It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World

What a night, what a night.  Last evening (12/4), around 600 fans of the movie It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World crammed into Grauman's Egyptian Theatre in Hollywood.  The occasion was a special 39th anniversary screening and panel discussion of one of the longest, richest comedies ever made.  And what fans they were of it, as expertly produced and directed by the late Stanley Kramer.

One of the interesting things about this movie is that a certain amount of its humor flows from having some knowledge of the actors involved.  For example, there's a scene where Phil Silvers — cast in his eternal role as an avaricious con-artist — is in desperate need of a ride somewhere, lest he lose out on his shot at the $350,000 everyone is chasing after.  (I'm assuming here you already know the plot.  If not, basically, it's that that amount of money is buried somewhere and one person after another gets caught up in mad pursuit of it.)

So Silvers flags down a car and as it pulls up, we see that its driver is Don Knotts.  Enormous laugh.  Even before anything is said or done to Mr. Knotts by Mr. Silvers, the audience is laughing…because they know that Phil Silvers is a predator and Don Knotts is prey, and the match-up just seems so perfect as to be funny.  It's like a joke where the set-up is so good, you're chuckling long before you get anywhere near the punch line.  Mad World is full of such moments in which the audience is one notch ahead of the film.

Tonight, some in the house knew the film so well, we were two notches ahead.  In the above scene, we were laughing before we even saw that the driver was Don Knotts.  We all knew it would be Don Knotts because we all knew the movie.  So we laughed before we saw Don and when we finally did, we applauded him.  Matter of fact, most of those present applauded the first on-screen appearance of each great comedian and character actor, which meant a lot of applause.

Some of it was for folks who were actually present.  Not all those who were announced showed…but Sid Caesar, Jonathan Winters and Peter Falk were there at the beginning, and Mickey Rooney, Marvin Kaplan, Stan Freberg and Edie Adams were there throughout.  The latter four participated in a panel discussion that followed the screening, where they were joined by casting director Lynn Stalmaster, editor Robert C. Jones, agent Marty Baum and one of the stuntmen.  (I am embarrassed that I missed the stuntman's name, especially since I enjoyed talking with him afterwards.  But he was the person who, though Caucasian, donned a rubber mask and doubled Eddie "Rochester" Anderson.)  [UPDATE, later: It was Loren Janes.]

Here are some general thoughts and revelations from the discussion…

Marvin Kaplan revealed that he replaced Jackie Mason (!) who was originally slated for his role as one of the gas station attendants.  I'd never heard that before.  I also didn't know that Arnold Stang's stunt double was Janos Prohaska, who later gained fame playing animals (like Andy Williams' bear) and creatures in science-fiction movies.  I worked with Janos many years ago and never heard him mention this.

Marty Baum, an agent who represented many of the stars of the film, told a very funny story about how Stanley Kramer wanted character actor Ed Brophy for a key role.  Baum didn't represent Brophy but, smelling a commission, fibbed that he did and almost made a deal, only to find out later than Brophy had passed away.  The punch-line to the anecdote was Kramer shouting, "You sold me a dead actor!"

Mickey Rooney said…well, I'm not sure just what Mickey Rooney said, except that he loved It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World,which was a total departure from his past comments on the movie.  He also told us his life story and mentioned something about Humphrey Bogart and Clark Gable being dead.  Basically, Mr. Rooney seemed to be doing the Dana Carvey impression of him, only not as well.

The stuntman whose name I have thoughtlessly forgotten [Loren Janes] said that the stunt crew — maybe the best ever assembled for a movie — loved working for Stanley Kramer.  At one point, a clip Kramer showed on a TV talk show was found to be a few seconds over the length that the Screen Actors Guild allows without additional fees to its members.  Kramer was ordered to make a substantial payment to all the stunt folks, all of whom tried to decline the extra bucks.  Kramer insisted…so when they received the checks, the stuntmen all endorsed them over to Mr. Kramer and sent them back.

Stan Freberg told the tale of trying to direct the commercials for the film — a difficult task, for it involved getting the actors to stick to his script.  At one point, watching Freberg floundering in the attempt, Kramer wandered over and told him, "Now you know what I go through."

And of course, there were other fine tales that were a part of the discussion.  Kramer's widow, Karen Sharpe Kramer, co-hosted and accepted an award on his behalf.  She spoke of how pleased her late husband — known primarily for dramatic films with a "message" — would have been proud that so many people turned out for his one grand attempt at comedy.

It really was a nice evening.  It had been too many years since I'd seen the film with a live audience and I enjoyed it far more than any home video viewing.  I had forgotten just how funny most of those people were in the thing.  You remember the stunts and the "big" gags and the special effects…but the most wonderful part of it all is watching great comic actors wringing every dram of humor out of their roles — the little "takes" by Milton Berle, the perfectly-timed facial tics of Sid Caesar, the voluminous smile of Phil Silvers, etc.  I know a similar kind of film (The Rat Race, which I didn't see) was recently attempted but I think it's futile.  There simply aren't the kind of great character thespians now that they had then.  Sad but true.

My Pal Lennie

There's an article about It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World here and another one over here.  The first of these pieces notes…

Karen Sharpe Kramer said her husband also broke cinematic ground with the project, presenting it in the then-new process of Cinerama, and keeping the show going during the intermission with an interactive feature — the playing of scripted police radio transmissions over speakers located throughout the theater.

The male voice on many of those faux police calls was that of the aforementioned Lennie Weinrib, who is also heard in many places during the film.  He's most identifiable as the voice on the police radio that announces that the cabs are chasing Captain Culpeper, and dubbing for the stuntmen at the end who play fire fighters.

Lennie may be better known to you from his many on-camera appearances which ranged from Magic Mongo to The Dick Van Dyke Show.  On the latter, he was the guy who phoned Rob, got him to dismantle his phone and told him to "Scream like a chicken!"  He was in two other episodes of that, as well, and just about every sitcom of the sixties and seventies.  His voice appeared on hundreds of cartoon shows, and many a Krofft production.  He was the voice of H.R. Pufnstuf, for example.  A talented, funny man…and a regular reader of this website, I'm happy to say.

Secret Love Diminished

I continue to savor the late night black-and-white programming on the Game Show Network, though I've Got a Secret hasn't been nearly as enjoyable since they ran out of episodes hosted by Garry Moore.  His replacement, Steve Allen, was extraordinarily gifted at many things but game show hosting was not among them, and the contrast points up how good Moore was.  With Garry, the game was the most important thing and he knew how to keep it going and when to drop a hint.  He also made the panel look good and, if and when those two causes had been served, he might drop in his own funny comments.  On the Steve Allen Secret, the priorities were exactly reversed.  You can even sense the occasional annoyance of panelist Henry Morgan, who clearly did not like finding himself on The Steve Allen Show.

When I get a moment, I'll write something here about Henry Morgan, who probably deserves a lot better than to be remembered only for game shows.  He was, like Fred Allen, a brilliant radio humorist who never quite found a place in television to do what he did best.  But he was brilliant on radio to the extent of inspiring countless others.  To cite but one example, a lot of the running gags in Harvey Kurtzman's seminal MAD were right off the Morgan program.  Can anyone remind me of some others before I write my big piece on him?

Tonight!

From Army Archerd's column in yesterday's Daily Variety

Stars of Stanley Kramer's "It's a Mad (4) World" skedded to attend the 43rd anni screening at the Egyptian Wednesday include: Jonathan Winters, Sid Caesar, Stan Freberg, Buddy Hackett, Mickey Rooney, Edie Adams, Madlyn Rhue, Carl Reiner, Peter Falk, Don Knotts, and Marvin Kaplan.  The screening's hosted by Karen Sharpe Kramer, American Cinematheque, TCN and MGM/UA.

I'll be there tonight.  And I'll be back here with a full report after what I expect will be a very long but wonderful evening.  And before anyone asks: That's most of the surviving cast members but not all.  Among those who are still with us who won't be with us are Arnold Stang, Dorothy Provine, Barrie Chase, Cliff Norton, Jerry Lewis, and Charles Lane.  Also, Lennie Weinrib — who supplied many of the uncredited voiceovers — is alive and well in Chile, of all places.  (Hey, Lennie!  Hope you're okay.  Haven't heard from you lately.)

Cut to the Chase

Oh, my God. I hope you didn't watch — here's the entire, official title — Comedy Central Presents The NY Friars Club Roast of Chevy Chase.  If you did, you saw one of the all-time great train wrecks in television history.  If you didn't and you enjoy feeling ill at ease, it airs again December 6, 7, 14 and 24.  As a piece of entertainment, it's truly amazing — a "comedy roast" that is largely devoid of humor, affection or even big stars.  Steve Martin, Nathan Lane and Martin Short appear via a segment taped elsewhere but otherwise, Mr. Chase is called an untalented, drug-addicted moron by a lot of folks, few of whom have any real connection to him.  Talk about shows that make you wonder how they could have happened.

One assumes Chevy was chosen for the honor because someone figured that superstars would flock to participate.  They didn't.  The Martin/Lane/Short piece looked like a later drop-in engineered by producers who knew they didn't have much of a line-up based on those who actually showed up for the event.  Of all the performers who worked with Chevy on Saturday Night Live, the only ones in attendance were Al Franken, Laraine Newman and roastmaster Paul Shaffer.  Beverly D'Angelo was there from the Vacation movies…but that was about it for Chase co-stars.  Instead, the dais was padded out with comedians who barely knew him…and didn't have anything particularly funny to say about him.  Gilbert Gottfried and Kevin Meaney, who have been known to be hilarious elsewhere, were among the many who apparently performed but were edited from the tape.  Others, like Richard Belzer, were included but obviously had large chunks of their speeches trimmed in the editing room.  Given what stayed in, you have to wonder about the material that couldn't be used.

But the big squirm was seeing Chevy Chase, who seemed to hate every moment of it — and who wouldn't?  A line of strangers and slight friends paraded to the podium to announce that he was a doper, a jerk and a performer in crappy movies…and very little of this was said with the kind of loving twinkle we used to see when Don Rickles told Sinatra his voice was bad.  Past entries in this series (Hugh Hefner, Drew Carey, etc.) featured a lot of character assassination but you got the idea that most of those on the premises really liked the guy they were smearing.  Not here.

What could possibly have been on Chevy Chase's mind when he agreed to this?  He'd been roasted once before at the Friars so he knew the drill.  He must have had an inkling that it wouldn't be an evening of Danny Aykroyd and Goldie Hawn reminiscing about what a kick it was to co-star with him.  Throughout, the roastee sat wearing sunglasses that failed to mask his discomfort, and feigning slight laughter at an occasional line.  He looked for all the world like a man undergoing a painfully slow root canal, sans Novocaine.

Folks have wondered how he could have accepted certain movie scripts and the gig on his short-lived talk show…but at least those can be explained by money.  Someone was shoveling millions of dollars at him.  So why sit for this public stoning?  Given the books and articles that have recently portrayed him in a bad light, you have to guess he either had some terrible, terrible advice that this would help his image…or that it's all true, and he felt the need for some public humiliation as a form of punishment.  Either way, the result is pretty much the same.

In the House

And here we are, back home again on the left coast.  Can I mention one last time what a terrific gathering the Mid-Ohio Con is?  My thanks for the invite to its operator, Roger Price, who really knows how to do things right.

There's unpacking to do, e-mail to catch up on, and I'm still operating on Ohio time.  So I'll just confirm that the Garry Trudeau interview is Tuesday night/Wednesday morning and Wednesday night/Thursday morning on Up Close.  Nighty-night.

From Ohio

The gent on the right is my longtime partner, Sergio Aragonés.  The man on the left is Al Feldstein, whose many achievements in the world of comic art were noted here yesterday.  In fairness, I should mention Mr. Feldstein's one moment of utter shame: In 1962, when Sergio wandered up to the MAD offices, he was an out-of-work, needy cartoonist, newly arrived in this country and, so far, unable to make much of a buck selling his pantomime cartoons.  When he left the MAD offices, he was one of The Usual Gang of Idiots, about to begin a streak of appearing in every issue, and becoming one of the world's most honored drawers of silly pictures.  (Well, to be accurate, he missed one issue of MAD since then due to a bad case of flu — but only one.  Even with one miss, it's still an amazing record.)  Feldstein and his associates decided that day in '62 that the man with the mustache had something special to offer the world of humor.  And Sergio's been fooling them ever since.

The photo was taken a few hours ago, during the closing moments of Mid-Ohio Con here in Columbus, Ohio.  As they say, a wonderful time was had by all.  I enjoyed spending time with, among others, Jeff Smith, Dick Ayers, Tony Isabella, Dick Giordano, Paul Ryan, Steve Lieber, Dan Mishkin, Tom Mandrake, Bob Ingersoll, Roger Stern, Thom Zahler, Paul Storrie, Don Simpson, Alan Burnett, and I'm probably leaving out Someone Really Important.  So please forgive me, Someone Really Important.

Oh, I know: Len Wein and Marv Wolfman were here and they specifically asked to be mentioned on this website.  Okay, guys.  Now what?

Anyway, at the risk of repeating what I said yesterday, this is a great con.  If you can make it next year, do so.  I'm certainly going to try to make it.

Correction

The line about Steve Marmel quoted in a recent item here was in Fortune, not Forbes, as I wrote when I originally typed it.  As you'll note, I've corrected it.  Also, Andy Ihnatko points out to me that the piece in that magazine wasn't so much a review of Steve as an assertion that "edgier" comics like Marmel and Bill Maher were having trouble getting booked on mainstream TV since 9/11.  That's a little different, but it's still wrong.

From Ohio

Fire alarms aside, everyone is having a wonderful time here at Roger Price's annual Mid-Ohio Con in snow-flocked Columbus, Ohio.  Matter of fact, the snow began falling just as a fire alarm forced the brief evacuation of the hall.  It was, so far, the only complaint about the con and some thought it was fun, seeing all those dealers in their shirt-sleeves, waiting outside for the All Clear.

I'm having a great time seeing friends, moderating panels, and autographing comics that I'd rather forget.  This is, as usual, one of the best-run conventions in the nation…and I've been to enough at the other end of the spectrum to know the difference.

Today, I interviewed Alan Burnett (producer-writer of many Warner Brothers cartoon shows, including Batman: The Animated Series) and, following Alan, Al Feldstein.  The latter Al was the editor and writer — and occasionally, an artist — on the great EC horror, crime and science-fiction comics.  Later, he edited MAD Magazine for 29 years but we were so busy talking about EC, we never got around to that.  He is now retired and doing amazing paintings, many of which we viewed in a slide show he presented.  You can get a nice sampling over at his website, www.alfeldstein.com.

The convention today was mobbed.  Tomorrow, they're expecting a bit less of a turn-out so maybe I'll make it all the way through the dealer's room.