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Post by Dave Homewood on Dec 17, 2013 17:59:26 GMT 12
He must be making a bundle of money from the Keep Calm and Carry On posters now then.  |
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Post by Alan Hayes on Feb 7, 2019 0:45:17 GMT 12
I have gone on record here as saying that Croft and Lloyd comedies were pretty dire... and then I realised that I'd not seen much of 'Allo, 'Allo! on original screening and nothing at all since, so I thought, with the full series DVD set being very cheap to buy these days, that I'd give the show a go.
It's not in the same league as the Croft and Perry's but it holds up well and has a top quality cast. I've now watched the first two series and I have to say I'm enjoying it - and I do like the clever way in which they deal with the language question; that if a character speaks with a French accent, they're speaking French, with an English accent, English, etc.
The series does rely on catchphrases and repetition, more so than a Croft and Perry sitcom, and the English airmen are more than a touch irritating, but other than that, it's a fun series and I do like the idea that it's a long story told in serial form.
Happy to be proved wrong about this one. Certainly not dire - and and a lot of fun.
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Post by Alan Hayes on Feb 7, 2019 0:46:06 GMT 12
Oh, and I think I'm a little bit in love with Francesca Gonshaw and Kirsten Cooke!  |
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Post by Andy Howells on Feb 7, 2019 10:14:02 GMT 12
Yes Francesca Gonshaw was a huge loss when she vanished from later episodes. I can't say I watched all the episodes and found it a bit annoying that some actors left or got replaced, but from what I saw there were some fun moments.
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Post by Alan Hayes on Feb 7, 2019 11:26:26 GMT 12
The thing that I've found surprising is that some of the staple elements (i.e. the mosprununcioting Officer Crabtree!) were not there at the beginning. Also interesting to see Jack Haig in a regular role for David Croft considering he supposedly turned down the part of Jones in DA. And, it must be said, Jack Haig is very funny as Leclair.  |
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Post by Dave Homewood on Feb 7, 2019 22:53:51 GMT 12
Jack Haig only turned down the part of Jones because he was previously contracted to another series that clashed with the recording of Dad's Army.
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Post by Alan Hayes on Feb 7, 2019 23:14:06 GMT 12
And of course got to play Jones in the stage show tour.
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Post by Alan Hayes on Feb 8, 2019 11:55:57 GMT 12
Just started Series 3 and amused to discover that the exterior of René's cafe is now filmed on location, at Lynford Hall, which of course had previously been used by David Croft in Dad's Army (Wake Up Walmington / The Making of Private Pike). |
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Post by petere on Feb 12, 2019 7:36:15 GMT 12
I like Allo’ Allo’ a lot! I remember when I was a child back in the mid 80ties, it aired on prime time - Saturday night 8 o’ clock. So, a very popular show, also here in Scandinavia.
One observation about DA vs Allo’ Allo’ - maybe some of the forum experts can weigh in here? It seems to me that Allo’ Allo’ is a lot more ”below the belt” than DA? The humor is much more raunchy, at least in my opinion. Could this have something to do with the fact that Allo’ Allo’ started 15-20 years later than DA, or...what?
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Post by Alan Hayes on Feb 12, 2019 7:53:29 GMT 12
The comedy in Are You Being Served is more raunchy, and of course that was produced simultaneously with DA... so I would imagine the common denominator is Jeremy Lloyd, or at least the differences between the writing styles of Lloyd and Jimmy Perry.
I don't know about 'Allo 'Allo being "raunchy" - it's reliant on innuendo, much more than DA ever was, but it's no more raunchy than a saucy seaside postcard; in fact, rather less so!
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Post by Dave Homewood on Feb 12, 2019 9:19:52 GMT 12
I think actually that was also David Croft's style of humour coming through, not just Jeremy Lloyd. It has been said many times that he was more risque in his writing than Jimmy Perry. Some of the Dad's Army cast have said when anything a little naughty appeared in their scripts they'd assume it came from the gregarious Jimmy, and be surprised it was actually from the mind of the much quieter David.
Allo Allo is certainly more 'below the belt' than Dad's Army, with Rene having affairs with both waitresses, the waitresses both being on the game, Edith's mother Fanny being an ex-prostitute, Edith openly courting Monsieur Alfonse in front of Rene, Lt. Gruber fancying Rene, etc. etc. It's not as overtly over the top as Are You Being Served, but none of that sort of thing would have stood in Dad's Army. The closest that gets is the rather sweet and gentle "secret" affair between Mavis Pike and Arthur Wilson.
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Post by petere on Feb 13, 2019 5:51:51 GMT 12
That’s right, Mrs Pike and Sgt Wilson:
”Will you be coming round later, Arthur, for your usual?”😊
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Post by Alan Hayes on Feb 13, 2019 5:53:18 GMT 12
The embarrassed, perturbed look on Wilson's face in response to that line is as priceless as anything in the script. |
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Post by petere on Feb 13, 2019 5:54:09 GMT 12
That was from the first episode, I think.
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Post by petere on Feb 13, 2019 5:57:43 GMT 12
Yes, you are right, it is a fantastic moment😊! Great comedy!
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Post by petere on Jul 29, 2019 18:48:35 GMT 12
Just browsing around and found this ”reunion” clip from a fan convention in 2017. Haven’t seen it all but quite funny in the beginning when ”Herr Flick” says to the interviewer: ”Wee ask ze queztionz!”
A bit funny also - but in the wrong way - is that the interviewer informs the crowd that Allo’ Allo’ is about a small French village during WW2...
Well I guess not all attending such a convention are die-hard fans of 100 % of the shows.
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Post by Alan Hayes on Jul 26, 2020 1:27:58 GMT 12
After a few months off, I have no resumed watching 'Allo 'Allo at the rate of a couple of episodes a night, sometimes three. It's funny, I really had no time for this series as a twenty-something, but I'm loving it in my fifties. It's so wonderfully bonkers and delightful. The cast is excellent, too. My goodness - a Croft and Lloyd series that I love. I never really thought that'd ever happen as I have very little love for any of their other series.
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Post by Dave Homewood on Jul 26, 2020 9:28:29 GMT 12
I loved Allo Allo as a teen, I still love it.
I loved AYBS as a teen, now I see it as repetitive nonsense, over the top acting and totally implausible scripts, with the odd laugh here and there.
Although one scene in AYBS that will always stick with me:
Mrs Slocombe "I always say, you are what you eat."
Mr Spooner - "Blimey, you must have eaten an awful lot of sour grapes and ugly fruit!"
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Post by Alan Hayes on Aug 17, 2020 0:16:26 GMT 12
Still working my way through 'Allo 'Allo and still greatly enjoying it, although the recasting of characters hasn't been great. I'm on the third Leclerc now (Robin Parkinson) and neither he or the other replacement have been anywhere near as good as Jack Haig.
I guess they thought they were playing safe by casting actors in their late fifties/early sixties to play Leclerc after Haig died at 76, but the first replacement - Derek Royle - only lasted one year before he too passed away at just 61. Both he and Parkinson were 'aged up' and overplayed the dodderiness.
Also overplaying was Roger Kitter, whose appearances as the replacement for Gavin Richards as Captain Bertorelli wouldn't have been out of place in a dumb US sitcom of the 50s. Completely lacking the style and charisma that Richards brought to the role and replacing it with a terribly stereotypical take on the character. Every time he pipes up you just automatically think how much better the scene would have been with Richards in the role...
I'm now on the cusp of watching Series 8, and I understand Richard Gibson leaves after that, to be replaced by David Janson, who I am familiar with from Get Some In. It seems a bit of a strange casting decision as he didn't seem the 'type', but we'll see...
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Post by petere on Aug 17, 2020 2:43:42 GMT 12
”Whatta mistaka to make!”😊
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