Tony
Hancock: The Rebel / The Punch And Judy Man [1960]
Warner Home Video
DVD - April 14, 2003
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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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