers have done that in the past - Will Hay springs to mind as he made six films with Graham Moffatt and Moore Marriott that are regarded as classics today. He disposed of them because he wanted all the laughs for himself. Hay was a very intelligent man - a reknowned amateur astronomer-and lived a full and successful life.Read full review
Verified purchase: Yes | Condition: Pre-owned
Tony Hancock was a very well known figure to older generations and was once considered the best comic this country ever produced. Today he is forgotten except to a dwindling number of older fans and maybe a few well intentioned explorers into Britain’s entertainment past. Hancock was huge in his day and it is said that back in 1958 that the traffic noticeably diminished when Hancock's show was on television. The American writer, Bill Bryson, said that you must be British to understand the appeal of Hancock and one could say that Hancock represents the British indulging their idiosyncrasies on a a big scale, and as some might say, Why not? But Hancock's meteorotic ascent and his equally meteorotic decline are well documented. Hancock is a fine example of a performer who allowed his created entertainment persona to meld with his less pleasant human personality. Hancock was also lionized by the critics and maybe this driveling sycophancy overwhelmed his native Brummagen ability to keep his feet on the ground and stay real. This film is actually Hancock's second film and marks a noticeable decline in quality because the print is Black and white while his first film was in colour. The plot circles around a beach entertainer, a Punch and Judy man and is highly unrealistic because it is self evident that Hancock's takings as a pupeteer could not have supported his drinking in the pub let alone an assistant or the petrol for the old box-body car. Hancock's domestic economy is clearly dependent on his wife’s souvenir shop The plot insomuch as the viewer can establish one is Hancock sticking a finger up at the local town dignitaries who want to have a white tie and tails sit down dinner and dance to advertise their little seaside town, Piltdown it is called, probably a joke in there if you can be bothered to dig hard enough. Hancock who had a substantial input to the script according to the credits is the down to earth fellow who is leading the campaign against snobbishness and people putting on airs. So Hancock attends the occasion to satisfy his wife who dearly wants to rub shoulders with some very minor dignitaries. This is the only nice part of the film, that is that the Hancock character attends the event because he loves his wife. In short he inadvertently wrecks the event and in doing displays a callow, coarseness and puritanical spitefulness against the small town civilities. Such occasions happen in every society and give some pleasure to those who attend them and certainly do not appear not to cause any problems to the rest of society. What would be the Hancock character's idea of a classless, non snobbish, social event. Presumably men in shirt sleeves and women in curlers, drinking stout and eating cheese sandwiches while fishing for pickled onions with their fingers. It is not a film the viewer will want to watch twice, even for its extraordinary views of the lost 1960s English society that politicians destroyed through uncontrolled immigration. Hancock the performer himself opined that Mr Punch had jinxed the production, which is a gross slur on Mr Punch. Watch the film once and be amazed at how so much comic talent and humorous situations were thrown away to produce this well forgotten moment in cinematic history.Read full review
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Bought as a present all good
Verified purchase: Yes | Condition: Pre-owned
Two good films if you are a Hancock fan.
Verified purchase: Yes | Condition: Pre-owned
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