Who Done It?

Who Done It? Produced in 1956 stars Benny Hill as member of the chorus in a musical comedy on ice who enters a contest held by a mystery pulp magazine and wins a 100 Pounds & a blood hound. Due to typical Benny Hill high jinks he is fired from his skating job and so decides to get an office and become a privet eye. (would 100 pounds have gone that far even back then?) During his short career he happens on a gang of foreign spies & a scientist who has invented a machine that controls the weather, he also gets a girlfriend, played by the beautiful and tragically short lived Belinda Lee (She would die in an auto crash only five years after this film) who works as a stage strong girl. To be sure much slap follows there after. Who Done It rather reminded me of the sorts of films that Bob Hope or Danny Kaye use to make. With the introduction of the weather controlling device it reminded me a bit of the Avengers television series, only with the mod camp replace by hyperactive Benny Hill corn. I would not call it a practically out-standingly good or bad film. It's just one of those films that if you are in the mood for this sort of movie it's the sort of film that will match that mood.

Silly, none too bright, improbable, but with a laugh or two in it. And where else are you going to see Benny as a detective?

And yes he does end up in drag at one point.

On kanopy. The awesome comic benny hill, in his first, full length film role. When hugo gets kicked out of the stage show, he takes any job he can get. And gets mixed up with a group of spies. They hire him to imitate their evil scientist, to demonstrate a machine that can control the weather. And of course, that all goes wrong too. Along the way, he rescues a girl who doesn't need to be rescued. But she's flattered he would go to the trouble. It's mostly pretty light and fluffy. Lots of sight gags, jokes, misunderstandings. Pratfalls. Comedy bits. Co-stars belinda lee as hugo's girlfriend. She made a few more films, but died at twenty five in a car accident, just a few years after this was released. The story is quite silly, and nothing too special. Of course, he needs to dress up in drag, as part of the plot. Historically, it's fun to see a thirty two year old benny hill, years before he starred in his own show. The magic chair scene is right out of the marx brothers, or maybe the three stooges! Directed by basil dearden. He won the bafta for sapphire. Written by tib clarke, who had won his oscar for lavender hill.

Benny Hill was a great comic actor later on in his career. In this you can see the potential. With 5 secs of Jess Conrad and much more of Belinda Lee what more can you ask for to while away the time.

Benny Hill fans will enjoy this free-for-all nonsense about International espionage and a "secret weapon" developed by stereotypical Eastern-Block scientist. Benny, our likable hero, is a "Inspector Clouseau" type amateur detective, ready to tackle his first assignment: impersonate the famous professor, as part of the secret plan for the bad guys to rule the world.

The story is "formula" and thin as a satin thread, but an extra large helping of "Benny Hill" slap stick, complete with lots of pretty girls and the obligatory Benny-in-drag scenes, make this predictable vehicle hobble along. The final car chase on (are you ready for this?) a race track is totally stupid, but what did you expect? Given the 1950s mentality and the limited budgets available to produce a silly comedy, the objective was met. Today something similar would hope to recoupe it's investments in direct-to-video sales.

Benny Hill as a bumbling Private Eye? Oh yes, and his first film really shows us the beginnings of his massive comedic talents. While it is obviously a low budget production, the slapstick gags & rapid-fire quips will keep any Benny Hill fan in stitches. This film is also a great addition to any collection of his many fans as it reveals the "Funniest Man Alive" before he became so famous on TV. I bought a used DVD of this movie because it was all I could find available, but that's the nice thing about DVD's...they don't wear out like VHS tapes do. Not a film for people who prefer sophisticated, under-played humor, but if you like the 3 Stooges, Abbot & Costello, or Martin & Lewis, you're going to love "Who Done It?".