Beyond the Fringe with Alan Bennett: DVD Cover
  • Cover Image

Beyond the Fringe Director: Duncan Wood Cast: Alan Bennett, Peter Cook, Jonathan Miller, Dudley Moore

DVD Learn more

BUY THIS ITEM

  • $24.99 Online price
    $22.49 Member price
    Join Now
    • skip to cart
  • Add To List uiAction=GetAllLists&page=List&pageType=list&ean=054961799091&productCode=DV&maxCount=100&threshold=3

GET FREE SHIPPING ON ORDERS OF $25 OR MORE

DELIVERY & GIFT DETAILS:

Usually ships within 24 hours

Delivery Time and Shipping Rates

Eligible for gift wrap & gift message.

Enter a zip code

  • DVD Release Date: 10/04/2005
  • Original Release: 1963
  • Rating: Not Rated
  • Sales Rank: 30,943

Viewer Rating: (1 ratings)

See All Detailed Ratings

 
  • Overview
  • Editorial Reviews
  • Scenes
  • Customer Reviews
  • Cast & Crew
  • Full Product Details

Scenes

Features

Closed Caption; Background notes; Cast bios; Original Broadway Playbill (DVD-ROM)

Full Product Details

Scene Index

Disc #1 -- Beyond the Fringe
1. Intro: West End [2:08]
2. Home Thoughts From Abroad - The Cast [6:11]
3. Royal Box - Peter Cook, Dudley Moore, Alan Bennett [6:15]
4. Man Bites God - The Cast [4:46]
5. T. E. Lawrence - Alan Bennett [5:48]
6. Bollard - The Cast [2:28]
7. Art Gallery Director - Jonathan Miller [2:08]
8. Deutscher Chansons - Dudley Moore [2:54]
9. Words... and Things - Jonathan Miller, Alan Bennett [8:09]
10. The Great Train Robbery - Alan Bennett, Peter Cook [4:27]
11. And the Same to You - Dudley Moore [4:28]
12. Aftermyth of War - The Cast [11:17]
13. Civil War - The Cast [7:19]
14. Real Class - The Cast [1:22]
15. Little Miss Britten - Dudley Moore [1:26]
16. The Weill Song - Dudley Moore [2:41]
17. One Leg Too Few - Peter Cook, Dudley Moore [4:46]
18. Studio Five Interviews/Black Equals White - The Cast [6:01]
19. Sittingon the Bench - Peter Cook [9:00]
20. Bread Alone - The Cast [4:11]
21. Take a Pew - Alan Bennett [7:12]
22. So That's the Way You Like It - The Cast [7:41]
23. The End of the World - The Cast [3:24]

Scene Index

Editorial Reviews

Although it's more than 40 years old, this preserved gala farewell performance of the groundbreaking Beyond the Fringe revue is anything but an antiquity. It's dated in spots, yes, but Beyond the Fringe is still a magnificently funny mix of the surreal and the clever: Serious fans of British comedy see it as the link between The Goon Show and Monty Python's Flying Circus. The Oxford- and Cambridge-educated Fringe foursome -- Jonathan Miller, Alan Bennett, Peter Cook, and Dudley Moore -- were among the satiric vanguard in England, and it's easy to see why in these performances. Classic sketches include "Aftermyth of War," an epic send-up of war's absurdity, and "One Leg Too Few," in which a one-legged man auditions for the role of Tarzan ("I've nothing against your right leg," the director lets him down gently, "the trouble is, neither do you"). Sketches such as "The Great Train Robbery" are sublime in their silliness. "Do you feel that thieves are responsible," Bennett asks Cook. "Good heavens, no," Cook responds. "I feel that thieves are totally irresponsible." Cook was the master of his prattling domain, and "Sitting on the Bench," in which a coal miner methodically explains why he did not become a judge, is one of his grandest moments. With apologies to Python, Beyond the Fringe is something of a holy grail for fans of British comedy. Donald Liebenson, Barnes & Noble

More reviews and recommendations

Customer Reviews

  • Viewer Rating:
  • Ratings: 1Reviews: 1

Beyond the Fringeby Anonymous

Reader Rating:
See Detailed Ratings

December 03, 2005: I have been involved with BEYOND THE FRINGE since 1965, and have appeared in or directed half a dozen productions--still, it's a joy to see the original cast in all their loony glory--even though the quality of the recording is a bit dicey. Five minutes into the show, it won't be difficult to see that these geniuses influenced The Goon Squad, Monty Python, and some of the Saturday Night Live regulars. Comedy, really GOOD comedy, survives the years--and forty years has done nothing to BEYOND THE FRINGE!