You Bet Your Life The Best Episodes DVD with Groucho Marx, George Fenneman (NR) +Movie Reviews

The Best (and Some of the Worst) of Groucho

Scott T. Rivers | Los Angeles, CA USA | 10/18/2004

(4 out of 5 stars)

""The Best Episodes" is a worthy follow-up to last year's Groucho Marx "Lost Episodes" DVD collection. Once again, there are 18 unedited "You Bet Your Life" programs that have not been viewed since the original broadcasts, along with a plethora of special guests, blooper reels and vintage commercials (including the famous Creamy Prom spot with Harpo and Chico). Running from 1947 to 1961, the comedy-quiz show was a perfect vehicle for Groucho's razor-sharp talents, which became evident when Groucho and producer John Guedel attempted a new format in the early 1960s with THREE less-than-stellar pilots - all featured in this DVD set. The inclusion of these unsuccessful ventures does throw the overall collection somewhat off-balance. Nevertheless, there are enough memorable laughs to satisfy any die-hard Marxist."

More laughs than you can poke a stick at!

C. Cartmel | Bangkok, Thailand | 08/09/2004

(5 out of 5 stars)

"'Y.B.Y.L. - The Lost Episodes' was brilliant. So much so that I feared this DVD, 'Y.B.Y.L. - The Best Episodes', would not meet my high expectations. How wrong I was! Of course B&W and on very simple sets they were again with very good sound and picture quality, (considering the age I think they have done very well).
The packaging is excellent and again it comes with a 10page booklet.
There were more special guests in these three DVDs. And they were entertaining. However, the not-so-ordinary men/women off the street were the real stars of the show. Groucho Marx was a unique talent. His skills in comedy and conversation were exceptional. *Please note, it should be said that this was made before political correctness reared its boring head stunting the world's humour and our abilities to laugh at ourselves and each other.
No doubt about it. A very good buy with lots of laughs."

A Missed Late Night Delight

joseph Corey | Raleigh, NC United States | 01/08/2006

(5 out of 5 stars)

"When I was a kid visiting my grandparents in Boston, we'd be able to catch "You Bet Your Life" reruns at night - although they didn't air until late night. We'd have to keep the volume down way low to make sure nobody knew the TV was on.

It's nice to finally hear Groucho at a normal volume. He's got such a great give and go with the contestants and George. What's amazing is that you don't care about the answers. And you can rewatch the shows because Groucho is the main focus of entertainment. You just don't have his type of personality on TV anymore. I do hope they put more episodes out.

The bonus features are great - espeically the ads for DeSoto with Groucho pushing the car."

Timeless Fun

Joseph Boone | Irvine, CA United States | 07/09/2006

(5 out of 5 stars)

"I must confess up front that I was never a fan of the Marx Brothers' films. As a result, I wasn't much of a Groucho fan either. But many years ago, I saw some episodes of You Bet Your Life in syndication and found them surprisingly entertaining. I recently decided to take a chance on this DVD set and am glad that I did. Some episodes were clearly chosen due to the celebrity nature of the guests (e.g. a young Candice Bergen and her ventriloquist father, Edgar) but these are not necessarily the most entertaining.

Groucho and the show are both at their best when the guests are no-name people who happen to be interesting characters. When an organ grinder from Italy appears in one episode, Grouch has a field day teasing the guy and is then "zinged" in return when the man brings out a monkey who does a hilarious Groucho imitation. What made You Bet Your Life so unique is that it was a quiz show where the quiz was entirely incidental. It was all about the quick wit of Groucho and the quirky people who came on to spar with him for their 15 minutes of fame. It makes for great entertainment by any standard."

Quaint comedy with occasional highlights

C. Elliott | California U.S.A. | 07/21/2006

(3 out of 5 stars)

"Judging from the appearance of the package's artwork and accompanying booklet, I gathered that the episodes burned into these 3 discs were to be nothing less than top-notch. After all, the working title of this production had been "The Best Episodes."

There seems, however, to have been more thought and care put into the afore-mentioned package design than into the actual shows. Dirt and scratches abound! Why couldn't they have placed more of the production value into the PRODUCTION rather than the container? The films themselves look as though no attempt whatsoever was made to clean and digitally re-master them.

As far as entertainment is concerned, there is some here. Most of the people who Groucho interviews are the average John Q. Public. In some cases they have so little to say that Groucho has to "pry" the words from them. Why were those folks included in "The Best Episodes?" Groucho, with his unique style of interviewing seems to fare more favorably when he has outspoken and/or off-beat types to contend with.

Every once in the while, however, person or persons will demonstrate their natural gift for gab and charm us with their openess, honesty and antics:

Eccentric fruit peddler and future health food guru Gypsy Boots tells of his living in trees and caves. When Groucho asks him to spell the word "gnome," his enthusiastic misspellings are priceless - much to the annoyance of his fellow contestant.

A frustrated lady lyricist/trombone player demonstrates her affection for the show's announcer, George Fenneman, as he attempts to maintain his composure while Groucho watches in awe.

In addition to the original broadcast versions are several "stag reels." These are out-takes from various shows that were considered a bit too bawdy for television of that era:

"I had a frozen daiquiri once when I was up north - that's the last time I go out without long underwear." While Groucho could let loose with such dialog in front of the studio audience, there were always those particular one-liners destined for the cutting room floor prior to air time.

All-in-all, the price of this three-disc set is rather steep, but if you're a dedicated Groucho Marx and/or old-time television game show fan you may find it a quaint treat.
"

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