E. A Solinas |
Date: 2009-08-16
Nothing really needs to be said about this classic British sitcom, except that it contains some of the most brilliant, most hilarious, and most humiliatingly ghastly moments in the entire history of television.
And "Fawlty Towers Complete Collection" brings together the entire series in all its embarrassing avalanchal glory. It's one of those universally funny TV shows, all about the undignified exploits of a perpetually hostile, repressed and tetchy hotel manager, and the more competant staff who try to keep thngs sane, written with demented zeal ("That's Brahms! Brahms' Third Racket!") and excellent comic acting.
Basil (John Cleese) and Sybil Fawlty (Prunella Scales) run a moderately-sized hotel in Torquay, with the assistance of the clever waittress Polly (Connie Booth) and the Spanish waiter Manuel (Andrew Sachs) whose grasp of English is a work in progress. The hotel is home to a dotty old soldier, fluttery spinsters, and a revolving door of very dissatisfied customers.
Basil Fawlty (Cleese) puts out a snotty ad to attract a "better class of customer," which attracts a pleasant aristocrat. Basil fawns revoltingly over the man, neglecting the other guests. But savvy waittress Polly (Connie Booth) discovers that another guest (who Basil snubs because he's Cockney) is a member of the CID -- and that Basil is in danger of handing his valuable coins over to a con man.
And it's not the last disaster that Basil only manages to make much worse: an inept gang of builders are called in while Sybil is away; a bunch of couples seem to be cheating on one another; four Germans arrive at the hotel just in time for Basil to suffer a brain-scrambling head injury; a deaf woman causes general hotel mayhem; and the creme-de-la-creme of Torquay society arrive for a "Goumet Night," just in time for the chef to get drunk after Manuel rejects his advances. Hilarity (and roast ducks) ensue.
An American tourist who demands a Waldorf salad -- after the cook leaves for the day -- ends up tangled in Basil's web of lies; an overnight guest expires in bed, leading to a frantic cover-up; an anniversary party is wrecked when Sybil storms out just as the guests arrive. And after a health inspector condemns Fawlty Towers, Basil discovers that Manuel has a pet rat ("Is Siberian hamster -- a filagree!") -- which is soon running wild through the hotel.
Anyone who's sick of the recycled sitcoms ("Hot Young Urbanites Fall In Love and Have Misadventures") that pepper the TV landscape every single season might want to try "Fawlty Towers" -- the humour is still fresh, the writing is hilarious ("If the guest isn't singing 'Oh What a Beautiful Morning,' I don't immediately think 'Oh, there's another snuffed it in the night'"), and the actors were great at physical comedy.
Basically every episode is about a bad situation that Basil makes infinitely worse, until the entire episode is a landslide of lies, offenses and disasters. Each episode is full of gags (Basil strangling the gnome), misunderstandings ("There's a kipper sticking out of your vest"), and plots that revolve mainly around Basil's increasingly frantic efforts to keep everything "normal." Everything gets crazier as the episodes wind on.
And Cleese's writing is typically brilliant here -- Basil gets most of the great lines ("Always reminds me of somebody machine-gunning a seal"") but there are some glorious bits of dialogue from others ("Will you stop talking about the war?" "Me? You started it!" "We did not start it!" "Yes you did -- you invaded Poland!").
Cleese plays Basil as a slightly deranged, high-strung, incompetent guy who treats his customers like so many itchy spots, and Prunella Scales serves as the more competent, vaguely contemptuous counterpoint to him. Connie Booth's Polly is the only truly smart and clever person in the entire hotel, and usually gets sucked into Basil's freaky schemes ("Flying Tart!"); and Andrew Sachs is rather cute and sweet as the much-abused Manuel, whose half-learned English provides quite a bit of humor ("I am from Barcelona!").
The new edition may be worth the dip for fanatical Fawlty fans -- apparently the entire series is being restored. Additionally, Cleese has gone back to record commentaries for ALL the episodes, and there are interviews with everybody in the main cast. Sounds like it's going to be good.
"Fawlty Towers Complete Collection" is one of those shows that shone brightly and briefly, like a fireworks display. Hilarious, uproarious, and utterly timeless.
Lucas Biddle |
Date: 2009-12-09
When Fawlty Towers started appearing on DVD a few years ago I was keen to replace my old VHS tapes, though something convinced me not to buy the boxed set that I saw in the shops. I'm so pleased I held off.
The quality of Fawlty Towers Remastered is excellent. There are extra interviews, a short item about Torquay and the Gleneagles Hotel and Donald Sinclair from which the show was inspired, and I especially love watching with the John Cleese commentary running. He gives the viewer so much insight into how the shows came together, who the actors were, why jokes worked or didn't work and plenty of other tidbits that are so fascinating to anyone who loves this show. I already know the scripts virtually word for word so John's commentary alone is well worth the investment. So pleased I bought it. Congratulations to John Cleese, Connie Booth et al for making this the most popular British sitcom ever.
