I have to credit blog reader Leighton in making me aware of this adaptation of the Kurt Vonnegut novel, called the worst film ever made by many reviewers. It features Jerry Lewis and Madeline Kahn playing a pair seemingly mentally deficient twins as well as their "beautiful people" parents. It's discovered that the twins aren't actually retarded, but are geniuses with the capacity to solve all the earth's problems. Themes of rejection, prejudice and short sighted lack of compassion for humanity run through the film, disguised by comedic gags and wacky goings-on.
This film fails on many levels, though there are flashes of brilliance in some of the performances. The impressive cast also including Marty Feldman, Jim Backus, Merv Griffin, Pat Morita, Virginia Graham and the voice of Orson Welles (uncredited).
Above are two trailers for the film, uploaded to YouTube by akiragp. It's available on VHS and there was a European release on DVD, but it's a region two, so won't play on some American players.
Obscurity factor: 9 (on DVD in Europe, limited distribution at time of release, not well remembered)
Today is (was) my birthday, so this particular film seems to fit the bill. It's a charming coming of age story about Francis Geminiani (Alan Rosenberg), the son of a gregarious, working class Italian father (Robert Viharo) living in South Philly. Francis is home for the summer from Harvard where he attends on scholarship. He's having some trouble dealing with the culture clash of Harvard vs. South Philly, so when two of his friends from school arrive for a few days unexpectedly he's not quite sure what to do about it. The neighbors are like family - Lucille (Moreno) is his father's girlfriend, and a prim motherly type, but she has a secret, Bunny Weinberger - nee Murphy (Kahn) is the single mother next door who used to be a chorus girl, her style is loud and obnoxious, but, like all the people in the film, her heart is huge. Her son Herschel (Timothy Jenkins) is awkward in oh, so many ways with his asthma, fascination with the history of public transportation and his eagerness to please. Into this mix comes Judith and Randy Hastings, two wealthy WASPs traveling the country on their summer vacation. Judith has a crush on Francis, but he can't return the favor because he thinks he has a crush on Randy.
Based on a play called Gemini by Albert Innaurato, this film has a lot of charm and good feelings to it. All the characters care a great deal about each other, even if they show it by shouting and hitting and the poignant coming of age of Francis is handled with a light touch.
The scene above is a turning point for Bunny. She's decided she's had enough and is going to end it all. It was uploaded to YouTube by rppr666. Disregard the incorrect aspect ratio. Madeline Kahn isn't fat in the film. This isn't available on DVD yet, but it was released on VHS and can still be found. It can also be watched in its entirety on YouTube, but the uploader has disabled embedding. Click this link to watch: http://youtu.be/46E-tRiXV2M
Obscurity factor: 9 (not well known, not on DVD, available on YouTube)
Hot off the success of Murder By Death, Neil Simon and Robert Moore put this little film together. It extrapolates on the Humphrey Bogart style character that Peter Falk played in the film and pairs him with a bevy of saucy ladies from femme fatales to girls Friday. The film is a parody of the best of the genre, including Casablanca, The Maltese Falcon, Chinatown and even A Streetcar Named Desire.
The production values are very high, it's beautifully shot in smoky rooms with dramatic lighting and the costumes and sets are nicely rendered. They provide the setting for some deftly handled, if at times silly comedy. Also look for Ann Margaret, Stockard Channing, Sid Caesar, Marsha Mason, James Coco, Phil Silvers, Fernando Lamas and John Housman.
In the clip above, Eileen Brennan plays a remarkably funny lounge singer, uploaded to YouTube by SueSnell. The film is available on DVD. The poster above is available from MoviePosterShop.com.
Obscurity factor: 7 (available on DVD, has cult following, but isn't as well known as Murder by Death)
One of my favorite performers is Madeline Kahn. She was the subject of the first post on this blog in The Dove. Her comic timing and delivery was second to none, and she was also a classically trained singer. Her film roles, beginning with my favorite film, What's Up Doc, were many, varied and always left an impression. She also left her mark in television, but never found success with her own situation comedy, though she tried twice, that I know of. Her first attempt was in 1983 with Oh, Madeline and her second was this series called Chameleon. In it she plays Violet, a girl who is chronically board with working. She takes and leaves jobs at the drop of a pay check. In this pilot, she's concerned about her mother, who she's afraid is being taken at a weight clinic. So, after abandoning her latest job at a vet, she attempts to get an egomaniacal consumer advocate (George Wyner) to investigate by hilariously bluffing her way into his office. The bluff doesn't work, but it's witnessed by the owner of the station (Henry Jones) who says that if she investigates the clinic herself and finds they're bilking the public he'll personally guarantee that they'll air it on the show. Will she land the job of her dreams?
Chameleon was a summer replacement series, and came and went very quickly. So few people remember it that it isn't even listed on IMDB. It's not available on DVD and to my knowledge, can only be seen on YouTube thanks to an upload by lobbiesforme. Above is part one of the pilot.
Obscurity factor: 10+ (not on DVD, largely forgotten, not listed on IMDB)
Do you stay up late to watch the TCM Underground films? Are you always looking for something new from the past? Then we'd probably get along just fine. This is the blog for you. Here you'll find all sorts of unexpected films, the ones that slipped through the cracks of history and are now laying forgotten, under the floorboards of fandom. Subscribe and discover the wonders of Ingrid Bergman in The Visit, Joan Crawford in Della and Rosalind Russell in Rosie. I'm sure many of you will know more about the films than I do, but I'll try and provide some new and unexpected information to keep you entertained.
To begin with let's talk about Madeline Kahn. Oh, how I wish she was still alive! She was one of those actresses that I wished I could have worked with in some capacity. Her light touch was tempered with an off beat sense of humor that was just a few steps down from Andy Kaufman's. She went to Hofstra University, on Long Island, graduating in 1964 with a degree in speech therapy. Her first major film role was Eunice in What's Up Doc, which is one of my favorite films, and hardly obscure to anyone who has a modicum of film knowledge. However, two years before that she was part of an obscure short film parodying the work of legendary Swedish film maker, Ingmar Bergman called De DΓΌva or The Dove. Ms. Kahn plays a lesbian with designs on the young ingenue. The film was produced by George Coe, Sidney Davis and Anthony Lover. You may remember Coe from the film Kramer vs Kramer as the head of Dustin Hoffman's agency. I was so pleased to finally get a chance to see the film when Tbirdsof1965 uploaded it to YouTube earlier this year. Watch for Madeline Kahn calling a cigar a "phalika symbol" as if that's what the Swedish translation of the word was.
Obscurity factor: 8 (not available on DVD or VHS, never shown on television, full version available on YouTube)
Look for more posts soon on the best films you never saw!
