Thanks to everyonefor picking great noms! I loved most of them and even the ones I didn't care for I'm still glad they were nominated as otherwise I would've never seen them.
Fun Hof, Siddon...I'm glad you came up with this idea
Good friends in their private lives, the pairing of Jack Lemmon and Walter Matthau for the feature roles in “TOC” was a happy choice. Lemmon was a replacement for the role of Felix which had been played by Art Carney in the Broadway stage production. My guess is that Carney had been too well known as a slob character, Ed Norton, against Jackie Gleason’s Ralph Cramden in the long running The Honeymooners skits from “The Jackie Gleason Show”, and its subsequent series. So they needed someone who could be more acceptable as fastidious and emotional for the film. Also, Lemmon had worked with Matthau in 1966’s The Fortune Cookie, in which their onscreen mixture was first rate.
But for a few scenes (the ballpark, the NYC streets) the movie could have utilized a single set, just as in the play. The premise was set up more believably than in the later sitcom: Oscar (Matthau) decides to offer temporary domiciling to Felix (Lemmon), since Felix has become homeless and very distraught over his recent separation from his wife. Felix had bungled several suicide attempts, and Oscar along with other friends are certain Felix will keep trying. The plot moves along full of sight gags and one-liners, until each of the two men end up absorbing some of the other’s traits, leading to a satisfying happy ending.
The public was primed for a picture such as this in 1968. Males were for the most part portrayed as strong and masculine in the movies, so to have a sensitive, fussy, beta male type character portrayed, playing off of a brutish, wisecracking slob was unique, and also hilarious. A story such as this would not be not likely be produced today. The two men would probably be homosexual. So this was a refreshing and hilarious comedy satire which became a hit.
Happy to hear that you enjoyed The Odd Couple. I consider it one of the best comedic movies ever made ( for my tastes anyway) and I never tire of re watching. Even when I know the wisecracks that are coming, I' m still lol. Both leads are played to perfection, with terrific timing .
Some of my favorite scenes/lines include:
Sandwiches that are either very new cheese or very old meat.
Oscar finding little notes on the pillow that say FU -which takes Oscar days to figure out that FU means Felix Unger
Of course- a favorite indelible scene:
"That's not spaghetti it's linguini"
(Splat) .
"Now it's garbage."
And the best - I can't quote it b/c it's when Felix is embarrassing
( even) Oscar in the diner with the
' moose calls' to clear out his sinuses.
Lmao.
And no, it likely couldn't be made
today, b/c jmho - with rare exception, I don't think you'd find the writers and performers with this level of skill and dedication to make such a delightful comedy ( and as they say:"Dying is easy; comedy is hard.") . It's both highbrow and lowbrow ( but without being crass) humor in perfect balance. Two gifted actors who have superb chemistry , not to mention the brilliant script writing.
I know this movie may not be to everybody s taste, but it sure is an A lister to me. Glad you liked it as well @GulfportDoc.
And enjoy your next baseball game without an interrupting telephone call
I decided to watch a pair of Mel Brooks films, Young Frankenstein and Blazing Saddles.
The first thing you notice watching these two films back to back is Brook's versatility. Both films were released in the same year yet they take very different styles of humor. Saddles is more about craming as many jokes in as possible while Young Frankenstein the humor comes from scenes. One film jumps from bit to bit while the other lets the scenes play out naturally and the humor comes in at different points.
I think Blazing Saddles works well as a farce and had it just been that I think I would have been slightly disappointed by it. Truth is I think I only laughed at about half of the jokes, and some of the stuff just didn't age well. Young Frankenstein on the other hand I didn't laugh once but I had a smile on my face the whole time. I suppose my love of old horror films added to the experience.
So when ranking these films which do you go for...well for me it's pretty easy. In Saddles I only really liked one of the characters
He's just such a magnificent bastard I think chews the scenes and steals the show from the leads Wilder and Little. I think and this may sound blasphemous but I think Gene Wilder's character was unnecessary and that Cleavon Little should have been the main force. I think Little works better as the Sanjuro-esque character without the
buddy using his wits to outsmart the townspeople.
For Young Frankenstein I just loved the ensemble so much
The Boyle/Hackman is just such a great exercise is comedic timing and irreverence that you can still get away with today. And the final thing that pushes Young Frankenstein ahead of Blazing Saddles is how the shot compositions were made. It just has such a timeless look to it, where this might be Brook's most well shot film as you can tell he really loved the original and paid great homage to the style of the 30's.
...
And no, it likely couldn't be made
today, b/c jmho - with rare exception, I don't think you'd find the writers and performers with this level of skill and dedication to make such a delightful comedy ( and as they say:"Dying is easy; comedy is hard.") . It's both highbrow and lowbrow ( but without being crass) humor in perfect balance. Two gifted actors who have superb chemistry , not to mention the brilliant script writing. ...
Great line, and pretty true as well. In fact I'm in the camp that holds that good comedians can be good dramatic actors, whereas good dramatic actors are hard pressed to be convincing in comedy.
This is THE quintessential romantic comedy of the 1950s, and it fired on all four burners. Not a frame or gag was missed, nor a story line nor scene was left unresolved. It was a runaway hit that year, and deservedly so. It stars Doris Day, Rock Hudson, Tony Randall and Thelma Ritter
Written in the 1940s by four contributors: Russell Rouse, Maurice Richlin, Stanley Shapiro, and Clarence Greene, the original play was bought by a production company owned by Doris Day’s husband, Martin Melcher, who took it to Universal Pictures for development.
The story was both attractive, naughty, and appealing. A female interior decorator Jan Morrow (Day), who is incensed by bachelor composer Brad Allen’s (Hudson) playboy life --exposed via encroachment on theirshared party line-- is eventually tricked into a romance by Allen who has since masqueraded as a Texas rancher in order to fool her into a romance. She eventually learns of the ruse just as the composer is about to bed her, exposed by one of her clients who is also a close friend of Brad’s (Randall as Jonathan Forbes), who has been unsuccessful with marriage proposals to Jan. Along the way we’re treated to hilarious scenarios by the chief protagonists and also by Jan’s maid (Ritter), and the elevator man (Allen Jenkins).
Doris Day’s ravishing outfits, hair styles and makeup radically revised her reputation of a girl next door type, catapulting herinto a sexy bombshell in the space of 100 minutes. It also rescued Rock Hudson’s career from decline following several box office bombs-- notablyA Farewell to Arms. It was also his first comedy role, which was long overdue, owing to the fact that he was never more than a medium weight dramatic actor. Also Tony Randall was thrust into comedic stardom from a career chiefly in television, and also from the popularity of the Jayne Mansfield vehicle Will Success Spoil Rock Hunter? Randall’s performance is one of the best of his career as the neurotic millionaire who lusts after Brad Allen’s prowess as a playboy, but loves to twist the knife with ridicule when Allen appears to be failing with Jan Morrow.
The series of scenes where Jan suddenly realizes that her Texas Rex has been a clever ruse by her nemesis Brad Allen, along with the subsequent “rescue” of her by Randall’s Jonathan Forbes, are some of funniest pieces of film in any movie of its type. And the scenes would be impossible without the superb music score by Frank De Vol.
The film was considered fairly naughty during its era. In fact the title itself was challenged by Melcher, who wanted it changed to “Any Way the Wind Blows”, but co-producer Ross Hunter happily held his ground. The film’s suggestiveness was not totally unusual at the time, but its continuous sexual references and visual hints at sexual contact was fairly ground breaking in 1959. Keep in mind that in the same year, a line in Hitchcock’s North By Northwest had to be dubbed from “I never make love on an empty stomach” to “I never discuss love on an empty stomach”. So Pillow Talk was taking some refreshing risks. Of course all that seems quaint today in light of cinema’s fashionable moral debasement and bottomless noxious film dialogue and action.
Clever, cute and saucy films such as Pillow Talk really can’t be made today, and would be considered woefully anachronistic. Unfortunately we’re probably at a loss because of it.
Rewatched Some Like it Hot, watched Charade and Dr. Strangelove (which I haven't seen since I was a teenager) and will be posting reviews for.
Leaving: Divorce American Style, Pillow Talk, Signing in the Rain and Teacher's Pet left for me to watch and review.
__________________
What I actually said to win MovieGal's heart:
- I might not be a real King of Kinkiness, but I make good pancakes
Stanley Kubrick you beautiful son of a bitch, love how the Kubrick uses the mirror to cover 99% of Miss Foreign Affairs. Anyways Doctor Strangelove was my pick for this hall and I choose this because it is in my eyes a perfect satire. I don't believe Kubrick told a single "joke" in the entire film but it is still hilarious because the humor comes from the situations and the character moments.
If you watch the film with the sound off and ignore all the joke names it's basically a high quality thriller where you have this collective of insane people. Kubrick deserves a ton of credit especially with the conjob he played on George C. Scott famously using the OTT practice scenes rather than what would have been more straight forward ones.
Dr. Strangelove: Based on the findings of the report, my conclusion was that this idea was not a practical deterrent for reasons which at this moment must be all too obvious.
Dr. Strangelove: The whole point of the doomsday machine is lost... if you [President Muffley] keep it a secret! Why didn't you tell the world, eh?!
Can they be viewed as jokes...no but are they hilarious, yup.
[at the booking office, trying to be hired] Joe:What kind of a band is this, anyway? Sig Poliakoff: You gotta be under twenty-five. Jerry:We could pass for that. Sig Poliakoff: You gotta be blonde. Jerry: We could dye our hair. Sig Poliakoff:And you gotta be girls. Jerry:We could... Joe: No, we couldn't!
This, muh lil kiddies, is wha' ya grandma and me useda call: Comedy Gold! That's right, yessiree!
My very first paing of Lemon and Curtis, I was somewhere around 5 or 6yrs with The Great Race. Perhaps even younger. My first time with this, with a love for them for the previous film (that continues to this day), I was around 10, maybe 12 yrs. That initial love resounded and grew. Much like my love for TGR, Some Like it Hot as become a lifelong favorite.
Having been witnesses to the Valentine's Day Massacre in Chicago, our leading musicians are on the lam! Their ONLY escape route? Dressing as broads and hopping a train with an All-Women Band for Florida. Let the hilarity ensue!
Once the set up is primed and our "ladies" board the train, this film wonderfully takes off. This film is filled with fantastic, quick wit and double-meaning gags that deliver each and every time.
We also get Wilder's sharpen style of writing and directing as well as his love for the older films. Using an original gangster, George Raft for the Mob Boss hot on the "high" heels of our heroes. LOVE the tip of the hat scene in the hotel where Raft's character is dealing with a coin-tossing hood and makes a derisive remark about it. When that was his move back in the day. Like so many, that makes me chuckle. Along with the man troubles of being hit upon: the Bellboy for Curtis and the cartoon-sized smile of Joe E Brown playing the millionaire who adores Lemon. Especially this ending featuring them:
And, of course, Marilyn Monroe playing Sugar. She is her usual bubbly deliciousness in so many scenes from on the train to the resort where she dates Curtis playing Cary Grant posing as a millionaire to her iconic I Want to be Loved by You tune.
Oh! and my!
As stated, this is Comedy Gold, a personal favorite, with a very rightful place in this HoF!
Some Like it Hot
As stated, this is Comedy Gold, a personal favorite, with a very rightful place in this HoF!
So what exactly was your problem with the movie...Glad to hear I nominated one you really liked, that's always a big plus for me.
I'm a big fan of Billy Wilder and knew I was going with one of his comedies. I almost went with two of them. Well, maybe in another HoF we'll see more of Billy. The man was a genius with the pen.
So what exactly was your problem with the movie...Glad to hear I nominated one you really liked, that's always a big plus for me.
I'm a big fan of Billy Wilder and knew I was going with one of his comedies. I almost went with two of them. Well, maybe in another HoF we'll see more of Billy. The man was a genius with the pen.
I would, personally, go as far as to say his genius was GOLDEN
I was highly tempted to nominate this and had a very good feeling it would appear by someone. With a fair to good possibility it might be you or even ahwell or gulfdoc.
Also, I sent in my list about two weeks ago, but you didn't reply to my PM. Did you get my list?
I sent in my voting list and didn't get a conformation PM back either, and I'm not listed as completed on the 1st page, so I don't know if he actually seen my PM or not?
I also noticed several of the links go to the wrong reviews. I did tell him that by PM over a week ago, but he hasn't fixed them.
Doctor Strangelove(1964) review by Gideon58 (goes to Edarsenal's review of Whats Up Doc)
Hobson's Choice(1954) review by Ahwell (goes to Gbgoodies' review of Young Frankenstein)
What's Up, Doc? was director Peter Bogdanovich's affectionate salute to the screwball comedies of the 1930's, with a special nod to the Katharine Hepburn-Cary Grant classic Bringing up Baby.
This cleverly constructed comedy, set in San Francisco, stars Barbra Streisand as an aimless kook who is instantly drawn to a nerdy music professor (Ryan O'Neal)while getting involved in an elaborate misunderstanding centering around four look-alike overnight bags that ends up involving half of the city of San Francisco in one of the most amazing chase sequences ever put on film.
Bogdanovich gets it all right here...razor sharp dialogue that moves at a lightning pace (very Howard Hawks) with wonderful set pieces, inspired sight gags, and undeniable chemistry between the two leads (which led to a brief off screen romance).
It has been well-documented over the years that Streisand hated every minute of making this film and didn't think it was the least bit funny, but I still think she shines here and has never looked more beautiful on film and few actors have made nerdiness look as sexy as O'Neal did here. Madeline Kahn makes a hysterically funny film debut here as O'Neal's tight-assed fiancée and there are other funny bits contributed along the way by Kenneth Mars, Austin Pendleton, Liam Dunn, Mabel Albertson and Sorrell Booke. No doubt, one of the funniest movies ever made.
Divorce American Style was an offbeat and surprisingly adult (for 1967) comedy that starred Dick Van Dyke and Debbie Reynolds as Richard and Barbara Harmon, a wealthy California couple who divorce after 17 years of marriage and the adjustments both try to make being single once more.
Smartly directed by Bud Yorkin and co-written by future TV icon Norman Lear, this biting satire died at the box office at the time of release, but is really a well-made and quite revealing comedy about the ins and outs of marriage, divorce, and all the little banalities that these subjects bring about. Yorkin directs with a master hand here...I love the scene right after Richard and Barbara's dinner party where they undress for bed in total silence, getting in each other's way but not saying a word to each other, just "Bury you six feet under" looks. Or when Richard and his best friend (Joe Flynn)and Barbara and her best friend (Emmaline Henry) arrive at the bank at the same time to clean out their bank accounts and safety deposit box...another scene done with no dialogue but so smartly staged, with a series of stills spliced together at lightning speed, dialogue is not needed.
Yorkin places a lot of trust in his hand-picked cast and they deliver the goods, especially considering that a lot of the actors in this film are radically cast against type. The supporting cast is first rate...Jason Robards is surprisingly funny as Nelson Downs, a divorce victim who tries to set Richard up with his ex (the lovely Jean Simmons) so that he doesn't have to pay alimony anymore.
Lee Grant, Tom Bosley, Van Johnson, Eileen Brennan, Shelley Berman, and Dick Gautier also contribute funny bits. A very young Tim Matheson also appears as Richard and Barbara's eldest son. This delicious and slightly twisted comic confection from the mind of Norman Lear is a delight from beginning to end and if you've never seen it, it's worth a look.
Never has the absurdity of war been so bitingly and accurately skewered as it was in the 1964 classic Dr. Strangelove: Or How Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb. a scorching black comedy that sheds a very unflattering but unfortunately probably spot-on look not only at war, but the mental capacities of the people who have their hands on the button.
Director Stanley Kubrick has created his masterpiece here, chronicling what happens when a clearly insane military general who triggers an attack on the Soviet Union that could lead to nuclear holocaust and how the President of the US and his advisers try to deal with the repercussions.
Released during the infancy of the Vietnam War, this film probably ruffled a lot of feathers in Washington, though I don't know for sure, since I was only six year old at the time, but the film can now be cherished for the scathingly brilliant satire that it is.
Kubrick's masterful direction is only surpassed by the brilliantly tongue-in-cheek screenplay by Kubrick, Terry Southern, and Peter George, that was clearly robbed of an Oscar. As for casting, it's perfection...Peter Sellers' powerhouse performance where he effortlessly brings three different characters to life is a joy to behold. Sellers, too, was robbed of an Oscar for Outstanding Lead Actor. My personal favorite of his three characters was President Muffley, who is given the best line in the movie and whose first phone conversation with the President of the USSR (Dimitri) to explain what's going on had me on the floor. Sellers has never made me laugh so hard, and I've seen most of the Pink Panther movies. Kubrick pulled the performance of his career out of Sterling Hayden as the insane general as was George C. Scott's bigoted military leader who is possibly as crazy as Hayden's character. Scott is brash and funny and was Oscar-worthy as well.
Kubrick's attention to detail in bringing this epic story to life works on every level. The black and white photography only adds to the realism and there is impressive art direction and inventive camerawork, but it is the Oscar worthy work by Kubrick, Sellers, Scott, Southern, and George that make this one sizzle and earn it the well-deserved reputation of a classic.
Reply to Topic
for picking great noms! I loved most of them and even the ones I didn't care for I'm still glad they were nominated as otherwise I would've never seen them. 
