the ad is a spirited homage to Wilson, Keppel and Betty, an inter-war variety act featuring Jack Wilson and Joe Keppel, along with nearly a dozen different "Bettys" – who were criticised by Goebbels, who thought their bare legs "bad for the morals of the Nazi youth". They retired from the stage as late as 1963. All of which confirms my long-held belief that, even now in the hi-tech 21st century, most of the roots of British entertainment curl up from the old-style variety hall.So the next time the English Defence League turns up in Market Harborough we should face them like this...
Monday, October 18, 2010
Wilson, Keppel and Betty vs the Nazis
In Saturday's Independent D.J. Taylor wrote of the latest Go Compare commercial:
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3 comments:
I only know of them through Wise, Morcambe and Glenda...
The footage of their appearance on Tommy Cooper's show (on which Wilson - or was it Keppel? - pointed at Cooper's fez and cried "impostor!") still exists. I wonder if it has migrated to YouTube?
Puts a whole new (old) perspective of the British view of Egyptians. Very interesting in view of recent events.
As a 62 year old I still have vague memories of the act, but never saw them live. My, they were popular for many years.
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