Given the comedy talent here things should be better. However it is useful to see early work by Johnny Speight and Nicholas Parson's straight man. Arthur Haynes has two main characters, the tramp and the effeminate tailor. The sketches are studio bound with sets that make Crossroads solid by comparison. Quite how Aileen Cochrane got a gig by any other means than sleeping with Val Parnell is beyond me. Good support in the comedy from Leslie Noyes, later to be seen in Dad's army in the rear ranks. Raises a smile
4 Reviews
A (small) Blast From The Past
screenman21 October 2009
Warning: Spoilers
Arthur Haynes belongs to that age when music hall was finding itself upstaged by radio - with which it still managed to compete - and television. Using radio as a stepping-stone, several acts managed to make the transition to the little screen and the quantum-leap in publicity and popularity that it offered. Jimmy Jewel, Tommy Trinder, and Charlie Chester became just such household names. Catchy, easily remembered, friendly, funny and blokish; cheeky, even risqué, but nothing you'd be ashamed to let you mother or mother-in-law hear, usually after a drink or two. Arthur Haynes belonged to this tribe. He was straighter, less of a crowd-pleaser, more comedian than comic. He was up against the likes of Tony Hancock and Charlie Drake. Haynes had his moments, surviving into the 1960's, by which time the post-music-hall turns were a busted flush. But he was pretty one-dimensional. He was over-dependent on repartee which was never all that funny. Often he featured with a small Irish fall-guy whose name escapes me now. Once he was top-bill at the London Palladium. Still, it's no mean feat to have your own TV show, so he deserves a mention. I remember him more for being a dead-ringer for Da Vinci's 'Mona Lisa'. Seriously; check them out. Find a picture of Arthur, sketch a small moustache on a picture of the famous lady and compare. They're doppelgangers!
How Arthur tramped his way to the top!
ShadeGrenade2 March 2011
Warning: Spoilers
In 1966, comedian Arthur Haynes died of a heart attack at the age of 52. He had been I.T.V.'s top comedy star of the late 50's/early '60's, their answer to Hancock. He started out in music hall, then was booked to appear on an I.T.V. show with Charlie Chester called 'Strike A New Note'. It was by all accounts a disaster, but Haynes impressed viewers enough to land his own show which subsequently ran for ten years. It consisted basically of sketches written by the great Johnny Speight ( quite long these were, sometimes only two per show ) in which he played characters such as a conniving tramp, a burglar, and a homeowner. There were songs from artistes as varied as Alma Cogan, The Springfields ( including Dusty ) and The Rolling Stones.
Haynes' comic persona was that of a belligerent so and so who would adhere rigidly to a point of view no matter how absurd it was. The sketch in which he leaped to the defence of a man trying to take a grandfather clock aboard a crowded bus is a good example. He was like a British W.C. Fields in some ways; the archetypal 'awkward bugger' who holds up post office queues for what seems like ages arguing over postage rates and the like. He also had a habit of bragging about his war record, as Deryck Guyler's caretaker did a few years later in 'Please Sir'.
The tramp sketches proved most popular, inspiring a one-page strip in the long-running children's paper 'T.V. Comic'. Arthur would often be seen with Dermot Kelly, who played his sidekick 'Irish'. I have a sketch on bootleg disc in which the pair report the theft of four pence to a baffled policeman ( Nicholas Parsons, who was Haynes' straight man for many years ). Even with a fuzzy picture and poor sound it had me howling with laughter. Along with Parsons and Kelly, the show also featured Wendy Richard, Rita Webb, Leslie Noyes, Patricia Hayes, and even a young Michael Caine! From a historical perspective, the sketches in which Haynes played Richard's dad are most interesting, as the seed was planted there which grew eventually into 'Till Death Us Do Part'.
Haynes and Parsons made an unlikely partnership; the former flat-capped, moustached, working class and bloody proud of it, mate, the latter fresh-faced, good-looking and ever-so posh. Despite their differences, they clicked, and became showbiz celebrities.
After Haynes suggested they go their separate ways, he died, and although the country went into mourning very little of his work has been seen since, apart from the odd showing of the 1966 film 'Doctor In Clover' ( in which he managed to steal every scene he was in, no mean feat considering the cast also included Leslie Phillips and James Robertson Justice ), Channel 4 in its early days repeated an edition of his show as part of a Fifties theme night, and in 1995 'Heroes Of Comedy' devoted an edition to him. Now at long last his shows are due to come out on D.V.D., and not before time either.
Some watching for the first time will invariably find his show 'dated'. Well, if you do not like old films or television shows to look old then give this a wide berth. Those of us who love vintage British comedy will be in our element. Aged very well? The four editions I viewed recently certainly had not, yet still managed to amuse and entertain.
Haynes' comic persona was that of a belligerent so and so who would adhere rigidly to a point of view no matter how absurd it was. The sketch in which he leaped to the defence of a man trying to take a grandfather clock aboard a crowded bus is a good example. He was like a British W.C. Fields in some ways; the archetypal 'awkward bugger' who holds up post office queues for what seems like ages arguing over postage rates and the like. He also had a habit of bragging about his war record, as Deryck Guyler's caretaker did a few years later in 'Please Sir'.
The tramp sketches proved most popular, inspiring a one-page strip in the long-running children's paper 'T.V. Comic'. Arthur would often be seen with Dermot Kelly, who played his sidekick 'Irish'. I have a sketch on bootleg disc in which the pair report the theft of four pence to a baffled policeman ( Nicholas Parsons, who was Haynes' straight man for many years ). Even with a fuzzy picture and poor sound it had me howling with laughter. Along with Parsons and Kelly, the show also featured Wendy Richard, Rita Webb, Leslie Noyes, Patricia Hayes, and even a young Michael Caine! From a historical perspective, the sketches in which Haynes played Richard's dad are most interesting, as the seed was planted there which grew eventually into 'Till Death Us Do Part'.
Haynes and Parsons made an unlikely partnership; the former flat-capped, moustached, working class and bloody proud of it, mate, the latter fresh-faced, good-looking and ever-so posh. Despite their differences, they clicked, and became showbiz celebrities.
After Haynes suggested they go their separate ways, he died, and although the country went into mourning very little of his work has been seen since, apart from the odd showing of the 1966 film 'Doctor In Clover' ( in which he managed to steal every scene he was in, no mean feat considering the cast also included Leslie Phillips and James Robertson Justice ), Channel 4 in its early days repeated an edition of his show as part of a Fifties theme night, and in 1995 'Heroes Of Comedy' devoted an edition to him. Now at long last his shows are due to come out on D.V.D., and not before time either.
Some watching for the first time will invariably find his show 'dated'. Well, if you do not like old films or television shows to look old then give this a wide berth. Those of us who love vintage British comedy will be in our element. Aged very well? The four editions I viewed recently certainly had not, yet still managed to amuse and entertain.
Too much repetition
Rabical-9130 April 2023
Warning: Spoilers
Arthur Haynes is a comedian I did not find easy to be able to take to. I did not hate him, nor did I even dislike him but this example of his work - 'The Arthur Haynes Show' - was too repetitive and one-dimensional to do much to endear itself to me.
Arthur played a variety of different characters all with the same personality - straight talking, conniving, common as muck. Like the later Stanley Baxter shows and, even to an extent, 'The Two Ronnies', the sketches were marred with being too overlong, meaning interest was long lost by the time the sketch reached its conclusion.
I did laugh out loud though with a sketch in which Arthur frantically approached a passer-by in the street asking if he has seen a policeman anywhere and when the passer by vehemently informs him he has not seen one, he holds the passer-by at gun point, demanding he hand over his wallet!
There were also a fair amount of musical performers on the show, one of which being Aileen Cochrane. This alas was another black mark against the show.
Another notable thing about the show was it launched to stardom the then unknown Nicholas Parsons, who acted as Haynes' sidekick throughout the show's run.
Haynes died in 1966, aged 52. He was popular, I cannot deny that but unfortunately he was not my cup of tea. However, six decades on his work is clearly still enjoyed by people so that is something I cannot take away from him.
Arthur played a variety of different characters all with the same personality - straight talking, conniving, common as muck. Like the later Stanley Baxter shows and, even to an extent, 'The Two Ronnies', the sketches were marred with being too overlong, meaning interest was long lost by the time the sketch reached its conclusion.
I did laugh out loud though with a sketch in which Arthur frantically approached a passer-by in the street asking if he has seen a policeman anywhere and when the passer by vehemently informs him he has not seen one, he holds the passer-by at gun point, demanding he hand over his wallet!
There were also a fair amount of musical performers on the show, one of which being Aileen Cochrane. This alas was another black mark against the show.
Another notable thing about the show was it launched to stardom the then unknown Nicholas Parsons, who acted as Haynes' sidekick throughout the show's run.
Haynes died in 1966, aged 52. He was popular, I cannot deny that but unfortunately he was not my cup of tea. However, six decades on his work is clearly still enjoyed by people so that is something I cannot take away from him.
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