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Alan Bennett, Dudley Moore, Jonathan Miller, Peter Cook

One of the legendary landmarks of modern comedy finally gets a DVD airing: Beyond the Fringe is the sole filmed performance of the satirical revue that hatched at the Edinburgh Festival in 1960 and su...( read more  read more... )bsequently conquered London's West End and Broadway. The four young cut-ups thrown together for the sketch revue all went on to illustrious solo careers: Peter Cook, Dudley Moore, Alan Bennett, and Jonathan Miller. Their success inspired a generation of comedians and helped birth satire as we know it.

In general, the more topical humor contained in this performance has aged uncertainly, and doesn't seem especially remarkable in the wake of political satire of the 1960s and 70s. Still, the "Aftermyth of War" sketch, which traipses through World War II nostalgia in a way that ruffled feathers back then, remains a pre-Vietnam bit of jaundice. The show's absurdist humor comes through like gangbusters; the classic Peter Cook-Dudley Moore sketch, "One Leg Too Few," about a one-legged man auditioning for the role of Tarzan, remains sublimely silly ("I've got nothing against your right leg--the problem is, neither do you").

Moore provides song parodies, while Bennett's two soliloquies (a vicar's sermon and a man who slightly knew Lawrence of Arabia) perhaps prefigure his later monologues for theater and television. Cook has a pair of bona fide masterpieces. One casts him as a detective on the case of the Great Train Robbery (Bennett: "So you feel thieves are responsible?" Cook: "Good heavens, no. I feel that thieves are totally irresponsible."). The other is "Sitting on the Bench," the rambling musings of a miner disappointed at not have been a judge. As Cook stares frozen-faced at the audience for the duration of the piece, you may get the uncanny frisson of genius.

The performance was recorded in London in 1964, during a final revival of the show. The technical quality is quite poor, but it hardly matters--this is the record of a seismic shift in comedy, and thus an essential disc. --Robert Horton

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70% liked it

517 ratings

Unrated, 100 min.

Directed by: No information available.

Release Date: January 1, 2005

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DVD Release Date: October 4, 2005

Stats: 23 reviews

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Flixster Reviews (23)

  • Swordfishtrombone99
    May 28, 2009
    Swordfishtrombone99
    Hilarious sketch comedy. I especially enjoyed the "One Leg too Few" (Cook and Moore) sketch, as well as Dudley's piano playing sketches, although I'd have to say my favourite of all was "Sitting on the Bench" with Peter Cook.
  • Synysterly1
    May 7, 2007
    Synysterly1
    fffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffff
  • brasseye67
    March 28, 2007
    brasseye67
    A Classic. Not the greatest visually, but the performances more than make up for 1960 technology. Comedy students, this is a must see!
  • jejwkrp
    February 11, 2007
    jejwkrp
    Where would comedy be without this show?
  • reveregirl
    April 6, 2006
    reveregirl
    The Funniest movie i have EVER SEEN!!!!!!!! Sophisticated humor... very upper class

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