Spam my Comedy Countdown ballot!

Noir Time

04-05-22

The Out of Towners (1970)
Director: Arthur Hiller

With its crackling dialogue that flows like melted butter, you can hear Neil Simmons' wititudes coming through the screen and out of the mouths of our wayward couple.

I liked this! I usually like Neil Simmon based movies and Jack Lemmon is a plus too. But what really sold me on this film was the lead actress, who I'm not real familiar with, Sandy Dennis. She was effervescent and very natural...She popped like champagne everytime she spoke. She was the perfect balance to Jack Lemmon's neurotic overdrive behaviour...No wonder his character had an ulcer!

I loved the on-location shooting in New York City, circa 1970. The Big Apple plays a supporting character and functions as an antagonist as the couple from Ohio end up with no money and no place to stay, all thanks to a series of mishaps. Think of The Out of Towners as a cross between Planes, Trains and Automobiles (1987) and After Hours (1985).

@Captain Terror Thanks for the comedy recommendation.

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Citizen Rules

Noir Time

04-05-22

Originally Posted by Captain Steel

Hope you don't mind me going on (but I like to analyze these things)...

I don't mind at all! I mean this is just a fun little thread, so have fun!

On the comedy dynamic: with Martin & Lewis movies it was usually a brotherly type relationship, with Dean acting as the older brother watching out for his somewhat dimwitted, hyperactive, na�ve and child-like charge (Lewis).

But in Boeing Boeing the relationship (or team, if you will) has a completely different dynamic.

There's really no straight-man / comic-relief set up. Both characters seem equally sophisticated (and thus adept at scheming or aiding & abetting scheming). They are somewhat similar characters - both jet-setting playboy types. Thus their friendship seems much cooler (less intimate) than the old Martin & Lewis scenarios. These guys seem more like associates who get caught up in each other's schemes than they do close friends.

That's why this film is atypical, character-wise, for Jerry Lewis, while Tony Curtis has played very similar "shallow & scheming" characters in many of his movies.

Wow such a build up, I hope I'm not over hyped for this

I do have the movie ready to watch tonight, as long as the video file looks OK. I tried watching a movie the other night but no sound. So fingers crossed.

Captain Steel

Msg

"Lois, I never lie."

04-05-22

Originally Posted by Citizen Rules

Wow such a build up, I hope I'm not over hyped for this

I do have the movie ready to watch tonight, as long as the video file looks OK. I tried watching a movie the other night but no sound. So fingers crossed.

I don't want to overhype because, while "interesting" for some of the things I pointed out, it's not really that good as a comedy. (Just focus on Thelma & the beauty of the stewardesses while having some beers, that'll make it a little better.)

Good luck with the technical issues!

Captain Terror

Fouke-a-delic

04-06-22

Originally Posted by Citizen Rules

The Out of Towners (1970)
Director: Arthur Hiller

@Captain Terror Thanks for the comedy recommendation.

Yay, glad you enjoyed it!
Grew up watching that with my family, and to this day we're still quoting it all the time.

gbgoodies

You can't make a rainbow without a little rain.

04-06-22

Originally Posted by Citizen Rules

I don't dislike Peter Falk, but as a kid his character Colombo kinda freaked me out. As an adult I'm not really a fan of his, though I can't say I've seen many of his films. He wasn't the reason I didn't like Murder by Death...The reason I didn't like The Great Race was Jack Lemmon's grating on the nerves performance and usually I like Lemmon.

Yeah, The Great Race was a different type of role for Jack Lemmon, and probably far from his best role.

Some Jack Lemmon movies that I would recommend are:

Phffft (1954)
It Should Happen to You (1954)
The Notorious Landlady (1962)
Irma la Douce (1963)
Good Neighbor Sam (1964)
How to Murder Your Wife (1965)
The War Between Men and Women (1972)

__________________
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If I answer a game thread correctly, just skip my turn and continue with the game.
OPEN FLOOR.

gbgoodies

You can't make a rainbow without a little rain.

04-06-22

Originally Posted by MovieGal

You guys crack me up! @gbgoodies @Citizen Rules and @Captain Steel..we all are about the same age and you 3 love old movies more than I do. Don't get me wrong, there are some I adore but I don't watch them all the time.

It's my mother's fault. She was always watching old movies on TV when I was a kid, so I grew up watching them with her.

gbgoodies

You can't make a rainbow without a little rain.

04-06-22

Originally Posted by Citizen Rules

I watched one of these recommendations last night, good comedy too! I'll post about it later today.

I just got Boeing, Boeing (1965), as soon as I seen it was a 1960s films about airlines it caught my interest. I like movies on planes as much as submarines

And the Pan Am stewardess are a big plus! I watched a good comedy about three Pan Am stewardess called Come Fly With Me (1963)...so I was pretty excited when I read about Boeing, Boeing.

I watched Boeing, Boeing for the 1960s Countdown, and it was a pretty funny movie. I should probably rewatch it for this countdown too.

I haven't heard of Come Fly with Me, but I added it to my watchlist for this countdown.

gbgoodies

You can't make a rainbow without a little rain.

04-06-22

Originally Posted by Death Proof

The Birdcage
Night Shift

I'll second The Birdcage and Night Shift.

gbgoodies

You can't make a rainbow without a little rain.

04-06-22

Originally Posted by Captain Steel

Boeing Boeing is unique for several reasons.

It's Jerry Lewis's only team-up movie during his post Martin & Lewis period, but with a different partner: Tony Curtis (and the only movie I believe the two ever made together).

Tony Curtis had a couple buddy / team-up movies, but he was never part of any kind of consistent team (unlike Lewis).

This seemed like it would have been a perfect Martin & Lewis movie if the two had remained together (and perhaps it was even intended as such).

The theme probably would not be allowed today as it focuses on Curtis capitalizing on his girlfriends' jobs as stewardesses to carry on multiple, adulterous relationships.

Lewis is a different kind of "patsy" here as he is not the entirety of comic relief as he usually is in most his other movies, but rather falls somewhere between comic-relief and straight man as he gets caught up in the lascivious juggling schemes of his overly-amorous friend - with that friendship itself being tenuous at best.

I'm not really a fan of Jerry Lewis, but there are some good Dean Martin comedies:

Bells Are Ringing (1960)
Who Was That Lady? (1960)
All in a Night's Work (1961)
Robin and the 7 Hoods (1964)
How to Save a Marriage and Ruin Your Life (1968)

What a Way to Go! (1964) - This is really more of a Shirley MacLaine movie, but in addition to Dean Martin, it also stars Dick Van Dyke, Robert Mitchum, Gene Kelly, and Paul Newman.

Captain Steel

Msg

"Lois, I never lie."

04-06-22

Originally Posted by gbgoodies

Not to mention his four Matt Helm movies!
Which, despite being action movies that semi-satirize the Bond films, I'd also add them to a list of recommended comedies as they are very tongue-in-cheek!

I especially like Matt Helm poo-pooing a Frank Sinatra record that's played during a romantic scene, then him picking up an album clearly marked "Dean Martin" and saying something like "Now that's more like it" when Dean's voice starts singing... (breaking the 4th wall).

Last edited by Captain Steel; 04-06-22 at 03:31 AM.

MovieGal

希

04-06-22

Originally Posted by Captain Steel

Someone classified Baby Doll as a comedy?
I think they made a mistake.

Baby Doll is a very uncomfortable film to watch - probably more uncomfortable than Lolita.

It's weird too - two middle-aged men (and rather homely ones at that) at odds with each other while lusting after a girl barely out of her teens - who acts much younger (thus the title) but who is already married to one of the men with a pre-set date to consummate their marriage on her 20th birthday!

This movie is rife with age-inappropriate sexual fetishes & innuendo, disturbing scenarios and scenes bordering on abuse as it always seems right on the edge of violence.

While this film is hard to look away from (like a car crash), it is chaotic & conflicting on an emotional level. It always left me with a bad taste in my mouth, like I just watched something that was covertly vulgar and morally dirty. Thus, I never thought of it as a comedy.

Maybe I should watch it..I like unsettling films and I have to admit the last time I watched it was in the 70s. Markf helped me remember the title. I just remember that Karl Mauldin was in it and her in the baby crib.

Diehl40

Msg

Registered User

04-06-22

Just a few
Charlie Chaplan, City Lights
Still Crazy
Play it Again Sam Woody Allen

Ernst Lubitsch
Shop Around the Corner
To Be or Not to Be Jack Benny and Carol Lombard

Last edited by Diehl40; 04-20-22 at 05:27 PM.

Citizen Rules

Noir Time

04-06-22

Originally Posted by Diehl40

Just a few
Charlie Chapman, City Lights
Still Crazy
Play it Again Sam Woody Allen

Ernst Lubitsch
Shop Around the Corner
To Be or Not to Be Jack Benny and Carol Lombard

Thanks Diehl for the recommendations. I'm a huge fan of Carole Lombard and Shop Around the Corner & To Be or Not to Be are most likely going to place high on my comedy ballot.

I've been wanting to see more Woody Allen so I'll watch Play it Again Sam. I'd like to watch City Lights too, as that's one of Chaplin's big films that I haven't seen yet.

Citizen Rules

Noir Time

04-06-22

Originally Posted by Captain Terror

Yay, glad you enjoyed it!
Grew up watching that with my family, and to this day we're still quoting it all the time.

My wife had seen it and said it was good when I told her what movie we were watching that night. Myself, never heard of it until you mentioned, glad you did.

Citizen Rules

Noir Time

04-06-22

Originally Posted by gbgoodies

Irma la Douce is probably a lock for my comedy ballot. I'll take a look at those other Lemmon films you mentioned and try to watch some of them, then I'll post here about them.

Originally Posted by gbgoodies

Come Fly with Me isn't the funniest movie in the world but I liked it. Oh and it's the only movie I've seen that has Lois Nettleton in it. She was in the Twilight Zone episode Midnight Sun.

Originally Posted by gbgoodies

I've seen What a Way to Go! (1964) it's a good one and I've been meaning to watch it again.

gbgoodies

You can't make a rainbow without a little rain.

04-07-22

Originally Posted by Captain Steel

I like the Matt Helm movies too.

It's been a while since I watched them, but if I remember correctly, the scene with the Sinatra song is in the first movie. It's while he's in the car with a woman, and they're listening to the radio. When the Sinatra song plays, he says something like "Turn this off. He's terrible.". When she changes the station, Martin's song is playing. Then he says something like "Now this guy can sing.".

gbgoodies

You can't make a rainbow without a little rain.

04-07-22

Originally Posted by Citizen Rules

Come Fly with Me isn't the funniest movie in the world but I liked it. Oh and it's the only movie I've seen that has Lois Nettleton in it. She was in the Twilight Zone episode Midnight Sun.

Coincidentally, Come Fly with Me was on TCM this morning, so I DVRed it. I'll probably watch it this weekend.

Citizen Rules

Noir Time

04-07-22

Originally Posted by gbgoodies

Coincidentally, Come Fly with Me was on TCM this morning, so I DVRed it. I'll probably watch it this weekend.

Oh cool, after you watch it maybe you can post your thoughts here? I'd like to hear your thoughts.

BTW count me as a fan of the Matt Helm (Dean Martin) spy movies.

Citizen Rules

Noir Time

04-07-22

Boeing, Boeing (1965)

Yahoo! I loved this movie. It was funny and for once I even liked Jerry Lewis as his performance was way more restrained, sort of like he did in The King of Comedy. Tony Curtis is an actor I like the more I see of him and this was a good role for him too. Of course Thelma Ritter had all the best lines and with her sarcastic quips she stole the proverbial show.

I equally enjoyed all three actress who played the three different stewardess. It was unique for a movie to cast a French, a German and a British actress to play women from those countries. I guess that's why their accents sounded so authentic. Enjoyable movie.

@ Captain Steel thanks for the recommendation.

gbgoodies