My Favorite Year (1982)

If you like The Dick Van Dyke Show, or clips you may have seen from Sid Ceasar's shows, or if you are a fan of Peter O'Toole or if you are a fan of old swashbuckling movies, you will love this movie. This movie was made by alumni of the great Ceasar's shows and like the Dick Van Dyke show is a look at that era. In this case a week when an Errol Flynn -ish character came to co-star.

Synopsis:
We begin by following Benjy Stone (Mark Linn-Baker)describing 1954, his favorite year that he spent as part of the writing staff of the King Kaiser comedy cavalcade and specifically the week his idol Alan Swann (Peter O'Toole) was going to guest-star on the show. A major turning point for him, he says. We meet the other writers and see clips from Swann's alleged movies then we cut to Swann waking up next to a beautiful, very young girl and promptly going into a horrible hacking cough. We also meet the object of Benjy's affections, not thus far reciprocated, King Kaiser's secretary K.C. Downing (Jessica Harper). We meet producers, including the great songwriter and sometime actor, Adolphe Green. Then we meet the great King himself (Joseph Bologna) as he berates the head writer's monologue in front of the whole crew. Finally, the great Alan Swann shows up to set only to pass out. The decision is made to replace him but Benjy argues against it. King relents but assigns Benjy to watch him for the week, Swann has to be at every rehearsal, sober, or Benjy pays. That's when the fun really begins.

The key to this movie is the casting. With any actor less larger-than-life than Peter O'Toole it would be hard to believe that all that follows really could happen, but O'Toole makes you believe it. You believe his escapades and you believe his humanity. He not only takes Benjy on drunken hijinks throughout the city he dedicates himself to helping him win over K.C. and even agrees to dinner with Benjy's relatives in Brooklyn. We also learn some of the self-loathing that just may be part and parcel of the alcoholism - Swann, it seems has a daughter he has been unable to face for years. The final face-off comes the night of the show when Swann find out for the first time that the show is done live. He panics and leaves threatening everything that he and Benjy have built over the week. Mostly the movie is very, very, funny with each character cast perfectly. The director is the actor Richard Benjamin of Goodbye Columbus fame.

We really get the feel of early television and all that it entailed.There are little things that harken back to the Sid Caesar show specifically, for example, there is a writer that only whispers comments to his colleague who then voices them. This allegedly hearkens back to the behavior of Neil Simon on the Ceasar show who would speak so softly someone else would have to repeat them to the room. This type of inside baseball makes the movie all the more authentic and funny.

Director ............................................................Richard Benjamin

Writers .............................................................Norman Steinberg
              ...........................................................Dennis Palumbo

Alan Swann ......................................................Peter O'Toole
Benjy Stone ......................................................Mark Linn-Baker
K.C. Downing ..................................................Jessica Harper
King Kaiser ......................................................Joseph Bologna
Sy Benson ........................................................Bill Macy
Belle Carroca ...................................................Lainie Kazan
Alice Miller ......................................................Anne De Salvo
Herb Lee .........................................................Basil Hoffman
Uncle Morty ....................................................Lou Jacobi
Leo Silver .......................................................Adolph Green
Alfie Bumbacelli ..............................................Tony DiBenedetto

All About Eve (1950)

One of my all time favorites and, in my opinion, among the cleverest screenplays ever written. When I think of the word witty I think of this screenplay - would that we could all communicate this well in real life.

Spoiler free synopsis:

Bette Davis stars as Margo Channing, a Broadway star, when being one really meant something. She's at the top of her career and is madly, mutually in love with her regular director who happens to be 8 years younger than her. The director is played by Bette's soon to be real life husband Gary Merrill. Anne Baxter plays Eve, the young girl who's fascinated (perhaps too much so) with Margo and manages to insinuate herself into her life as well as those of her friends. Only Thelma Ritter, playing Birdie, former Vaudeville performer turned personal assistant to Margo, sees through her at least at first.  Other characters include the author of most of Margo's hit plays, Hugh Marlowe, his wife, Celeste Holm, and a delightfully evil theater critic, George Sanders.

Although the setting here is the theater with all the drama that implies I would guess that most people have worked with an Eve-esque brown-noser at some point. That's what gives this movie a universal appeal, so don't worry if you aren't that into show business stories - this could happen anywhere. As noted above, the screenplay is a gem. No doubt you have seen, in some Oscar montage at least, Bette speaking its most famous line which is only the beginning of the bon mots in this screenplay by Joseph Mankiewicz, who also directed. Mankiewicz was one of the truly great Hollywood auteurs of all time. (his great nephew is now a host of Turner Classic Movies so the hollywood gene continues.) For extra laughs there is Marilyn Monroe's first notable performance. She plays and actress friend of George Sanders.