“... Robert Benchley, who wrote that Perelman did to our weak little efforts at ‘crazy stuff’ what Benny Goodman has done to middle-period jazz. He swung it. To use a swing phrase, he took it ‘out of this world’. And there he remains, all by himself.’ Acres and Pains really only recycles the most time-honoured of jokes about the bewildered townsman ...”

“... men like Rod Hull clowning around on stage with a girl like Lena Zavaroni. You got used to Hughie Green holding the little girl’s hand and asking her if she wanted an ice-cream. Far from wanting an ice-cream, the little girl was starving herself to death while helpfully glazing over for the camera and throwing out her hands and singing ‘Mama, He’s ...”

“... the coffee table – she says: ‘Take me – or your Christmas bonus.’ It’s a hilarious Jack Benny ‘Your money or your life’ moment. Our hero takes the spondulicks, natch. Is it true? The choice seems unreal; but it fits the genre requirements of film comedy. Clancy, who spent his last thirty years in Los Angeles writing screenplays, among them In ...”