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While enjoying your Fawlty Towers holiday, be sure to extend your stay by visiting the deluxe extra features. New to this set are entertaining commentaries by John Cleese, who provides illuminating insights into how these "lovely little farces" were constructed. He expresses genuine affection for the cast and guest stars, is quick to praise exquisite bits of comic business ("This is funnier than I remember"), and is not shy about criticizing his own performance ("I don't think I acted this right"). Also new to this set are newly filmed interviews with Cleese, Prunella Scales, Andrew Sachs, and Connie Booth, who offers some great anecdotes about collaborating with her then-husband Cleese and how some memorable gags were created. Donald Sinclair, the real-life rude hotelier who inspired the character of Basil Fawlty, is given his due, but be forewarned you will hear several versions of the Eric Idle ticking suitcase story. Also appearing are notable guest stars, including Bernard Cribbins ("The Hotel Inspectors"), Geoffrey Palmer ("The Kipper and the Corpse"), and David Kelly ("The Builders"), who talk of their experiences on one of television's towering sitcoms. There is also an odd "Cheap Tatty Review." Holdover features from the previously released boxed set include episode commentaries by directors John Howard Davies and Bob Spiers; archival interviews with Cleese, Scales, and Sachs; a short film about Torquay; disappointingly paltry outtakes; and a helpful Who's Who guide to the series' cast and guest stars. --Donald Liebenson
Amazon.com Essential Video
Basil Fawlty, as created and performed by John Cleese, is the rudest, most boorish, most hilariously obnoxious man on the face of the planet. What a natural for a TV sitcom! His screen wife, Sybil (Prunella Scales), put it best in the episode "The Psychiatrist": "You're either crawling all over them, licking their boots, or spitting poison at them like some Benzedrine puff adder." He mockingly replies, "Just trying to enjoy myself, dear." With his gangly frame and contortionist abilities, Cleese brilliantly punctuates Basil's outrageous faux pas with absurd gymnastics and turns Three Stooges-style pokes and kicks into a slapstick ballet. Scales's Sybil is the genial but obliviously chatty voice of reason and Andrew Sachs mangles the English language as the Spanish bellhop Manuel, whose struggles with simple directions results in comic lunacy reminiscent of Robert Benigni. After a six-episode run in 1975, Cleese and cowriter and costar Connie Booth (who plays Polly, the maid all too often pulled into Basil's ridiculous plans) reunited the cast in 1979 for another six episodes without missing a punch line. The four-volume collection contains all 12 shows, interspersed with interview segments featuring Cleese discussing the genesis of the series and anecdotes about the individual episodes. Remember to watch the opening credits of each show to spot the creative misspellings on the hotel sign (my favorite: "Fatty Owls"). --Sean Axmaker
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Most helpful customer reviews
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars
Fantastic Series,
This review is from: Fawlty Towers (DVD)
I love watching Fawlty Towers and this remastered dvd set is perfect in my collection. Definitely worth the buy for any Fawlty fan and the price was perfect.
4.0 out of 5 stars
Nothing faulty with this Fawlty!,
By
This review is from: Fawlty Towers: The Complete Series (3 Discs) (DVD)
There is indeed nothing faulty with Fawlty Towers.This Britcom which was first filmed in 1975 then added to later in 1979 is an enduring classic of its genre and is definitely one of the all time best....period. It's star John Cleese along with then-wife and co-star(Polly)Connie Booth collaborated on the entire series together.Most of the series was filmed in studio but there were quite a few exterior shots and they used the Wooburn Grange Country Club in Torquay,England for that purpose.The club itself has since burned down and been bulldozed to make way for residential development. However Cleeses' actual inspiration for the character of Basil Fawlty comes from one Mr.Sinclair(now deceased) the o/o of the GlenEagles Hotel in Torquay.It seems Cleese and some of the Monty Python cast and crew were staying at the GlenEagles and experienced some of Mr.Sinclair's,shall we say,"inestimable charm" first hand.Most of the group was not amused and off most trotted to a nearby and more forgiving establishment for the duration of their stay there.Cleese however was intrigued by the utter gall,bluster and plain rudeness of Mr.Sinclair and thought he would stay to observe this local phenom up close and personal.From that experience sprang forth the idea for Basil Fawlty and the rest is sitcom history. Fawlty Towers has created a minor tourism point of call for the GlenEagles Hotel in Torquay and the surrounding area .Buses and folks from all over the world come there to have a glimpse of the famous hotel which inspried this wonderful show.Depending on who one talks to the oppinions of locals range from happy to embarassed but very rarely negative.And this is quite a testament to just a 12 episode Britcom which during its' first airing in 1975 didn't get much attention at all.It wasn't until its' re-runs the following years that the groundswell gathered steam which eventually prompted more eps to be filmed in 1979.When you look at them today it is almost nigh impossible to tell where the /75-ers start and the /79-ers end.Again another indication of the over all quality of the show from top to bottom. Technically speaking this show has been transferred very well from tape.The contrast and colours have been cleaned up and it looks better than it ever did. The three discs included with this set(not four as indicated above by one of the product reviewers)comes with interviews with Cleese,Sachs(Manuel) and Scales(Mrs.Fawlty),trips to Torquay,out takes,directors commentaries and more. The reason I'm not giving this higher stars is because of the lack of any inserts with episode information.There is an extremely lean blurb for each ep on the back cover of the set but that's it.One assumes also that the eps listed are in order but it would have been nice to have at least release dates but sadly there are none.I think for the price BBC video could have plumped this set up a bit. In conclusion except for the minor drawbacks listed this set generally is worth getting for any fan of good comedy sitcoms and /or Britcoms.It's humour and characters are universally indentifiable and work on many levels.It is still fast paced(in large part due to its' judicious editing) and plain laugh out loud funny.A real "inn-keeper"!!
5.0 out of 5 stars
Hilarious for any age,
By
This review is from: Fawlty Towers: The Complete Series (3 Discs) (DVD)
My dad introduced me to this series when I was a little kid. Thanks dad! Fawlty towers is a riot and john cleese is a genius. It is so funny, and trust me ~ kids, teens, adults will love it (i have!). the dialogue, the slapstick ~ it is simply the funniest show ever on tv.
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