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TONY HANCOCK Tweet Hancock's Half Hour, the Very Best Episodes: v. 1 Tragic Tony Hancock was possibly Britain's greatest-ever comic genius. Magical, droll performances, ably supported by the likes of Sid James and wonderful Ray Galton and Alan Simpson scripts. Tony Hancock was born in Hall Green, Birmingham, England, on May 12th, 1924, and by the time he was 35 was the most highly regarded comedy performer in Britain. The first big break for Hancock was on 'The Ralph Reader Gang Show', and he then appeared on the BBC on radio and TV - beginning with top radio shows 'Workers' Playtime' and 'Variety Bandbox'. Tony Hancock's first TV appearance was in 1950 in 'Flotsam's Follies'. The next year saw Tony Hancock in the hit radio series 'Educating Archie'. Also in 1951, he was a regular on light entertainment TV show, 'Kaleidoscope'. 1954 was to be the biggest year of Tony Hancock's career to date, however, as he was to be the star of 'Hancock's Half Hour' radio series, and then, in 1956, it also became a TV series, and continued on the radio as well. Tony Hancock also found time to star in 'The Tony Hancock Show' on the fledgling ITV television station in 1956 and 1957. By the end of the 1950s, Tony Hancock was a household name for his radio show, and was the first star on British TV to earn £1,000 a week. But, Tony Hancock had a self destructive personality, though perfection seeking drive. He fretted that his 'Hancock Half Hour' co-star, Sid James, and he were becoming like a double act, so he cut his ties, and did the same with writers Galton and Simpson. Starring in too few films for his talent, Tony Hancock was outstanding in the 1960 comedy, 'The Rebel', where he plays a hopeless artist, who exploits the talents of a friend for his own ends, and soon believes he's a genius. Sadly, Tony Hancock's lugubrious persona on screen was all too real, as he was the epitome of the sad clown, and took his own life in Sydney, Australia, on June 25th, 1968. Another comic genius, who had demons of his own, Spike Milligan, said of Hancock in 1989: "Very difficult man to get on with. He used to drink excessively. You felt sorry for him. He ended up on his own. I thought, he's got rid of everybody else, he's going to get rid of himself. And he did." In one of his suicide notes Tony Hancock said, "Things just seemed to go too wrong too many times". But, even that wasn't true, as most of it was of Tony's making. Like George Best, Jimi Hendrix, and countless others, Tony Hancock probably couldn't live up to the genius he had created. - Paul Rance/booksmusicfilmstv.com. Amazon.co.uk Amazon.com

Tony Hancock DVDs available from booksmusicfilmstv.com - in association with Amazon.co.uk The Tony Hancock BBC Collection (8 Disc Box Set) ~ Tony Hancock, Sid James Tony Hancock Collection: The Punch And Judy Man / The Rebel ~ Tony Hancock, Sylvia Syms Hancock: The Best Of Hancock ~ Tony Hancock, Sid James Hancock's Half Hour - Vol. 1 [1961] ~ Tony Hancock, Sid James Hancock's Half Hour - Vol. 4 [1960] ~ Tony Hancock, Sid James Hancock's Half Hour - Vol. 2 - The Best Of ~ Tony Hancock Hancock's Half Hour - Vol. 3 ~ Tony Hancock, Sid James Tony Hancock: The Rebel / The Punch And Judy Man [1960] ~ Tony Hancock, George Sanders The Very Best of Hancock Hancock: The Blood Donor / The Missing Page / Twelve Angry Men [1961] ~ Tony Hancock, Sid James Hancock: The Radio Ham ~ Tony Hancock, Sid James Watch 'Tony Hancock' videos free at classicbritishsitcomvideos Tony Hancock Videos available from booksmusicfilmstv.com - in association with Amazon.co.uk Hancock's Half Hour - The Cruise / The Tycoon / The Baby-Sitters [1959] Hancock's Half Hour: The Train Journey /The Photographer / Sid In Love / The Ladies Man Hancock: The Poison Pen Letters Hancock: The Very Best Of Hancock Tony Hancock CDs available from booksmusicfilmstv.com - in association with Amazon.co.uk Hancock: The Economy Drive, The Emigrant and Two Other TV Episodes Hancock's Happy Christmas: Four Original BBC Radio Episodes (BBC Radio Collection) The Blood Donor and The Radio Ham ~ Tony Hancock June Whitfield Patrick Cargill Hugh Lloyd John Bluthal Clive Dunn Derek Guyler Annie Leake Frank Thornton Hancock's Half Hour: Collector's Edition (Series Three) Hancock's Half Hour: Collector's Edition (Series Two: April 1955 - July 1955) Hancock's Half Hour: The Americans Hit Town/The Unexploded Bomb/The Poetry Society/Sid's Mystery Tour No.1 (BBC Radio Collection) Hancock's Half Hour: The Diary/The Old School Reunion/Hancock in the Police/The East Cheam Drama Festival No.4 (BBC Radio Collection) Hancock's Half Hour: Collector's Edition (Series Five: January - June 1958) Hancock's Half Hour: The Bequest/The Conjurer/The Publicity Photograph/The Grappling Game No.8 (BBC Radio Collection) Hancock's Half Hour: The 13th of the Series/The Wild Man of the Woods/The Junk Man/Bill and Father Christmas No.9 (BBC Radio Collection)

Tony Hancock: The Rebel / The Punch And Judy Man [1960] Warner Home Video DVD - April 14, 2003 The Rebel booksmusicfilmstv.com review Amazon.co.uk Review The Rebel (1961) and The Punch and Judy Man (1963) are the only two feature films made expressly as star vehicles for the great television comic Tony Hancock. The Rebel is by far the more ambitious, being in colour with Parisian locations, a large cast, and not least a supporting role for international star George Sanders. The opening rebellion against office life surely inspired The Fall and Rise of Reginald Perrin, while references follow to Look Back in Anger (1958) and Billy Wilder's The Apartment (1960) and Some Like It Hot (1959). Hancock goes to Paris to follow his artistic muse and as he rises through the art world his naivety is taken for genius, allowing for some very funny moments and spot-on satire, which are just as relevant today as 40 years ago. Filmed in black-and-white in Bognor Regis, The Punch and Judy Man is a more modest yet evocative portrait of life in a small coastal resort. Hancock is the titular beach entertainer who is happy to live from day to day with the affable companionship of John Le Mesurier and Hugh Lloyd. The problem is he's burdened with a socially ambitious wife, Sylvia Syms. Gentle humour comes from Hancock's frustrations as a proto-Basil Fawlty, and the film, packed with familiar British character actors, has an old-fashioned charm. It makes for an enjoyable supporting feature to The Rebel, which is undoubtedly a minor classic. On the DVD: Tony Hancock Double Feature presents both films at 4:3 ratio. The earlier film looks decidedly cropped in several scenes, though the latter survives the reformatting largely unscathed. The Rebel's colour is faded and the image grainy, while The Punch and Judy Man generally has a much stronger black and white image. Even so, there is some flickering and print damage. The music is distorted in The Rebel but the mono sound is fine during The Punch and Judy Man. There are no extras. --Gary S Dalkin Synopsis In 'The Rebel' a bored city clerk has ambitions of becoming an artist in France. 'The Punch And Judy Man' tells the story of a melancholy man who is trying to establish himself as an important citizen in the seaside town where he works. When his snobbish wife is taught a lesson at an important social event it looks like he may just get the new lease of life he's always dreamed of.

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