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George Formby - Comic Icons


RRP: £39.99
Our Price: £21.37 (subject to change)

Eeh, that's champion that is!
Review date: 2008-04-23 Rating: 10 out of 10

If you are fans of old British comedies this George Formby box-set should be right up your street. If you come from "up north" then you will really love the little things like the Lancashire accents and phrases that have sadly gradually disappeared. There are 7 classics on offer here with my personal favourites being Spare A Copper, Let George Do It, Turned Out Nice Again and No Limit. They all got the kids approval and I still found them as enjoyable as I remember when I was a child, which shows their timeless nature.
The only down-side is that there are no fancy menu activities and extras but we are talking about 1930s material here, so we should be grateful that the movies have been made available on DVD.

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Reviews


Our George still shines through the grime (and quite a lot of it)
Review date: 2008-01-06 Rating: 10 out of 10

Be assured that the faults detailed by other contributors concerning one film being out of sync and another cutting off before the end HAVE been corrected. In fact they were corrected within a few days of the initial release of this set. We also have a pretty good print of 'No Limit', but alas the others do leave quite a bit to be desired.

I've longed for immaculate prints of these films to appear on DVD and was bitterly disappointed with much of what I found in this set. Scratches, blotches, pulsations, etc. are to be expected in pirated editions, but not in an official set from the likes of Optimum/CanalPlus, though I see that other DVD releases of vintage films on this label have come up for similar criticism.

I still believe its better to have these commercial issues than none at all, but these prints are largely terribly disappointing. That said, at this price they will still serve well as a great introduction to these films for many less discerning viewers (particularly, and hopefully, the kiddies) at a time when George's films get little TV coverage any more, and I can only hope more Formby DVDs will follow. There are another four George Formby Ealing films which Optimum could bring out, as well as seven Columbia films, some of which nearly came out on another label but sadly the label folded just months before these were released.

Of the films in this set, only 'No Limit' has been given an individual release, apparently to tie in with the TT centenary. Could it be that because of the individual release better attention was given to the remastering and restoration or is it just a coincidence that this happens to be the best print. If it's a coincidence then fair enough, but if not then shame on the label for a) not tracking down better prints (we know better prints are out there) and for b) not putting more effort into the restoration of the others. To tempt some buyers into buying the full set based on a nice print of the one film available to buy separately would be a little underhand.

These technicalities aside, the content of these films is a joy. For this reason I'm giving this set FIVE stars - these stars are for George, his songs, his uke-playing, his co-stars and his production team and NOT for Optimum who may deserve five stars for 'No Limit' but who deserve none for the quality of the others.

The shoddiest DVDs of all time!
Review date: 2007-10-02 Rating: 2 out of 10

In a lifetime of professional film reviewing, I've never seen such disgraceful prints as the ones under review. A few years ago, a fine copy of "Come On, George" was available on video. Not only is this DVD transfer a poor quality print, but it's missing the last ten minutes! The best part of the movie, the climax, is gone! It's just not there! And as for "Turned Out Nice Again", about ten minutes into the action, the sound suddenly goes out of sync and stays that way for the rest of the movie. The sound syncing is so bad, you can hear George speaking while his mouth is actually closed. The quality of "Let George Do It" is not as incredibly bad, but it also doesn't hold a patch on the video version. I've not been game to look at the other movies in this collection, I was so bitterly disappointed by the three absolutely revolting DVD presentations of some of the best films ever made by one of Britain's finest comedians. With great reluctance, I give this collection "1 star" because Amazon wouldn't allow me to rate it "zero".

Good films - poor production run of the discs
Review date: 2007-06-16 Rating: 6 out of 10

I unfortunately had a similar problems with my discs. Sound out of synchronisation and films that cut off before the end. I sent mine back and recieved a refund but the films are so good I will purchase them again when they have ironed out the production bugs.

Formby on form, but discs have problems
Review date: 2007-06-11 Rating: 8 out of 10

I couldn't believe how great "No Limit" looked!

I agree with A Vincent that the set is well worth £30, but in addition to his problems with "Turned Out Nice Again", the copy of "Come On George" included in my box was cut off at the 75 minute mark.

We're still left wondering if George wins the race! As A Vincent did before, I'll check the rest of the discs in the box and contact Optimum for a replacement.

Otherwise, this set deserves 5 stars (one knocked off for my trouble) and I can only hope that Optimum put out another set or two of the films they also have licensed from Studio Canal.

Product Details/Specifications


Actor(s):
George Formby

Creators:
George Formby (Primary Contributor)

Director(s):

Recording label: Optimum Home Entertainment
Manufacturer: Optimum Home Entertainment
EAN: 5060034579564
Binding: DVD
Number of items: 4
Format: Box set, PAL,
Release date: 2007-05-07
Audience rating: Parental Guidance
Region code: 2
Running time: 555 minutes
Language: English (Original Language)

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