Amnesty International's "Secret Policeman's Balls" have long been a source of keen interest and widespread frustration for fans of British music and comedy, particularly those here in the States. Originally the brainchild of Monty Python's John Cleese, this series of benefit performances featured appearances by members of not only the Python crew, but other British legends like The Goodies and the cast of Beyond the Fringe (and, in later shows, up and comers like Rowan Atkinson, Billy Connolly, French & Saunders, and Fry & Laurie). Most of those early shows were filmed for either cinema or television broadcast, but those films have long been difficult for American audiences to see; their American releases were heavily re-edited and only released on long out-of-print VHS editions.

Now, for the first time, the original British versions of the films are available on DVD. Shout! Factory's new 3-disc set, The Secret Policeman's Balls, collects five of the films from the first and second wave of Amnesty benefits, and while they have come up lacking in the technical department (more on that later), their value as historical comedy documents is inarguable.

The first benefit show, presented in 1976, was called "A Poke In The Eye (With A Sharp Stick)"; documentary filmmaker Roger Graef shot the rehearsals and performance with a 16mm crew. The resulting film, Pleasure at Her Majesty's, was originally intended for television, but it screened at the London Film Festival and a few art houses first--the idea of a live concert film screening in theatres was still a relatively novel one.

Cleese got four of his fellow Monty Python members to do the show (only Eric Idle was unavailable), making this the most Python-heavy of the films. Beyond The Fringe's Peter Cook filled in for Idle in the Python sketches, while Python member Terry Jones stood in for the only absent Fringe member, Dudley Moore. The behind-the-scenes footage is fairly interesting--we get a rare chance to see the Python boys at work (they do some on-camera re-writing of their "Court Room" sketch), and some enjoyable footage of the Fringe cast rehearsing Jones into their famous Shakespeare parody. That stuff is good, as is some of the preparation footage (we see a prop hunt underway for the "Dead Parrot" sketch--"Can it be nailed to a perch? Will it stand upright?"), but there is also entirely too much of the documentary-style introduction; we're more than 1/3 of the way in before we get to the performance.

Once it gets going, though, the Pleasure performance is simply marvelous. Python fans will find plenty to love; the "Dead Parrot" performance is terrific (and it is fun to see Michael Palin nearly lose it onstage), the "Court Room" sketch is quite funny, and Cleese's uproarious "Last Supper" sketch (written for their TV series but vetoed by censors, later performed with Eric Idle in Monty Python Live at the Hollywood Bowl) is well-performed with British comic (and later filmmaker) Jonathan Lynn. Other show highlights include Peter Cook's monologue about choosing to be a miner rather than a judge and "So That's The Way You Like It," the aforementioned Shakespeare send-up ("I most royally shall now to bed/ To sleep off all the nonsense I've just said"). The full company performs "The Lumberjack Song" at the end of the show, which makes for a nice wrap-up. Pleasure At Her Majesty's takes too long to get going, and has its share of dead spots, but it's a solid laugher nonetheless.

The second amnesty show, The Mermaid Frolics, was a lower-key affair that was videotaped for television. The series first bore its true name for the 1979 show, The Secret Policeman's Ball, which was filmed (again by Graef) and released to theatres. Palin and Jones again joined Cleese for the show, as did Cook and Rowan Atkinson, then a relative newcomer; he nearly steals the show, performing a pair of very funny solo pieces, holding his own against Cook (and developing an early version of his "Bean" voice) in the "End of the World" sketch, and filling in for Graham Chapman in the ridiculously funny "Four Yorkshiremen" sketch (a terrific study of one-upsmanship). Cleese and Palin also turn in a very strong performance of the "Cheese Shop" sketch.

But in many ways, Peter Cook shines brightest in this installment. His duet with Cleese, "Interesting Facts," opens the show, and it's a side-splitter; "Pregnancy Test" is brief, but bone-dry and quite funny. For the first time, the show also includes music interludes (an idea that would nearly take the program over in subsequent years), notably by Pete Townshend, whose acoustic performances of "Pinball Wizard" and "Won't Get Fooled Again" (with classical guitarist John Williams) are considered by many to be one of the precursors to the "Unplugged" gimmick of the 1990s.

Ball eschews the documentary angle and is consequently short and sweet; its only real flaw, as cinema, is in Graef's tendency (in this and the earlier film) to shoot the performers too close up. This kind of comedy (particularly when taped live) tends to play best in medium and wide shots; Graef, by shooting in so tight, sometimes seems to be crowding the performers. Aside from that complaint, Ball is a fast-paced, funny performance document.

The show got even bigger in 1981, with more musicians and comics recruited for The Secret Policeman's Other Ball. This time, the film version was shot on 35mm and directed by Julien Temple. Cleese and Chapman are the only Python members this time around (Michael Palin does a funny bit during the closing credits, shilling merchandise, but it was shot after the show), and (coincidentally or not), the music sequences are much stronger than the comedy sketches this time around. Some of the new British comedy talent--like stand-up comic Alexei Sayle and impressionist John Wells--don't translate at all, and their (long) pieces slow the film down considerably. Which is not to say that there aren't good bits--Cleese, Chapman, and Pamela Stephenson's "Clothes Off!" sketch is strange, dirty, and funny; Alan Bennett and John Fortune's "Men's Talk" is a ribald delight, and the "Card Dance" scene (with Cleese, Chapman, and Tim Brooke-Taylor) is exquisitely simple, but utterly hilarious.

Many of the music performances are quite strong. Sting (then still fronting The Police), with only the accompaniment of his own guitar, does a lovely, mournful rendition of "Message In A Bottle," while Jeff Beck and Eric Clapton contribute a rousing version of "Further Up The Road" and Phil Collins turns in a surprisingly strong performance of "In The Air Tonight." Sting leads all of the show's musicians in the big finale as the super-group The Secret Police (a funny play on the name of his current band), delivering an electrifying cover of Dylan's "I Shall Be Released." Overall, Other Ball has some amazing sequences, but those viewing it today might be more likely to reach for the chapter skip button than in earlier shows.

Cleese was reportedly unhappy with the growing equality of music and comedy in the benefits, and bowed out of organizing the next show, The Secret Policeman's Third Ball. He also only made a brief cameo appearance, turning over the bulk of the comedy to a younger generation of funny folks. Earlier shows were performed for three or four evenings, but for this 1987 show, there were two nights of music and two nights of comedy, with the best of both edited together for Ken O'Neill's 1987 film version. Of the comedians, Steven Fry and Hugh Laurie (nearly two decades ahead of starring as House) fare the best; their "Hedge Sketch" is a ridiculously funny piece of meta-comedy (undoubtedly the show's comedic highlight), and their presentation of the "Silver Dick Award" to Cleese has some chuckles. Lenny Henry also scores some laughs as old-time blues singer "Lowdown Left-Handed Dirty Dog." But the interview interludes with American comic Ruby Wax are just plain irritating, and the new crop of British stand-ups (like Phil Cool and Ben Elton) are unfunny and forgettable. Oh, and bring me the head of whoever had the bright idea of involving Emo Phillips in this thing.

As with the previous show, the music wins out. Kate Bush, Joan Armatrading, Jackson Browne, and Lou Reed all contribute memorable numbers, with Nik Kersahw and Duran Duran providing some enjoyably trashy period pop. The best musical moments, however, are a pair of acoustic guitar duets (a lovely bluegreass number and an instrumental cover of "Imagine") by Mark Knopfler and Chet Atkins. Third Ball is wildly uneven (it is clearly the weakest of these five films), but it has its moments.

Promised a return to the show's comedy-heavy roots, Cleese returned in 1989 for The Secret Policeman's Biggest Ball, co-directing the stage presentation with Jennifer Saunders (of Absolutely Fabulous). Palin returned with him, and the show opens, in a nice bit of symmetry, with the "Dead Parrot" sketch--this time with an altogether different (and unexpected) ending. Cleese and Palin also trot out a satisfying performance of the "Argument Clinic" sketch, though their attempt at a new piece ("Biggles Goes To See Bruce Springsteen") doesn't quite work. Adrian Edmondson (The Young Ones) fills in the Michelangelo role opposite Cleese in "The Last Supper" quite nicely, while he and Robbie Coltrane do a splendid piece re-enacting the famous stunt of "William Tell." And, for the first time, we have a Python scene enacted entirely by younger, non-Python actors, with Coltrane, Lenny Henry, and Jimmy Mulville performing the hilarious "Crunchy Frog" sketch.

The show's other big news was the long-in-the-making reunion of Peter Cook and Dudley Moore; their sketches are both quite funny, though "One Leg Too Few" (from Beyond The Fringe) is clearly the better of the two. French & Saunders get some laughs, particularly with their uproariously unsuccessful "Improvisation," and Fry & Laurie also return to great effect. The same cannot be said for Henry, whose two solo pieces are painfully unfunny; likewise Ben Elton, whose long set of stand-up is almost entirely laugh-free. Aside from those transgressions, this taped-for-television version of Biggest Ball is quite good (provided you can overlook director Mike Holgate's myriad of cheesy TV transitions between bits).

Biggest Ball marked the end of the so-called "Second Wave" of Secret Policeman's benefits; later Amnesty benefits have picked up the mantle and raised money with the help of British comics who grew up watching the original shows (Eddie Izzard has been particularly active in keeping the shows going). What's more, the original shows are widely credited with influencing later all-star benefits (Bob Geldof appears in Other Ball; four years later, he would organize "Live Aid," the biggest benefit of them all).

Shout! Factory's set puts two films on each disc, with the third disc holding Biggest Ball and a feature-length bonus documentary. Each disc is packaged in its own clear plastic ThinPak case, with a simple cardboard slipcase housing the three individual cases.

The content is the good news in this set; the video is the bad news. There are plenty of reasons to see The Secret Policeman's Balls, but the quality of the picture is not one of them. The shows are in varying conditions, but none are terribly good; these films simply weren't well-preserved, and if any restoration was done for this set, I'd hate to see what they looked like beforehand.

The oldest film, Pleasure At Her Majesty's, looks the worst; its full-frame image is in very rough shape, full of dirt, lines, and scratches (and even a couple of digital drop-outs in the early documentary segment). The rough grain of the film is especially noticeable in the performance clips, as is some minor flickering. Ball, Other Ball, and Third Ball are all in anamorphic 1.78:1 widescreen, and while the images aren't nearly as dirty, they still show quite a bit of age--faded colors, heavy grain, halo effects, and black levels that are all over the place. The full-frame Biggest Ball was shot for television on analog video, with all of the expected issues: ghosting, chroma noise, comet trails, and general ugly softness.

The audio presentation is certainly better than the video, though that isn't saying much. All of the films are presented in acceptable but merely adequate 2.0 stereo, though the early films often suffer from occasional crackling in the track (particularly during the quieter musical performances). For whatever reason, the audio does improve considerably for the two later shows, with the stereo track much fuller and richer in the music performances. Again, the track does the job, but it feels a little thin during some of the early musical interludes.

Shout!'s sure hand for extra features doesn't fail them here, with plenty of bonus goodies spread across all three discs. First off, each and every film gives the viewer the option to "Play with Introduction and 'After the Ball' Remarks"by Martin Lewis, co-creator of the series and co-producer of the first four balls (a title he rattles off several times in the set). I recommend watching them this way; Lewis provides brief but informative background on each show, and context of what transpired between them. He also provides Audio Commentary for the first three films, and while his tracks and informative, one can get most of the pertinent dirt in the intros and outros.

Disc one also includes three sketches from the second, smaller Amnesty Benefit, The Mermaid Frolics: Cleese and then-wife (and Fawlty Towers co-writer/co-star) Connie Booth in the "Bookshop" sketch (5:48), Cook in "E.L. Wisty From Beyond the Veil" (4:27), and Cleese and Jonathan Miller in "Words and Things" (5:30). All three are enjoyable, but one wishes that the entire special would have been included (as it was in the British DVD set), since it was clearly available and is, for whatever reason, in better shape than any of the other shows. The disc also includes a Deleted Scene (4:18) from Secret Policeman's Ball of Townshend performing "Drowned", and a vintage TV spot (featuring Cleese, Cook, and Connolly in a riff on the "Interesting Facts" sketch) for the comedy album of Secret Policeman's Ball.

Disc two's bonus section begins with a Deleted Scene (2:57) from Other Ball, in which Sting does a terrific rendition of "Roxanne." Next is "The Other Awards" (7:11), a vintage featurette covering the world premiere (and "award ceremony") of Other Ball (and narrated, if my ears didn't deceive me, by Eric Idle).

The disc's remaining extras are all related to the U.S. releases of the early films. Other Ball was the first big hit for young upstart distributor Miramax, and boss Harvey Weinstein was already showing the editorial inclinations that would later earn him the nickname "Harvey Scissorhands"; the company decided that their version of Other Ball would mix the best (and most accessible) pieces of Secret Policeman's Ball and Other Ball. When it was a hit, they used the leftover scraps (and some pieces from the first two shows) to create the U.S.-only release The Secret Policeman's Private Parts.

All of this is explained by Lewis in the helpful "Between The Balls" commentary (7:05), in addition to how those films impacted Amnesty America's fundraising activities. We then have many short extras related to the sliced-up American releases: the throwaway Opening Sequence (:46); the Trailer for the U.S. Version (1:55), a no-clips, Python-pushing tease in which Graham Chapman delivers a funny monologue straight to camera; the TV Spot (:32), which is basically a shortened, slightly altered version of the trailer; "Ban The Ball!", a vintage TV news clip about the controversy over the TV spot (clearly stoked by Miramax), and "Private Parts!" (1:45), showing the cheapo 80s opening credits and cartoon sequence for the spare-parts sequel. All are of passing interest, though the disc I checked had an irritating glitch wherein, no matter which extra you selected, the disc continued into the next one as if the "Play All" option had been activated.

Disc three has only one bonus feature, but it is a good one. "Remember The Secret Policeman's Ball?" (1:16:59) is a 2004 documentary by good old Roger Graef (director of the first few films), and it is very nicely done. It features interviews with most of the major players (many of the musicians--Sting, Geldof, Collins--and the comedians, including all of the surviving, participating Pythons). The new interviews are presented in crisp widescreen, and the entire package is well-cut and informative, particularly in providing helpful context for some of the pieces.

The Secret Policeman's Balls has a wealth of terrific material and important, rare footage; one only wishes the films weren't such eyesores. The poor quality of the audio and (especially) the video, and the unevenness of some of the performance films, keeps this one merely in the Recommended category, though fans of Monty Python (and British comedy in general) will clearly be able to look past its aesthetic flaws and enjoy the riches inside.

Jason lives in New York. He holds an MA in Cultural Reporting and Criticism from NYU.