David Lean

After a what has been a very long break between blogs on my all time favorite comedies, I am changing directions to talk about a director whos work I have long admired.

For painting a canvas and delivering a sweeping epic, there is no equal. I give full marks to Cecil De Mille, and William Wyler, and John Ford, no one brought to the screen more majestic tapestries of visual and viceral beauty. With the best camer work, and the best musical score, and it helps having Maurice Jarre score your master works, or Bernstein, the stage is set.

Plus which, he drew out the very best in actors, and gave them the type of leeway to develop characters to their fullest. William Holden says his work on The Bridge on the River Kwai surpasses anything he did before or after. Peter O'Toole was a veritable unknown, and he owned every scene in Lawrence Of Arabia, not easy pitted with Omar Sharif, Anthony Quinn or Jack Hawkins. Sharif was at his finest in Dr.Zhivago, and John Mills delivering an oscar performance in Ryan's daughter.

For all the acting nominations, what stands out is the way Lean makes use of the soundtrack and the landscapes, as if he was laying every brushstroke down himself.

It is as if he has this great visual in his mind, he sees O'Toole atop a train willing the Arabs to overthrow the Turks, and he just has to recreate that mental picture.

He was able to pull together all star casting in each movie , right up to A Passage to India.

Comedy tours America

# 19

Lost In America. A film about finding yourself through discovering your country at the same time. Married couple decides to become free and easy after Albert Brooks quits his job after turning 30 and realising he has not lived enough before settling down. He and wife Julie Haggerty buy a motor home, and begin a cross country search for inner youth.

The discover that they are really much safer and happier with their boring lives, but it takes losing their "nest egg" of savings in Las Vegas to bring them back to reality.

Brooks tries to convince Casino owner (Garry Marshall) that he would get huge publicity if he would give back the money his wife has gambled away. Marshall explains to Brooks the hard facts of life, and Brooks has go from odd job to odd job to make ends meet.

# 18

Animal House

The insides of college frat houses is explored with this all out assault on decency.

The gang is on double secret probation, oh that John Vernon, one mean Dean. Great cast with John Belushi hamming it up as the load-mouth Bluto. When the guys are down and out, what do they do, "Road Trip", escaping college reality, actual learning, and responsibility.

Numerous great gags pulled, and they are mostly directed at "The Establishment" and the elite students, both male and female, and no one is safe, not even the livestock !!

# 17
Blazing Saddles

Give Mel Brooks an inch, and he takes the entire wild wild west, and then makes it wilder. A true farce on the sheriff saving the town from extinction, as the good citizens of Rock Ridge are shocked that new sheriff Bart, played by Cleavon Little is a black man, but begin to see beyond his colour and work with him and fast gun Gene Wilder to thwart Harvey Korman and his collection of evil doers.
Great farce, and some real slapstick action, especially when the movie breaks onto the NBC back-lot and reality confronts lunacy.


# 16

My Cousin Vinny

What makes this movie worthy of the 16 slot is perhaps it's levels, and by that I mean we have the 2 young kids trying to understand why the justice system in the deep south does not resemble New York, or even New Jersey. They are mistaken for a robbery on the basis of a false identification and a similar looking car. Flimsy , and it would be easily turfed out in a New York minute, but this is not New York.

The other level this comedy hits is the age old struggle between male and female, (Marissa Tomei and Joe Pesci), and until Pesci hits his stride as smooth talking lawyer it is a he said she said cat fight for dominance. The supporting cast of Fred Gwynne as the southern judge who painfully deals with Pesci's foul mouth, his NY accent, and his choice of clothing add a lot of spark, as Pesci is not just battling for the 2 kids, or for his girlfriend, he is battling the judge, and hoping that the judge does not discover he has no license to practise law.

His "grit" analysis and Tomei's cross examination are likely the best scenes to watch.

The 2 Yutes ( what's a Yute asks Gwynne ) seem resigned to their fate, one lawyer who can't defend them, and one keeps getting contempt charges.'

Not your typical court room.

Once I shot an Elephant in my pjamas

How he got in there, I'll never know.

Okay, onto my great love, old movies, new movies, just plain movies.

Pass the popcorn, dim the lights, and turn off your cellphone and I will begin this new venture with my top 25 comedies I have seen. Doesn't count if I have not seen the movie, so if I would appear to have missed one, it's likely I have not seen it yet. We'll start off with movies 25 backward to 20, with the countdown continuing.

# 25
Victor Victoria , a film directed by Blake Edwards, and starring Julie Andrews, James Garner and Robert Preston. Amongst others cast were Lesley Ann Warren and ex footballer Alex Karros

A comic farce, " a woman playing a man who is a female impersonator ", well Julie Andrews explained better, but is it has all the ingredients of a John Sturges screwball comedy. Robert Preston does some his most finest work since The Music Man. James Garner plays a Chicago racketeer trying to find out if he's a she, or she's a he. Confused, you should be, it's a twisty plot and a wonderful look at Paris in the 30's.

# 24
One , Two, Three... Trust Billy Wilder to take East/West Berlin, Jimmy Cagney, and crazed Russians and turn it into an international farce. One of Cagney's rare comedic efforts, and with Wilder's direction he puts his stamp on this comedy. Cagney, in a tour de force performance plays a Coca Cola executive who would love to do such a great job that he and his wife get either the cushy London job, or at least out of West Berlin. Great fun, and some very witty dialogue delivered by a stern and proper Cagney.

# 23
Defending your Life, with Albert Brooks and Meryl Streep in the key roles, with great support from Lee Grant and Rip Torn as rival attorneys. Brooks plays the role of a man who has been avoiding facing major fears all his life, and an unfortunate car accident sends him to Limbo, a halfway house , neither Heaven, nor Hell, where he gets a chance to defend his life choices, in a court room setting. If he is deemed ready, he will be sent forward , whatever that means. He meets up Meryl's character and he falls for her, but realises his chance a true love is doomed if he cannot defend his life. Watch for 2 great sketches at the Hall of History and a suishi bar.

# 22
The Wrong Box. Is a wonderful British comedy with the 1960's comic duo of Peter Cook and Dudley Moore, with a young Michael Caine as rival cousins, with aging family members who look to inherit a fortune, but must be the lst surviving heir of a tontein. They both belive each other's uncle has passed on, but try to collect the family treasures and is done with the usual classic British flair.

# 22
My Favourite Year,,, Poor Benji Stone hs the honor to trying keep British Film Star Alan Swann out of trouble, and for the most part sober, so he fulfill his commitment to a 1950's live comedy television show. Looks like a "Your Show of Shows", or Milton Berle all rolled into on, with Joe Bologna starring as King Kaiser. Peter O'Toole steals every scene he's in and Mark Lin Baker ( Benji Stone ) is the frustrated comedy writer trying get Swann to learn his lines, and stay out of jail. The best prop in the whole thing is Live TV, and the way it was done 50 years ago, and it just brings all those shows back to life.

# 21
Silver Streak... no list of my faves should have at least one Gene Wilder/Richard Pryor buddy film. Thrown in evil Patrick MaGoohan, Jill Clayburgh, Scatman Crothers and Ned Beatty, and the backdrop of Toronto's rail yard, forged artwork, murders in dark tunnels, and a 3 day train trip from LA to Chicago. Best moments are left to Wilder as he is confronted with challenges at every turn, heck he cannot even stay on the train !!! Pryor is also wonderful as a car thief who ends up getting mixed of with Wilder. The duo were so good together, they went onto make more buddy pictures. Watch for Wilder hopelessly trying to milk a cow in hopes of soliciting help from a female farmer.

# 20
Midnight Run ... a buddy picture starring De Niro and Charles Grodin. Grodin plays a mob accountant who is turning states evidence, but skips bail, and is hunted and located by De Niro, and h ahs to get him to LA in 72 hours. The 2 are handcuffed together, and Grodin treies to chnge th chain smoking, foul mouth De Niro and are then hunted themselves by mobsters who want to silence Grodin. De Niro rarely ventures into comedy, and plays his role straight up a s a beleaguered bounty hunter.

More to come soon......keep watching ...