Authors: JEFFREY COHEN

Some Like It Hot-Buttered (35 page)

BOOK: Some Like It Hot-Buttered

13.72Mb size Format: txt, pdf, ePub

ads

Directed by Mel Brooks, screen story and screenplay by Gene Wilder and Mel Brooks. Starring Gene Wilder, Peter Boyle, Marty Feldman, Teri Garr, Kenneth Mars, Cloris Leachman, and Madeline Kahn.

The sound of the cat hit by a dart, the howl of the werewolf, and the voice of Victor Frankenstein (in the quick sonic flashback) are provided by Mel Brooks. There were also scenes in which the voice of Beaufort von Frankenstein, Freddie’s grandfather, was provided by John Carradine, but sadly, they were cut.

Gene Wilder and Mel Brooks were nominated for an Academy Award for the screenplay for
Young Frankenstein
. Instead, the Academy gave the award to Francis Ford Coppola and Mario Puzo for
The Godfather, Part II
. Not nearly as funny.

Horse Feathers
(1932)

Directed by Norman Z. McLeod, screenplay by Bert Kalmar and Harry Ruby, S.J. Perelman, and Will B. Johnstone. Starring the Marx Brothers (Groucho, Chico, Harpo,
and
Zeppo), Thelma Todd, and David Landau.

When
Horse Feathers
was released, the Marx Brothers appeared on the cover of
Time
magazine for the only time, standing in a garbage can. The following year, when they made
Duck Soup
, considered by Marx purists to be their best movie, it was roundly panned. Go figure.

The first American artist to tour the Soviet Union after the United States recognized the country in 1933 was Harpo Marx. He scored a resounding success, although he claimed not to understand anything about the production in which he appeared. Harpo also claimed to have smuggled secret papers out of the country in his socks. This is unconfirmed to date.

The Thin Man
(1934)

Directed by W.S. Van Dyke, screenplay by Albert Hackett and Frances Goodrich, from the novel by Dashiell Hammett. Starring William Powell, Myrna Loy, Maureen O’Sullivan, Nat Pendleton, and, of all people, Cesar Romero (playing a character named Chris Jorgenson).

Actually,
The Thin Man
of the title refers to the victim, not Nick Charles. But Powell and Loy went on to star in five more
Thin Man
films, despite the victim never showing up again. It didn’t seem to bother anybody.

The role of Asta, the wire-haired terrier (in the novel, a schnauzer), was apparently played by the same dog in all six
Thin Man
films (but not on the radio or television series of the same name). While the dog was credited as “Skippy” when he appeared in
Topper Takes a Trip
, his name was changed to “Asta” when he started appearing in the
Thin Man
movies. Source:
www.iloveasta.com
(no, I’m not kidding).

Help!
(1965)

Directed by Richard Lester, screenplay by Charles Wood, story by Marc Behm. Starring the Beatles (John Lennon, Paul Mc-Cartney, George Harrison, Ringo Starr), Leo McKern (later to play Rumpole of the Bailey), Eleanor Bron, Victor Spinetti, and Roy Kinnear.

It was on the set of
Help!
that George Harrison first encountered Indian musicians playing sitars. Thus was the history of popular music created.

Some Like It Hot
(1959)

Directed by Billy Wilder, screenplay by Billy Wilder and I.A.L. Diamond, story by Robert Thoeren and Michael Logan. Starring Tony Curtis, Jack Lemmon, Marilyn Monroe, Joe E. Brown, and George Raft.

In 2000, the American Film Institute voted
Some Like It Hot
the funniest American film ever made. Among the other ninty-nine films in its top one hundred comedies:
Young Frankenstein
,
Horse Feathers
, and
The Thin Man
.
Help!
did not make the list. It is not an American film. In case you’re wondering, number one hundred is
Good Morning, Vietnam
.