Tag: Mel Brooks

• Monkees vs. Macheen: “It’s a Nice Place to Visit”

  “Just a Loudmouth Yankee, I went Down to Mexico” I’m glad season two started with such a bang. “It’s a Nice Place to Visit” was shot May 30-June 2, 1967, except for the musical number, “What Am I Doing Hanging Around?,” which was shot August 2, 1967 as part of the Rainbow Room musical numbers.…

  lawlerd

  March 25, 2017

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  “What Am I Doing Hangin’ Round”, Davy Jones, James Frawley, Mel Brooks, Micky Dolenz, Mike Nesmith, Nacho Galindo, Nate Esformes, Pedro Gonzalez Gonzalez, Peter Tork, Peter Whitney, Rainbow Room, The Beatles, The Three Amigos, Treva Silverman, western genre

• Vintage Cable Box: The Woman in Red, 1984

  “Come and get it, Cowboy.” The Woman in Red, 1984 (Gene Wilder), Orion Pictures I had not planned to cover The Woman in Red until next year, but Gene Wilder’s passing prompted me to look at the movie again. As far as I know, the movie did not premiere on HBO until 1986 when we…

  lawlerd

  August 30, 2016

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  1984, Blame It On Rio, Blazing Saddles, Charles Grodin, comedy, Everything You Always Wanted to Know About Sex But Were Afraid to Ask, Gene Wilder, Gilda Radner, Joseph Bologna, Judith Ivey, Kelly Le Brock, Mel Brooks, Richard Pryor, romance, romantic comedy, Stevie Wonder, The Producers, The Woman in Red, Woody Allen, Young Frankenstein

• Vintage Cable Box: “Silent Movie, 1976”

  “Non!” Silent Movie, 1976 (Mel Brooks), 20th Century Fox In 1976, Mel Brooks was the King of Comedy.  A year-and-a-half previous, he had directed two of the greatest movies (let alone comedies) ever made in Blazing Saddles and Young Frankenstein.  The creative world was his.  He could’ve followed up those two incredible gems with any…

  lawlerd

  June 29, 2016

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  1976, 20th Century Fox, Anne Bancroft, Bernadette Peters, Burt Reynolds, Dom DeLuise, Engluf and Devour, golden age, Harold Gould, Hollywood, Liza Minneli, Marty Feldman, Mel Brooks, movie studios, Paramount Pictures, Paul Newman, Ron Carey, sexy, silent films, Silent Movie, studios

• Vintage Cable Box: “To Be Or Not To Be, 1983”

  “Listen, if I don’t come back, then I forgive you for anything that happened between you and Lt. Sobinski.  But if I do come back, you’re in a lot of trouble!” To Be Or Not To Be, 1983 (Mel Brooks), 20th Century Fox The story goes that Mel Brooks sought out the widow of Ernst…

  lawlerd

  June 27, 2016

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  1941, 1983, Alan Johnson, Anne Bancroft, Carole Lombard, Charles Durning, comedy, concentration camp, Ernst Lubitsch, George Gaynes, George Wyner, Germans, Jack Benny, Jews, José Ferrer, Mel Brooks, musical, Nazi Germany, original movie, remake, romance, Tim Matheson, To Be Or Not To Be, war movie, Warsaw, World War II

• Vintage Cable Box: “The Twelve Chairs, 1970”

  “I hate people I don’t like!” The Twelve Chairs, 1970 (Ron Moody), Universal Marion Corporation While ostensibly labeled a “Mel Brooks comedy”, The Twelve Chairs, the under-appreciated 1970 follow up to The Producers, and essentially a lively chase across the then brand-new Soviet Union, the narrative follows devastatingly dramatic and tragic narrative beats. Ippolit Matveyevich…

  lawlerd

  June 22, 2016

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  1970, Bolshevik Revolution, comedy, Communism, Dom De Luise, Frank Langella, historical comedy, history, humor, Mel Brooks, Ron Moody, Russia, Socialism, Soviet Union, tragedy

• Vintage Cable Box: “History Of The World Part One, 1981”

  “But we Romans are rich. We’ve got a lot of gods. We’ve got a god for everything. The only thing we don’t have a god for is premature ejaculation… but I hear that’s coming quickly.” History Of The World Part One, 1981 (Mel Brooks), 20th Century Fox The first impression you get when you’re looking…

  lawlerd

  June 20, 2016

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  1981, Andrew Bergman, Blazing Saddles, comedy, Dom De Luise, Gregory Hines, Harvey Korman, historical comedy, history, History Of The World Part One, humor, Madeline Khan, Mary-Margaret Humes, Mel Brooks, Orson Welles, Richard Pryor, Ron Carey, Young Frankenstein

• Vintage Cable Box: “Jekyll And Hyde – Together Again, 1982”

  “Will a proctologist please report to the Emergency Room?  There’s an asshole waiting!” Jekyll And Hyde – Together Again, 1982 (Mark Blankfield), Paramount Pictures Just before the end credits roll, the camera sweeps over a London cemetery to find the grave of Robert Louis Stevenson. In his coffin, Stevenson’s bones literally turn as he curses…

  lawlerd

  May 16, 2016

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  1982, analogy, Bess Armstrong, Close Encounters Of The Third Kind, cocaine, comedy, drugs, horror, horror comedy, Jaws 3D, Jekyll And Hyde – Together Again, Jerry Belson, Mark Blankfield, Mary Reilly, Mel Brooks, Michael Leeson, Michael McGuire, Monica Johnson, sex comedy, Stephen Frears, Steven Spielberg, The House Of God, The Odd Couple, The War Of The Roses

• Vintage Cable Box: “The Man With Two Brains, 1983”

  “As far as I’m concerned, you’re the most complete woman I’ve ever known. All my life, I wanted women with great bodies, women who were “tens.” Now, for the first time, I’m aroused by a mind.” The Man With Two Brains, 1983 (Steve Martin), Warner Bros. I make it a grueling and somewhat slavish practice…

  lawlerd

  April 18, 2016

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  1983, cable television, Carl Reiner, comedy, David Warner, George Gipe, homage, House Of God, James Cromwell, Kathleen Turner, low budget, Mel Brooks, Merv Griffin, Paul Benedict, science fiction, Sissy Spacek, Steve Martin, The Jerk, The Man With Two Brains