Product Details

• Format: Color, DVD, Full Screen, NTSC
• Language: English
• Region: Region 1 (U.S. and Canada only. Read more about DVD formats.)
  
• Aspect Ratio: 1.33:1
• Number of discs: 2
• Rated: NR (Not Rated)
• Studio: Acorn Media
• DVD Release Date: April 28, 2009
• Run Time: 355 minutes
• Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (9 customer reviews)
• ASIN: B001O4C6L2
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #64,547 in Movies & TV (See Top 100 in Movies & TV)

Editorial Reviews

Saving souls has never been so funny.

Beloved actress Thora Hird--honored for lifetime achievement by the British National Comedy Awards--stars as Emily Ridley, a feisty Salvation Army captain who refuses to go gently into retirement. Realizing that modern-day sinners no longer respond to her hellfire-and-brimstone brand of evangelism, Emily’s superiors give her one last chance. So Emily and eager new recruit Sister Alice (Patsy Rowlands) head for Brigthorpe and Blackwick--quiet, working-class Yorkshire towns that the good captain envisions as Sodom and Gomorrah. There they lay siege to the pubs, strip clubs, and dens of iniquity--not to mention the Anglicans, Methodists, and other competitors in the soul-saving mission--with hilarious results.

Full of gentle, affectionate humor, this classic British series serves up laughs as heartwarming as a steaming bowl of soup kitchen fare.

BONUS History of the Salvation Army

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

15 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars YOU'LL BE SO TICKLED WITH THIS YOU'LL WANT TO GIVE A DONATION AND SHOUT "HALLELUJAH!", May 9, 2009

By 

Harold Wolf "Doc" (Wells, IN United States) - See all my reviews
(TOP 50 REVIEWER)   

This review is from: Hallelujah! The Complete Collection (DVD)

It is hard to say which part is funnier; the eccentric cast, soul-winning gone awry, or money contribution collection techniques dreamed up by the odd lot of this 3-woman Salvation Army corp. This British television series from 1983-83 takes the hilarious, and somewhat irreverent, look at the Salvation Army from the inside. Through 15 episodes, Captain Emily Ridley (Thora Hird) steamrolls her misguided way through her administration of a soul-seeking band and do-gooders. Her less than successful, but well intentioned, plans and activities keep the episodes hopping.

She is sent to Brigthorpe, a small Yorkshire town as a form of the Salvation Army (aka Sally Ann) plan to mothball the Captain and her failures. She takes with her a niece and SA colleague, Sister Alice Meredith (Patsy Rolands) who tries to put a better light on the mistakes of the Captain, also her Auntie. Opening in a defunct Bingo parlor, they first convert the aged Dorothy Smith (Rosamund Greenwood-a lovable grandma-type much like Granny of the Beverly Hill Billies). This local white-headed gal is willing to join any organization that might introduce her to a man. She's not dead yet.

Away the 3 go, like silly old female Musketeer Christian Soldiers, or 3 tract-toting Senior Stooges. Alice and Dorothy follow Capt. Emily like she is the tambourine pied piper. Even when they feel less than confident in the Captain's plan.

Dorothy proved to be such a delight, she nearly upstaged the other 2 stars. The one negative to this series: at the beginning of the second DVD and it's 8 episodes from 1984, Dorothy is missing. The Capt. and Alice have been moved on to an even more remote position in the Blackwick Citadel on Mill Street. Capt. Ridley still refuses retirement. Regional HQ send her to Blackwick because they have all but given up on that failing location with its clientele of the outrageous and severely dysfunctional. Can the Captain and Songster Alice turn it around? Win souls? Raise $? Will retirement finally be forced upon Emily?

Alice converts the first Blackwick soul, Benjamin (David Daker), a local derelict that turns to the SA couple because Alice reminds him of his former best friend, a dog. He joins the soul-seeking program, replacing Sister Smith, and fills those pretty big, black, shoes quite well.

The final "Christmas Special" episode is worth half the collection's cost. It is an outrageously funny abomination of the Dickens' "Christmas Carol" story of "Bob Scratchett" and his "Tiny Tom" from "Sewer Street." What a jollification for ending the 2-year series.

There is a serious bonus explaining the history of the Salvation Army.

No subtitles available, but the reverse on your remote works to get the occasional needed phrase repeated. That's important sometimes, because some of the verbal gags are so quick, you'll need a rerun, so you can laugh a second time. Cleaver use of scripture memorization by the lady Captain who also has the habit of looking heavenward when talking with the boss--God. Or asking forgiveness for what she just did or said.

You will enjoy some of the picturesque shots in small-town England.

This is not dry but goofier British comedy. Perhaps it's what Red Green would be like if he was an old spinster heading up a Salvation Army group rather than a loony lodge.

9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The Likable Captain Ridley, May 25, 2009

By 

Dennis B. Sibley (USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Hallelujah! The Complete Collection (DVD)

As a uniformed bandsman (Tustin Ranch Salvation Army Band, Southern California) and member of The Salvation Army, I found "Hallelujah!" Season One delightful and very funny. The jokes are fast, thus I laughed more during the second and third viewings than the first. Captain Ridley's character of caring for the lost and her human frailties lends credibility to her character which makes her all the more likable. Captain Ridley's can do attitude and her one on One faith and relationship with The One is in essence what attracted me, after being introduced through Salvation Army Band music, to The Army and it is that essence keeps me there. Though Captain Ridley is so called misguided, the words of another reviewer, she does have success when dealing with those in need. The script is excellent. Just thinking about the show makes me laugh. The set's attention to detail is superb. "Hallelujah!" embodies the words of Meredith Wilson's Banners and Bonnets, "Could you love the unloved, never reckoning the cost, Giving them comfort and care? Could you seek the unloved, in the legion of the lost, Sharing their grief and despair? That's the creed of an Army, a God fearing Army, With banners and bonnets they come. Yes, to love the unloved in the spirit of the Lord, Marching with trumpet [cornet] and drum...."

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars They dont make comedy like this now, May 2, 2010

By 

Ms. E. J. Baker "Elle" (United Kingdom) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Hallelujah! The Complete Collection (DVD)

Whilst I may be biased because I absolutely ADORE Thora Hird and Patsy Rowlands, it has to be said that this is one the the funniest and most gentle comedies made in YEARS!. As a Brit myself and a Northerner by roots I really understand both the dialect and the scenario of northern humour, but even without this benefit it is impossible not to find this inoffensive, extremely funny series anything else.

Based on centrally just the 3 characters, Captain Emily, and her 2 recruits with additional, assorted extras in different episodes, it is the timing, the script and the actual casting of those central characters which makes this so special. Made in the early 80's and centred solely around the Salvation Army and Captain Emily's attempts to save the wicked it is quite simply hilarious and the northern setting with the brass band and the lovely scenery of Yorkshire just makes it all the more so.

I had to buy this from the USA because its deleted in the UK and no longer available. Classic comedy removed in favour of trash and offensive "comedians". Well keep up the good work Amazon.com and you USA citizens because we need you to need this kind of humour so we can remove all the other "humour" purchases available which are anything but. Also recommend "In Loving Memory" another Thora Hird Classic. Check that one out too. 10 out of 10.