Fun at St. Fanny's / You Lucky People

[antnield]

Volume four of the Adelphi collection. Amazon pre-order. Release date 22nd August 2011.

[MichaelB]

...and this will be region-free, like all the other Adelphi releases.

[antnield]

[antnield]

Adelphi Collection Volume 4 : Fun at St. Fanny's & You Lucky People

The fourth release of the BFI s pioneering Adelphi Collection is a rib-tickling double bill of rare vintage comedy. Schoolboy howlers abound in the quick-fire classroom caper Fun at St. Fanny s (1955), featuring radio favourite Cardew "The Cad" Robinson, television's Gerald "Billy Bunter" Campion, variety veteran Fred Emney, Vera Day, Claude Hulbert, muddle-mouthed Stanley Unwin, and a young Ronnie Corbett.

You Lucky People (1956) stars the man Roy Hudd described as 'Britain's first alternative comedian', legendary stand-up comic Tommy Trinder, in a raucous parade ground comedy which also features a young Rolf Harris.

Extra Features:

- Dual Format Edition: includes both the Blu-ray and the DVD of the film and the extras.
- Both films newly transferred to High Definition
- Extensive fully illustrated booklet featuring essays, credits and biographical information

[antnield]

Looks to be DVD only now, and separate releases at that...

[RossyG]

Oh, dear.

Not unexpected, though, as the blu ray entry seems to have vanished from all online retailers. I suppose Cardew the Cad in HD really was too good to be true.

[MichaelB]

Yes, that's correct - all Adelphi releases from now on are to be single-film DVDs priced at £12.99 apiece (which in practice means under a tenner from most retailers).

I don't know the reason for the change, but I suspect there just wasn't a big enough overlap between Blu-ray owners and people interested in minor 1950s British oddities. I also suspect the £19.99 RRP was putting people off too - in fact, I know it was, as I've seen complaints on other online forums. It was a perfectly fair price for stellar transfers from original materials of two or three complete features, but that cuts little ice when most other films on the market went for half that - even if they were often sourced from old broadcast masters.

The dual-format double bill may still be advertised on some retail sites, but it's as nonexistent as the notorious Of Time and the City Blu-ray (announced but scrapped after it turned out that the entire film had originally been mastered on SD video).

[MichaelB]

Full specs announced:

Two rare 1950s comedies from the BFI’s Adelphi Collection released on DVD for the first time

On 22 August, the BFI releases two more titles in its established strand, The Adelphi Collection. Fun at St. Fanny’s (1956) and You Lucky People! (1955), both directed by Maurice Elvey, are rib-tickling 50s comedies both of which feature top British comedy names from the time, including Tommy Trinder and Gerald (Billy Bunter) Campion, as well as fresh-faced turns from Ronnie Corbett and Rolf Harris.
Digitally restored in High Definition from the original negatives preserved by the BFI National Archive, each film is packaged with a fully illustrated booklet that includes film notes, original promotional materials and recollections from the films’ stars.

Fun at St. Fanny’s

Schoolboy howlers abound in this unforgettably odd vintage classroom comedy caper, starring radio favourite Cardew ‘The Cad’ Robinson and a host of familiar British film and television faces.

Gormless 25 year-old Cardew, wealthy beneficiary of the Robinson Will, should have left St. Fanny’s School many years ago. However, seedy headmaster Dr. Jankers (music hall favourite Fred Emney) is in the toils of shady bookmaker Harry the Scar (boxer Freddie Mills) and has so-far kept his golden goose perched firmly at the bottom of the class. Blissfully unaware of nefarious intrigue around him, Cardew continues to flirt coyly with the French mistress and gamble for school dinners on the form room roulette wheel. But canny Scots solicitor McTavish has been sent to investigate…

Fun at St. Fanny’s features television’s Billy Bunter, Gerald Campion, the fabulous Vera Day, Will Hay cohort Claude Hulbert, muddle-mouthed Stanley Unwin, a young Ronnie Corbett, and enough old jokes to fill a Christmas cracker factory.

Fun at St. Fanny’s Cat no: BFIVD929 / UK / 1956 / U / black and white / optional hard-of-hearing subtitles / 77 mins / Original aspect ratio 2.35:1 / DVD5

You Lucky People!

Forward march for fun and laughter with legendary quick-fire comic Tommy Trinder, Dora Bryan, Rolf Harris and R S M Brittain in this raucous parade-ground comedy.

Reservist Tommy Smart (Trinder) has made his fortune selling army surplus and is not best pleased to be recalled to barracks for two weeks’ compulsory training. Arriving with his trusty manservant, his dreams of a quiet life are shattered when he gets an ear-splitting welcome from his old enemy, Sergeant Thickpenny (Rufus Cruickshank), and the notorious R S M Brittain, who’s already decided Tommy is an ‘orrible little man.’

The war might be over but with a mountain of spud bashing to do, some highly irregular night manoeuvres to be carried out, and romance in the air, it’s just one skirmish after another around this highly active army base. Will Tommy make it back to civvy street in one piece?

Also amidst the ranks of unwilling recruits is a young Rolf Harris, armed only with a pen, risking the Sergeant Major’s wrath with his caustic caricatures…

You Lucky People! Cat no: BFIVD930 / UK / 1955 / U / black and white / optional hard-of-hearing subtitles / 76 mins / Original aspect ratio 2.35:1 / DVD5 / PCM mono audio (48k/16-bit)

The RRP for each title is £12.99. The next releases in The Adelphi Collection, in January 2012, will be The Great Game (1953) by Maurice Elvey and Miss Tulip Stays the Night (1955) by Leslie Arliss, both of which star British blonde bombshell Diana Dors.

[MichaelB]

Just a quick note to say that the films originally due for release next Monday (the 22nd), including Fun at St Fanny's and You Lucky People!, have had their official release dates moved by a week to the 29th to allow for repressing stock following the Sony DADC fire.

However, some retailers, including Amazon, HMV and MovieMail, already had stock in, so it's highly likely that they'll ship as if the release date was still the 22nd - the BFI certainly isn't going to discourage them from doing so.

Off the top of my head, the affected titles are Before the Revolution, Molly Dineen Volume 2: The Ark and the two latest Adelphi titles, Fun at St Fanny's and You Lucky People!.

[antnield]

The Digital Fix on You Lucky People.

[antnield]

...and Fun at St Fanny's