Joyce Grenfell - First Flight

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  • čas přidán 28. 12. 2010
  • The amazing Joyce Grenfell performs entirely from memory one of her own most charming and vivid monologues entitled "First Flight".
  • Komedie

Komentáře • 100

  • @johnheppenstall4904
    @johnheppenstall4904 Před rokem +16

    Well, I'm flabbergasted. Always enjoyed her self deprecating English types monologues, but have never seen such as this. This is such a heart felt performance.

  • @jasonhurd4379
    @jasonhurd4379 Před 5 lety +34

    This woman was a genius. To provoke laughter and tears in equal measure, simultaneously, is the highest art. R.I.P, dear Mrs Grenfell.

  • @harrythepiano
    @harrythepiano Před 12 lety +49

    I love her - she's genius. At the end of this just wanted to hug her. So moving and brilliantly performed.

  • @farahmendlesohn9158
    @farahmendlesohn9158 Před 9 lety +45

    This one always reminds me so much of my grandmother: a woman very much of her time and place but who so wanted to treat people like people.

    • @MsEustaciaVye
      @MsEustaciaVye Před 7 lety +4

      now that is the only way to treat people...like people. Why try any other way? People are people. Perhaps too many people forget that these days. And see where we are now. Full of people.

    • @BadWebDiver
      @BadWebDiver Před 6 lety +2

      Those people are so wonderful!

    • @glamdolly30
      @glamdolly30 Před 6 lety

      Awww how lovely!

    • @helenl3193
      @helenl3193 Před rokem

      Yes, I've known women (and a few gents too - not necessarily in the class/blood sense, but in character) like her.. They might not know the right words or hesitate to engage for fear of using the wrong/old terms, but they are earnestly trying to shake off those less equitable parts of society/empire, etc.

  • @markharrison2059
    @markharrison2059 Před 7 lety +33

    6.37 the complexity and layers in her look when she says 'They're there'. Masterclass.

  • @philsooty5421
    @philsooty5421 Před 3 lety +12

    One of the most talented woman the world has ever known!

  • @Kotetsu_T_Kaburagi
    @Kotetsu_T_Kaburagi Před 3 lety +14

    One of the greatest monologues ever, comedy that ends with a heartwarming and emotional note. A great talent.

  • @Verderer
    @Verderer Před 12 lety +14

    JOYCE GRENFELL - b 1910 d 1979 Although she was the very epitome of all things English and of England she was partly American by parentage. She had a wonderful ability to assume any kind of British accent and she did an excellent American accent as well but that probably came natural to her. Her accent here is very North of England! I too have found myself next to a similar lady on a plane - by the time we got to our destination I knew her entire family history!

  • @Gwailo54
    @Gwailo54 Před 8 lety +84

    How can anybody not like this? Grenfell had a knack of bringing the sadness of people through gentle humour and skilled characterisation. One can't help but feel the waterworks start when she looks for her family. The look on her face is perfect, for one moment one thinks the family she has talked about isn't there, and then the realisation she feels so insecure kicks in hard. Subtle.

    • @mattscudder1975
      @mattscudder1975 Před rokem +8

      That last line “I just want to do it all right” hits you like a velvet covered jab to the jaw.

    • @patmeakin9610
      @patmeakin9610 Před rokem +1

      A wonderful, intelligent and very talented lady. I remember when she was on a musical panel show, (named ??) with Robin Day. She could name a tune from just one note on a piano.

    • @leadbelly1495
      @leadbelly1495 Před 4 měsíci

      @@patmeakin9610name that tune ?!😂

    • @sallyhuxley8947
      @sallyhuxley8947 Před měsícem

      ​@@patmeakin9610The programme was called Face the Music on BBC 2 with Joseph Cooper in the chair and Robin Ray (not Day) was another regular panellist. I think Richard Baker was also a regular.
      An enjoyable programme with people who knew their music, including, of course, Joyce Grenfell.
      She was so clever at making you totally believe in the character she was playing. Very astute, never big-headed, always charming.

  • @currykev
    @currykev Před 12 lety +38

    What a gorgeous monologue; so beautifully crafted and performed.

  • @emmaandgrace4eva
    @emmaandgrace4eva Před 12 lety +27

    I don't know whether I laughed or cried more- so bittersweet and perfect and all the timings so impeccable and smooth.

  • @songsfromthepast341
    @songsfromthepast341 Před 3 lety +12

    A National Treasure indeed. Never to be forgotten. A lovely person and a wonderful entertainer.

  • @howard1707
    @howard1707 Před 13 lety +19

    A beautiful performance from a great lady, and much missed

  • @RayCee
    @RayCee Před 13 lety +18

    only one word...wonderful. every time I see this it moves me

  • @chevydude658
    @chevydude658 Před 5 lety +10

    Genius. Just genius. I don't have any other words.

  • @mscott3918
    @mscott3918 Před 6 lety +16

    Incomparable and irreplaceable.

  • @nmuphelps1
    @nmuphelps1 Před 2 lety +10

    A true human GENIUS!!!

  • @saltburner2
    @saltburner2 Před rokem +5

    What a treasure she was - quite unforgettable!

  • @misspaddylee
    @misspaddylee Před 10 lety +16

    I've read this monologue, but this was the first time I saw Ms. Grenfell perform it. Thank you so much. She's brilliant.

  • @veronicwbrennan4002
    @veronicwbrennan4002 Před 2 lety +5

    That was wonderful. Made me cry.

  • @zedskidoodle
    @zedskidoodle Před 10 lety +23

    This is just the last few minutes of the flight, from when the seat belt sign comes on to when they land. She hasn't spoken to the man next to her the whole way because he's been busy working.
    This is one of my favourite of Joyce's monologues. So sweet and touching. It also taught me how not to pronounce Connecticut when I was little...

  • @wenglishsal
    @wenglishsal Před 13 lety +11

    Joyce is a BrILLIANT story-teller, she takes you along with her and I absolutely LOVE to watch ehr... VEry under-rated but BRILLIANT.. I could watch and listen all day...
    Many thanks for posting a Joyce Grenfell gem @MintakaVideo, my very best regards from Wales UK.. :0)X

  • @alisoncooper1421
    @alisoncooper1421 Před 3 lety +3

    Sometimes "dear" in a time of crisis. So brilliant, so true fir that era.

  • @petclark1
    @petclark1 Před 11 lety +38

    I'm not very familiar with Miss Grenfell. I mean, I knew she was much more than just "George, don't do that". But this-well, one minute she's got me laughing the next I've got a lump in my throat and a tear in my eye. She was obviously quite brilliant. I can't get over how much this monologue has touched me. Thanks so much for posting it.

  • @potdog1000
    @potdog1000 Před rokem +3

    it's only as i got older that i appreciated her subtle humour, genius

  • @andrewmiddleton5840
    @andrewmiddleton5840 Před rokem +13

    And that Ladies and Gentlemen is what we call pure class

  • @peterhutley4254
    @peterhutley4254 Před rokem +9

    It’s true, she was a true humanitarian. She can make you laugh or move you to tears with a direct connection to the character’s own feelings. Which are universal. I love her, Pete Hutley, Newcastle. Australia.

  • @zacmumblethunder7466
    @zacmumblethunder7466 Před 4 lety +6

    So cleverly written. "Ooh, you have been working hard, I didn't like to interrupt" sets the monologue perfectly for a condensed conversation. You can imagine the be-suited man packing his papers away because the little light has come on.

    • @farahmendlesohn9158
      @farahmendlesohn9158 Před 2 lety +4

      I used to set this sketch as an assignment for my creative writing students. "Tell me about the person in the other seat".

    • @zacmumblethunder7466
      @zacmumblethunder7466 Před 2 lety +2

      @@farahmendlesohn9158 That's really clever and creative.
      A long time ago I went to a workshop for people already studying scriptwriting. We were told to bring along a short scene we'd already written. The tutor gave us each a random picture postcard and gave us twenty minutes to rewrite our scene in the location on the card and use it to affect the dialogue.
      My scene had been set in a domestic kitchen. My postcard was of a marina full of boats. It really made me think more dynamically and made the scene much better.

    • @helenl3193
      @helenl3193 Před rokem +1

      ​@@zacmumblethunder7466 what a wonderful idea for an exercise, although I don't know if I could meet the challenge in only 20 minutes! Thanks for sharing

  • @Boathorse
    @Boathorse Před rokem +3

    Wonderful, just wonderful.

  • @junetaylor9795
    @junetaylor9795 Před rokem +2

    Absolutely Brill one of a kind always loved her .

  • @sarahatkin366
    @sarahatkin366 Před rokem +6

    I can't help thinking that Olivia Colman would be the perfect actor to play Joyce Grenfell!

    • @Scathingly
      @Scathingly Před rokem +1

      YES!!

    • @minecachair
      @minecachair Před 17 dny

      Maureen Lipman had a wonderful one woman show which was a tribute to Joyce.It's well worth watching online.

  • @glamdolly30
    @glamdolly30 Před 6 lety +36

    This is so heartwarming, JG is utterly believable and so lovable. She is typical of all the thoroughly decent people of that generation who had genuine good intentions and wouldn't have rejected people on grounds of colour. I believe most people are good and decent - but we only hear about the bad apples. Thanks for sharing this, Joyce Grenfell's performance was hypnotic and so genuinely charming!

    • @zacmumblethunder7466
      @zacmumblethunder7466 Před 4 lety +4

      Northern English working class areas always used to be very tolerant. "It's a grim life and we're all in it together" type of thing. But that was then......

    • @susancerezo401
      @susancerezo401 Před 3 lety +4

      I was lucky enough to see her doing her monologues several times, and always loved her !
      Her books are glorious too. I think I'll read them again. A real heroine for me!

    • @nmuphelps1
      @nmuphelps1 Před 2 lety +2

      @@susancerezo401 And for me!!!

  • @MJ69ism
    @MJ69ism Před rokem +2

    Beautiful just beautiful the perfect mum

  • @ShatteredxSpiritx
    @ShatteredxSpiritx Před 12 lety +8

    I always sit next to these women on planes XD Absolutely classic, very amusing xx

  • @ro7311
    @ro7311 Před 10 lety +11

    Brilliant.

  • @frippp66
    @frippp66 Před 13 lety +8

    Love this sketch. Very touching.

  • @paulhwbooth
    @paulhwbooth Před rokem +3

    Magnificent.

  • @TherealLumpendoodle
    @TherealLumpendoodle Před 4 lety +3

    Such gentle, incite full humour.

  • @zsuzsamold
    @zsuzsamold Před měsícem

    Adorable lady!!!❤

  • @ingridhead6574
    @ingridhead6574 Před rokem +1

    Just lovely ❤❤❤

  • @charlesachurch7265
    @charlesachurch7265 Před 2 lety +4

    I would invite her to my fantasy dinner party.

  • @gf1001
    @gf1001 Před 11 lety +8

    A fabulous Lady so talented love this monologue miss you Joyce ..

  • @patking264
    @patking264 Před 2 lety +2

    Brilliant!

  • @naomiplimmer6325
    @naomiplimmer6325 Před 4 lety +4

    So moving.

  • @irvingmoses
    @irvingmoses Před 7 lety +6

    Delightful!

  • @christopherperry2266
    @christopherperry2266 Před 5 lety +4

    Marvellous

  • @michaelritchie2968
    @michaelritchie2968 Před 7 lety +4

    Wonderful x

  • @MrDannyDetail
    @MrDannyDetail Před 6 lety +12

    I watched the Maureen Lipman version of this sketch immediately before this, and somehow Maureen take a longer time to deliver a few less of the jokes. Joyce can really rattle them off yet deliver every joke and change of tone perfectly.

    • @zacmumblethunder7466
      @zacmumblethunder7466 Před 2 lety +2

      I liked Maureen's version as well. It was similar enough to honour the original but different enough to give it new life.
      In her version Mrs Comstock seemed more fragile, almost like the narrowness around her had beaten her down.
      That's the sign of great writing though. Two people can perform the same text and create two different characters.

    • @MrDannyDetail
      @MrDannyDetail Před 2 lety +3

      @@zacmumblethunder7466 I just realised the name Comstock is also used in a Victoria Wood routine about going abroad, where there is a woman on the same journey whose luggage is covered in the name 'Betty Comstock' and who has never been abroad before and was waiting for her luggage at the handdryer in the ladies. Apparently it is intended to be the same character from this sketch, and is Victoria's tribute to Joyce, as a meeting with Joyce when Victoria was a teen is what set Victoria down the path to the amazing entertainer she became.

    • @zacmumblethunder7466
      @zacmumblethunder7466 Před 2 lety +3

      @@MrDannyDetail That's brilliant. So nice to know that one of my comedy favourites was influenced by another. Thanks.

  • @bclmqd
    @bclmqd Před 4 lety +3

    Masterful!

  • @geowynleda4641
    @geowynleda4641 Před 5 lety +8

    When her monologues came to an end I always wanted to know what happened next.

    • @zacmumblethunder7466
      @zacmumblethunder7466 Před 2 lety +1

      I always wanted to know what the owners of the little red car in "A Terrible Worrier" thought when they came back to and found someone had posted a dead rabbit through the window.

    • @leehallam9365
      @leehallam9365 Před rokem +1

      I'm sure she did it alright.

  • @patrikwright2658
    @patrikwright2658 Před rokem

    What a monologue she could make you believe its really happening.that was her ability to entertain R.I.P.

  • @iainclark5964
    @iainclark5964 Před rokem

    Great comedy not only makes you laugh but makes you think.

  • @anderjpoo
    @anderjpoo Před 4 lety +3

    I came to CZcams after telling my daughter she sounded like Joyce Grenfell. Daughter"Who? Me "She was very funny listen."" OK not so funny, in a darn good way.

  • @prince.mushroom
    @prince.mushroom Před 11 měsíci +1

    i'm not crying you're crying

  • @kaeten838
    @kaeten838 Před rokem

    Brava!

  • @murielbarker4311
    @murielbarker4311 Před rokem

    She was brilliant Joyce did several StTrianies films as well😊

  • @susanford2388
    @susanford2388 Před 3 lety +2

    She was wonderful. I have just discovered both her parents were american. Yes, indeed a genius

  • @Angela-kc5ui
    @Angela-kc5ui Před rokem

    Superb

  • @jaynewhite9428
    @jaynewhite9428 Před rokem +1

    Sheer genius

  • @anndbritch-barney8378
    @anndbritch-barney8378 Před rokem +2

    She was American, although you wouldn't know it, connected to the Astor family. She was so observant. Female comedians today can't seem to get passed swearing.

    • @steveneardley7541
      @steveneardley7541 Před rokem

      Her mother was American, her father English. The accent is hers.

  • @old.not.too.grumpy.
    @old.not.too.grumpy. Před rokem +2

    This would have been very advanced for its time touching on a what would have been a sensitive subject. Done so brilliantly.

  • @spmoran4703
    @spmoran4703 Před 4 měsíci

    A very funny lady. She inspired other lady comedians

  • @gemkenneth
    @gemkenneth Před 10 lety

    Watching this for IB.

  • @baronmeduse
    @baronmeduse Před rokem +1

    Very well observed accent.

    • @michaelmontagu3979
      @michaelmontagu3979 Před 5 měsíci

      You could see all the different characters in her work just from tiny details. Like a cardigan or a scarf. No one to compare with her now.

  • @enthusedtosing9655
    @enthusedtosing9655 Před 3 lety +1

    Yes. A proper flight IS with food.

  • @rogerwatson7374
    @rogerwatson7374 Před 4 lety

    Khe

  • @pygiana16
    @pygiana16 Před 5 lety +6

    None of them use their front rooms.

    • @zacmumblethunder7466
      @zacmumblethunder7466 Před 4 lety +3

      7 words that conjure up a whole bygone age. She was being very modern calling them "front rooms". Northern women always had "Parlours" and were used for listening to the Queen on Christmas day afternoon and funerals and woe betide anyone who dared venture into them at any other time.

  • @kitheskethharvey3576
    @kitheskethharvey3576 Před 3 lety

    When we of whatever race could trust that the kindness and goodness of the majority would be greater than the loutishness of an ignorant and irrelevant minority. Something, at least, to unite and build upon. Before we were browbeaten and divided by identity activists into neurosis and mistrust.

  • @NoNotALaughingMatter
    @NoNotALaughingMatter Před 11 lety

    What sort of airplane was she on to get to New York in under seven minutes !?

    • @Marzy5821
      @Marzy5821 Před 7 lety

      a fast one ~

    • @erlectromusic4489
      @erlectromusic4489 Před 7 lety +7

      NoNotALaughingMatter it's the final 7 minutes of the flight

    • @zacmumblethunder7466
      @zacmumblethunder7466 Před 2 lety

      At the start she says that the person next to her has been working all through the flight. She also mentions that she's had a meal on the plane - "My first proper flight. With food."

  • @josephinebennington7247

    TBH, nothing to do with flying. And in 2023 the acceptance of interracial marriage is both pointed, poignant and important.