Missing No Longer: THE COMIC (1969) and GEORGIA, GEORGIA (1972)

It's been awhile since we had an installment of Missing No More.  Since we last checked in, two more Horn Section favorites have finally found their way to DVD.  Interestingly, each film features one of our favorite performers playing a big-name performer. 

Danny Peary stated that Dick Van Dyke had his best big-screen role in Carl Reiner's THE COMIC (1969).   Always affable in light comedies and musicals throughout the Sixties, Van Dyke played his least appealing character in silent screen legend Billy Bright.  Van Dyke's Bright is afraid to be unlikable onscreen, but has no problem being drunk, vain, selfish, hot-tempered and stubborn while cheating on wife and indispensable co-star Michele Lee offscreen.

Yes, cheating on Michele Lee--Dick Van Dyke is truly playing a douche here!  But while scoring dramatic points effectively, Van Dyke also does a superb job showing his chops as a would-be silent comedian in a montage of "vintage" shorts from Bright's heyday.  Play close attention to NOTHING BUT THE TOOTH and tell me that Stan Laurel wouldn't have loved that ending.  THE COMIC isn't fully realized (the age makeup is embarrassingly bad on Lee and Cornel Wilde, for example) and it's very difficult to watch Bright slowly destroy himself with one terrible decision after another.  In addition, THE COMIC is cringe-worthy on a different level with the effects of Bright's drinking in light of Van Dyke's later revelations about his own alcoholism.

Previously unavailable on home video save for a brief 1994 VHS release, THE COMIC has been given a second life by (who else?) Warner Archive.  Despite a few shortcomings, THE COMIC was clearly a labor of love for Van Dyke and Reiner (who also plays Billy Bright's agent) and every scene radiates the affection both men have for the era depicted as well as their mutual desire to push a few boundaries in the rapidly changing Hollywood of the late Sixties. 

Talk about a film we waited a long time for: I posted a YouTube clip from GEORGIA, GEORGIA (1972) way back in 2008, and reviewed the film the following year.  At that same time, I also had the privilege of participating in a roundtable on GEORGIA, GEORGIA over at Temple of Schlock in celebration of the late, great Diana Sands' 75th birthday.  It's more than fair to say that we're fans of hers here at The Section.

Given her superb work on Broadway (RAISIN IN THE SUN, THE OWL AND THE PUSSYCAT) and her terrific performance in Hal Ashby's THE LANDLORD (1970), it's surprising that Sands had to wait until 1972 for her first top billing on the big screen.  Sadly, GEORGIA, GEORGIA is something of a missed opportunity.  Stig Bjorkman probably wasn't the right director for Maya Angelou's provocative script, and the editing is noticeably crude at times.  Nevertheless, the Swedish film gives us the opportunity to see Diana Sands giving another strong performance playing pop star Georgia Martin, as well as big-screen performances by Minnie Gentry and Roger Furman, two underrated actors who mostly did stage work.  Activist Terry Whitmore also appears, playing a deserter three years after being the subject of the documentary TERRY WHITMORE, FOR EXAMPLE.

Scorpion Releasing is responsible for finally bringing GEORGIA, GEORGIA to DVD. Thankfully they've given us some terrific extras: in fact the extras along warrant the DVD purchase in this case.  Bjorkman and actor Dirk Benedict participate in a very informative commentary track, and Benedict even provided some behind the scenes photos from his personal collection.  Amazon has it, as does DVD Planet and others.

Film Review: DON'T WORRY, WE'LL THINK OF A TITLE (1966)

Welcome to The Horn Section's contribution to The Dick Van Dyke Show blog-a-thon, celebrating the show's 50th Anniversary today and hosted by Ivan Shreve's Thrilling Days of Yesteryear.  If you haven't checked out Mr. Shreve's blog yet, by all means do so--he offers an incredible wealth of information on classic film, television and radio.  I could single out examples, but it would make this intro to the post prohibitively lengthy, so just check out Thrilling Days at your convenience and you'll see what I mean.


And now, without further ado, our feature presentation, which also serves as the latest edition of......

"Why the Hell isn't this on DVD yet?"-- Number 66

DON'T WORRY, WE'LL THINK OF A TITLE (1966 United Artists) Starring Morey Amsterdam, Rose Marie, Richard Deacon, Jack Heller, Carmen Phillips, Henry Corden, Michael Ford, January Jones (no, not that one).  Directed by Harmon Jones.

Amsterdam, Marie and Jones work together in Deacon's diner, which is under surveillance by Soviet spies who are convinced that a "traitor" cosmonaut is hiding out there, since the defector is Amsterdam's doppelganger.  After Deacon is on the receiving end of slapstick incompetence on his birthday, he fires all three employees, and they move on to work at a bookstore Jones has inherited.  The foreign operatives trail them--and counterspies, robbers and beatniks end up tagging along as the communists attempt to apprehend Amsterdam for "Mr. Big" Heller.

Mr. Big!

I first became acquainted with THE DICK VAN DYKE SHOW in daily syndication as a child of the '70's.  From the beginning, my favorite character was Buddy Sorrell, Rob Petrie's slightly sardonic, constantly wisecracking co-worker that Carl Reiner loosely based on his long-time collaborator Mel Brooks. Reiner cast Morey Amsterdam as Sorrell, and the character subsequently lived up to the veteran comic's real-life nickname, "The Human Joke Machine".

A skilled cellist and songwriter whose credits included "Why Oh Why Did I Ever Leave Wyoming" and "Rum and Coca-Cola", Amsterdam was also a standup comedian, author and frequent host on radio and TV.  He was ubiquitous in the latter medium's infancy, starring in his own self-titled series (on Dumont) and for a time hosting NBC's earliest version of THE TONIGHT SHOW, BROADWAY OPEN HOUSE.  At the time that VAN DYKE began its five-year run, Amsterdam was coming off his first dramatic feature role in MURDER, INC.  During the show's run, he further boosted his silver screen profile with the recurring role of Cappy in the A.I.P. BEACH PARTY films and recorded several comedy LP's.

These projects had given Amsterdam (then in his mid-50's) his greatest visibility to date, and during the hiatus preceding VAN DYKE's fifth and final season in 1965, the comic furthered his reputation as a jack of all trades by adding producer and screenwriter to his resume with DON'T WORRY, WE'LL THINK OF A TITLE.   The very first thing we see is the caricature of the star from his early TV ads:

Dick Van Dyke and Mary Tyler Moore didn't join Amsterdam on his summer vacation, but Rose Marie and Richard Deacon signed on as co-stars and Carl Reiner joined much of TV Land in contributing a cameo.  We've all seen the usual results when the supporting players from a legendary TV classic get together to put on a show without the leads--think SANFORD ARMS or AFTERMASH, only this time on the big screen and for three times the running length.  I'd love to tell you that ever-likable renaissance man Amsterdam bucked the "second banana curse" and triumphed in yet another field with an undiscovered cinematic treasure, but I can't.  There's no way to sugarcoat it:  DON'T WORRY, WE'LL THINK OF A TITLE is very poorly written and executed.

Not finding much to laugh about, eh?

A spy spoof ("James Bond" even voice-cameos via phone) by way of vaudeville wasn't a bad idea when DON'T WORRY was filmed in the summer of '65, and few people could rival Amsterdam's encyclopedic recall of jokes--his nightclub act was centered around it.  Henny Youngman and perhaps Milton Berle (who cameos here) would have been the only people in the same ballpark.  Unfortunately Amsterdam filled his screenplay to the brim with the oldest ones he knew.  Literally.  They had to be:

"I was up all night trying to get my window open."
"There's no window in that room!"
"No wonder I couldn't get it open."

"Why are you pulling that piece of rope?"
"Y'ever try pushing one?"

Amsterdam's film ended up delayed for over a year and barely released in 1966 after VAN DYKE had ended its run.  By then GET SMART! had spoofed the genre definitively for the target audience, even beating DON'T WORRY to the punchline of "Mr. Big" being played by a little person (Heller in this film, Michael Dunn in SMART!).  Too bad, because the screenplay needed a surprise or two.

Maybe if I throw in a Tom Swiftie.....

Amsterdam, Marie and Deacon all take the opportunity to break the fourth wall.  Repeatedly in Marie's case, and Deacon lets us know that he realizes he was playing a different role earlier in the picture.  If Amsterdam was striving for a HELLZAPOPPIN' feel, he didn't succeed in making his film anywhere close to zany enough.  If he was attempting a straight spy spoof, he didn't have the budget or collaborators.  Harmon Jones had never directed a comedy before (unless GORILLA AT LARGE counts); January Jones (related to the director?) is "introduced" with a key role, but exhibits no comic timing or acting ability and even appears uncomfortable on camera.  With maybe four sets to work with and a distinct lack of any espionage staples to tweak, DON'T WORRY has the look and feel of a lazy home movie, coming across like Morey Amsterdam and friends dabbling in movie making instead of having a truly inspired idea for a motion picture.

While it may not be funny or well-made, it is a veritable treasure chest of celebrity cameos.  The production costs may not have allowed for any elaborate action or comedy setpieces, but lots of recognizable names and faces were willing to join in on the fun.  For example, Moe Howard, who unfortunately didn't bring Larry or Curley-Joe with him:

I can't poke him in the eyes!  He's wearing glasses!

Irene Ryan (THE BEVERLY HILLBILLIES) borrowed the Clampett truckster from Jethro to give our two leads a lift.  Milton Berle (probably paying Morey back for a stolen joke) got the hoary aforementioned "rope" gag.  Danny Thomas ordered a meal at the diner and Steve Allen dropped by the bookstore.  Cliff Arquette joined his HOLLYWOOD SQUARES co-panelists, with no lines and two seconds of screen time, but distinctively playing Charley Weaver.

And, just to show you how persuasive Morey Amsterdam was back in the day, he even convinced The Greatest Actor Who Ever Lived to donate about a half hour of his time:

Mack Tuck!

Everything including the kitchen sink is thrown in, but to no avail: DON'T WORRY, WE'LL THINK OF A TITLE was barely a blip at the box office in 1966 and would be Amsterdam's only feature production credit and only screenplay.  He, Marie and Deacon went back to television, where they all remained welcome guest stars and game show panelists, with regular gigs on MATCH GAME, HOLLYWOOD SQUARES and THE MOTHERS-IN-LAW respectively.

So.....why isn't this on DVD yet?

It more or less vanished after barely being released in 1966, and never even received a VHS release. Until well into the 2000's few had even heard of it.  But TCM dusted it off a years ago, Netflix Instant added it in 2010 and now----MGM Archives has it available for pre-order.  So....on October 11th, according to this link--it will be!

Why it should be on DVD:

It might not be a good movie, but it is a genuine artifact of its television era, and it does give three beloved character actors a moment in the spotlight.  I'd say it's a must for DICK VAN DYKE SHOW fans to see at least once and any fan of 1960's television will probably find it worth a look as well.

As mentioned above, DON'T WORRY, WE'LL THINK OF A TITLE is available on Netflix Instant if you'd like to give it a look before shelling out the $19.95.

Film Review: THE COMIC (1969)

"Why the Hell isn't THIS on DVD yet?" -- Number 52

THE COMIC (1969 Columbia) Starring Dick Van Dyke, Michele Lee, Mickey Rooney, Cornel Wilde, Pert Kelton, Nina Wayne, Gavin MacLeod, Barbara Heller, Jeannine Riley, Ed Peck.  Directed by Carl Reiner.

Ex-vaudeviller Dick Van Dyke (as Billy Bright) takes 1920’s Hollywood by storm, first by stealing the show in director Cornel Wilde’s two-reelers, then by stealing leading lady Michele Lee away from Wilde. With cockeyed second banana Mickey Rooney and Lee providing able support, Van Dyke starts his own production company.  Rapidly rising from two-reelers to features, Van Dyke is the hottest comic in the land by 1926, but it all comes crashing down on the talented but self-destructive comic.   Lee divorces Van Dyke for repeated infidelities (taking his infant son) and after this drives him to alcoholism, Hollywood divorces him for erratic behavior (on and off the set), myopia and creative stagnation.  After fading into obscurity, Van Dyke gets a second chance at stardom late in life, but the passing of 40 years doesn't help his humility or his perspective.

With THE COMIC, the star and director are most successful in creating a long, superb montage of “classic” silent two reelers with titles like SAVED BY A SAP and MAIN STREET MENACE.  Showing impressive athleticism and skilled at pantomime, Van Dyke gives you reason to think he might have become an even bigger star if he‘d been around in the Twenties.  Particular homage is paid to Van Dyke's idol Stan Laurel; one short clearly recalls Laurel’s DR. PYCKLE AND MR. PRYDE, and check out the “freak” ending (a Laurel and Hardy staple) in NOTHING BUT THE TOOTH.

Teaming for the first time in three years after THE DICK VAN DYKE SHOW, Van Dyke and director Carl Reiner also show a mutual desire to present more provocative material than television allowed.  Just a year later, Reiner would push the envelope much further with WHERE’S POPPA?, and Van Dyke would further attempt to redefine his Disney-friendly image with Norman Lear’s COLD TURKEY.   Billy Bright may have been created as a tribute to Keaton, Laurel and Langdon, but he’s far more flawed than any of them offscreen.  Actually that’s an understatement--Van Dyke’s Bright has literally no redeeming qualities.

From the moment he arrives in Hollywood, Bright is self-centered, stubborn, ill-tempered, opportunistic and consistently thoughtless regarding others' feelings.  After being granted a second chance in his senior years, Bright obnoxiously blames everyone but himself for his fade into obscurity and even provides thoroughly delusional spin doctoring from the coffin  (i.e. “I allowed people to walk all over me“) that is always contradicted by what we’re seeing onscreen.  Other than one throwaway line early describing Bright’s father as an alcoholic who ended up poor, there’s no attempt by the screenwriters (Reiner and Aaron Ruben) to probe the cause of the comic‘s faults.  It is commendably fresh that the audience is never really supposed to like (or even pity) Bright, but in making him so relentlessly rotten Van Dyke and Reiner also create a one-note character who wears out his welcome before the closing credits.

While not entirely successful, THE COMIC remains intriguingly unique and well acted by a solid cast.  In addition to excelling at the silent slapstick, Van Dyke proves that he’s up to the challenge dramatically.  His Bright is hardened and callous to the end, but it's to the actor's credit that you still feel some sympathy at the film's most uncomfortable moments (i.e. his Steve Allen Show appearance, complete with bewildered and dismissive fellow guests).  Unfortunately the execution of the film's final third is marred by old age makeup that ranges from somewhat unconvincing (Van Dyke’s) to virtually nonexistent (Lee and Wilde).   Only Rooney’s looks right.  The modern audience may also be put off by a needlessly stereotypical portrayal of Bright Jr. (also Van Dyke) which seems to serve no purpose other than allowing a lame punch line from Bright Sr.

So…..why isn’t this on DVD yet?

Attempting to move into edgier fare gave Van Dyke three box office flops in a row from 1969 to 1971. Ironically, he would have his first bona fide success in this vein after moving back to TV---in the ABC Movie of the Week THE MORNING AFTER (1974).

The film was originally titled BILLY BRIGHT after its protagonist before being changed to the thoroughly pedestrian THE COMIC.  The more distinctive title may not have helped, but it couldn’t have hurt.

Why it should be DVD:

THE COMIC isn't fully realized, but the montage of Billy Bright’s creative peak is lovingly created.  This sequence alone is be worth the price of admission.

Van Dyke fans will see his finest dramatic performance, and he is very well complemented by beautiful Michele Lee as his wife and (as it turns out, irreplaceable screen partner) and a great Mickey Rooney as the Ben Turpin-inspired “Cockeye” Van Buren.  Watch closely for a lot of familiar faces throughout, notably Ed Peck, Mantan Moreland, Fritz Feld, Pert Kelton and a pre-JEFFERSONS Isabel Sanford.

Missing No Longer: COLD TURKEY (1971) and THE LANDLORD (1970)

The question "Why the Hell isn't THIS on DVD yet?" has happily become outdated for two more of The Horn Section's most wanted, thanks to MGM's answer to the Warner Archive, the MGM Limited Edition Collection.

COLD TURKEY (1971), which was review # 19 in our series, is available for pre-order at Amazon.com.  Here is the original review for Norman Lear's one and only feature film as director.  You'll have a lot of fun counting the familiar faces from Lear's later TV efforts, including Jean Stapleton, Vincent Gardenia, Barnard Hughes, Tom Poston, Paul Benedict and Barbara Cason. TV legends Dick Van Dyke and Bob Newhart star, and Edward Everett Horton makes his final film appearance---and beats BLAZING SADDLES to onscreen flatulence by three years.

Perhaps the finest film of the 1970's that had been excluded from DVD, and arguably one of the decade's top 20 films, Hal Ashby's THE LANDLORD (1970), is also among MGM's initial Limited Edition releases.  Here is the original review of this unsung classic, which boasts considerable talent behind the camera.  Ashby would go on to direct HAROLD AND MAUDE, THE LAST DETAIL, SHAMPOO and BEING THERE, and screenwriter Bill Gunn would go on to direct, write and star in the highly original vampire flick GANJA AND HESS (1973).  THE LANDLORD stars Beau Bridges, Marki Bey (SUGAR HILL), Oscar-nominated Lee Grant, Pearl Bailey, and, in perhaps her finest screen performance, Diana Sands (pictured).

Happy shopping!  # 44 in the series is coming up.

Film Review: COLD TURKEY (1971)

"Why the Hell isn't this on DVD yet?" -- Number 19





COLD TURKEY (1971 United Artists) Starring Dick Van Dyke, Bob Newhart, Edward Everett Horton, Jean Stapleton, Vincent Gardenia, Pippa Scott, Barnard Hughes, Tom Poston, Paul Benedict, M. Emmett Walsh, Bob Elliot and Ray Goulding. Directed and Produced by Norman Lear. Written by Norman Lear and William Price Fox Jr.

In the aftermath of Surgeon General Luther Terry’s landmark 1964 statement on the health hazards of smoking, tobacco companies face the Cigarette Labeling and Advertising Act and the removal of cigarette ads from television in quick succession. Valiant Tobacco executive Bob Newhart has an idea to combat the unprecedented scrutiny of his industry. Reasoning that Alfred Nobel’s Prizes eventually obscured his invention of dynamite after his death, he implores invalid chairman Edward Everett Horton to offer $25 million to any town in the U.S.A. to succeed in having all of its citizens give up smoking for thirty days.  Naturally no one within Valiant Tobacco dreams they’ll ever have to actually pay this. But the citizens of the depressed town of Eagle Rock, Iowa are willing to go for it.  Having recently lost a nearby military base, they are spurred by minister Dick Van Dyke and mayor Vincent Gardenia to take on the challenge and use the winnings to rejuvenate their dying economy.

So, we have a bona fide feel-good story on our hands!

Well, perhaps...if it was directed by (say) Ron Howard….but this one is written and directed (his debut) by the always provocative Norman Lear, his last film project before he would change the face of television with ALL IN THE FAMILY. At first glance COLD TURKEY appears to be an inspiring tribute to the determination of the underdog and America’s heartland. But the film is soon revealed to be a scathing yet low-key examination of the self-serving interests of everyone involved, whether they are tobacco executives, preachers, doctors, politicians, holistic healers….or prostitutes. It also proves to be a tossup whether greed or nicotine withdrawal brings out the very worst in people.

Satire, we’ve all heard countless times, is what closes on Saturday night. In this instance, satire sat unreleased for two years and then closed on Saturday night in 1971. I don’t buy the theory that it was too cynical to market for 1969 audiences: after all, PUTNEY SWOPE, MIDNIGHT COWBOY and EASY RIDER were all released successfully that year. Instead I think it was difficult to market due to the lack of box office names save for the then slumping Van Dyke, who was coming off a string of financial bombs both critically acclaimed (THE COMIC) and downright embarrassing (SOME KIND OF A NUT).

To me, top billed Van Dyke seems a bit miscast as Eagle Rock’s pompous religious leader and the driving force behind the thirty day pledge.  It's easy to buy people falling asleep in his church, but not so convincing to see the most addicted falling in line behind him to sign the pledge (money notwithstanding).  It's understandable that wife Scott is irritated/bored with him, but 4,006 citizens being actually bullied by the Reverend?  Bit of a stretch.  Van Dyke is usually tasked with playing the increasingly insane situation straight and providing contrast to those crazies around him.  At times, though, he's almost as manic as he was in WHAT A WAY TO GO!, uncharacteristically killing some laughs. 

Side note: I think Andy Griffith could have been interesting as the pastor. The one-time Lonesome Rhodes had proven that he could be intimidating and captivating at the same time to a rural audience.  A slightly devious twist on his image might would have been welcomed by Griffith after 8 years of Sheriff Andy Taylor, and in fact Griffith was returning to features as a small town minister in ANGEL IN MY POCKET (co-starring Van Dyke’s brother Jerry) at the time COLD TURKEY was filming.

There is an opportunity to see a perennial TV nice guy play nasty, though. Bob Newhart gets to play a sleazeball--and get deranged, even (during the film’s frenetic finale). He is more effective reacting to the lunacy of others, but seeing a shady, animated Newhart is very interesting to modern eyes. The role of great reactor in this film instead goes to Edward Everett Horton, who in his final film is mute, hilariously deadpan….and audibly flatulent a full 5 years before BLAZING SADDLES.

Lear’s best work would come on the small screen, but he also wrote some very good screenplays, including THE NIGHT THEY RAIDED MINSKY’S and DIVORCE AMERICAN STYLE (also with Van Dyke). This was his most ambitious script to date and he made wise decisions in the use of Greenway, Iowa for filming and a young Randy Newman for the sardonic soundtrack. Lear provides his best laughs with an inspired series of sight gags highlighting the effects of withdrawal. But his debut in the director’s chair is marred by a sloppy finale. The denouement involving three of the principals is very poorly executed and unconvincing. (Newhart is actually laughing when he clearly wouldn’t have any reason to, for example.) And the surprise appearance at the end is also poorly executed. It is too obviously an actor wearing an ill-fitting mask every bit as authentic-looking as one from the Shelley Berman TWILIGHT ZONE episode “The Mind and the Matter”.

So….why isn’t this on DVD?

COLD TURKEY had a troubled production history and might well have gone unreleased even longer if not for Lear’s overnight success on TV. Van Dyke is miscast, and he hasn’t headlined a feature since. While the film is funny, it has few jokes that cross over from “amusing” to “hilarious”.  Perhaps most damaging, the overall impact is diluted by a finale that's way too slapdash.


Why it should be on DVD:

Still a funny and interesting film, with a loyal cult following, and some sharp satirical arrows pointed at The John Birch Society, “wholesome” middle America, peer pressure, big government, capitalism, addiction (with no nicotine, other addictions, including alcohol, seem to increase a great deal) and greed, among other things.

COLD TURKEY is also prescient: we get an early look at instant celebrity and what would become Reality TV 30 years later. There’s also eerie foreshadowing of the worst of post 9-11 America in noting how the desperate town leaders give a lot of authority over to a group of extreme right-wingers. Lear could really get overbearing in his most topical 30 minute TV episodes, but he makes most of his points subtly and effectively given an hour and a half to do so.

Over a dozen cast members who would become big names on network television in the decade to come, many of them in Lear’s projects. It’s fun to spot them all. Lear himself has a cameo.

The Big Clock says it’s time to release COLD TURKEY on DVD. And big clocks are never wrong!