Customer Reviews

The Secret Policeman's Other Ball [VHS]

5 star:		(1)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(4)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

O.K., here's the deal. The video for sale here is in fact the Secret Policeman's Other Ball (SPOB) by Rhino (1998, 88 minutes). The one everyone seems to be looking for is the SPOB by MGM/UA (1982, 100 minutes). The MGM/UA version contains all of the Rhino SPOB but is preceded by 12 minutes of The Secret Policeman's Ball (SPB). The entire SPB is also available from Rhino (1998, 90 minutes) here on Amazon. And yes, it (SPB) does contain the Cheese Shop and Schoolmaster skits.

I recall that years ago I enjoyed the benefit concert on TV. I bought the tape mainly to get the Cheese Shop sketch. While there are several hilarious Monty Python sketches as well as an early Rowan (aka Black Adder) Atkinson, I was disappointed. The overall the audio/video quality is awful, most of the other skits are crude and profane (and not shown in the U.S. televised version), and most importantly - THE CHEESE SHOP SKETCH IS NOT ON THIS TAPE. The Amazon editorial review is simply wrong.

terribly disappointed to find that rhino has used the title of the original release without using the same material. the secret policeman series is taken from a number of live benefit performances for amnesty international. each of the releases has some overlap with the others. notably absent from this version, as compared to the original, are the pete townshend acoustic version of "pinball wizard" and the "two men on a bench" skit performed by john cleese and peter cook. on the other hand, it does include the eric clapton/jeff beck collaboration.

If this film footage had the same music as the original album, it would be worth $100, but it doesn't even come close. I bought the album, on its first release when it came out. The Jeff Beck and Eric Clapton collaboration is worth more then the rest of the whole show, if it were the same as on the LP. But it's not, I know, somewhere out there, someone has this footage on film. If they had any respect for great filmed music, they would re-release it, the entire show and give the proceeds to Amnesty International. It would definitely make a bundle, including some from me. And, by the way, the copies of this VHS I have are the MGM/UA originals and they only have 1 out of the 3 songs that Beck and Clapton played together.

You folks looking for the cheese shop routine and the two men on the bench went for the wrong video. You wanted "The Secret Policeman's Ball". This is "The Secret Policeman's Other Ball" and a far better video than the first. The "Will this Wind" routine is priceless.

This edited version of the original (out-of-print) Secret Policeman's Other Ball is disappointing. Some of the choicest bits (including Pete Townshend's incredible acoustic of "Pinball Wizard") have been omitted.

There are still some good sketches ("Cha-cha-cha")and music (Sting, Phil Collins, Jeff Beck, Clapton), but overall it was a very disappointing experience. If you want to support Amnesty International, send them a check. If you want to see The Secret Policeman's Other Ball, find a rental or buy a used copy of the original.

This is a PAL DVD Region 4 [Australia] made by Umbrella Entertainment/Amnesty International DAVID0006.

Peter Cook, John Cleese, Clive James, Eleanor Bron, Pete Townshend, Rowan Atkinson, Michael Palin, John Williams, Ken Campbell, David Rappaport, Sylvester McCoy, Terry Jones, Tom Robinson

Please shell out the money for the 3 DVD set. Most of the funniest comedy bits have been cut. It's mostly the music, and that can also be found on the DVD set.

Don't make the same mistake as I did.

I was at first thrilled to see that this was available. But wait--there's less! Apparently from what I can gather, the complete original show seen in the early 1980's or so has never been made available in VHS or DVD form. So don't get your hopes up. This "edition" is missing LOTS of the original footage. I can only imagine that some of the performers must not have signed releases for portions, or something. What I recalled as one of the funniest shows I'd ever seen was reduced to eliciting an occasional chuckle. Still some good stuff, but overall Not Recommended.

The first, unaccountably legendary 'Secret Policeman's Ball' was in effect a showcase for the comic Old Guard - Monty Python, Peter Cook, Billy Connolly etc. - with only Rowan Atkinson's participation hinting at the new directions British comedy would take. This sequel is much more representative of the early 1980s, adding to the cast the likes of Victoria Wood, Jasper Carrott, Dame Edna Everage and the 'Not the Nine O'Clock News' team. The refusal of these performers to taint the dignity of a charity fundraiser (for Amnesty International) with humour or imagination results in another hour and a half of stale and tedious routines (Atkinson actually reprises the classical music mime from the first film). What's worse, the 'comedy' is far more frequently interrupted by an aging gaggle of musical hypocrites, most notably Phil Collins, a famous fundraiser for the ruling Tory Party, who, at the time of this concert, supported apartheid in South Africa, suppressed allegations of domestic police brutality and racism, and prevented enquiries into notorious miscarriages of justice (the Guildford Four, the Birmingham Six). The one truly funny moment, however, comes from a musical sequence, when Donovan appears and a heckler shrieks 'I thought you were dead!' Once again, the film is impenetrably lit, but I don't think we're missing anything.