Forgotten Fav's I

I was sitting down unwinding last night wishing for winter and the glorious movies of days gone by when I started to think about the classics that I havent seen in ages and the disgust that I had not included these in my favorites, the first is 'The Great Race' , its two main characters are united from the brilliant Billy Wilder comedy 'Some Like it Hot' , Tony Curtis and Jack Lemmon,

The Great Leslie (Tony Curtis) is a daredevil and showman, a wealthy man who is famed for such things as setting speed records or Houdini-esque escape acts. Professor Fate (Jack Lemmon) is Leslie's nemesis whose own promotional stunts usually end in failure or embarassment. Leslie has the respect and admiration of businessmen and the media, whilst Fate sulks behind the walls of his dark mansion and is not taken seriously in general; hence he bears an eternal grudge against his white-suited rival and in order to strip Leslie of his popularity which he so craves he decides to compete in a race with him and tries to sabotage him every inch of the way . My favorite moments are when professor fate screams at kids around his property, telling a dog he hates him and every wonderful comedic moment between his sidekick Peter Faulk aka Max. Please if you can get this DVD do yourself a favour get yourself some munchies and as Professor Fate would say 'Push the button Max!'

Forgotten Fav's II

Mel Brooks' tribute to the genre of Frankenstein movies from the 40s is done with such love, such skill, and such knicker wetting hilarity, that it has rightfully become a comedy classic. Mel Brooks is a comedic wizard, who can forget the classic Blazing saddles? That kind of movie would not get a studio behind it if it was made today from a PC perspective and that in itself is a crime.. The comedic timing is perfection From the wild-eyed Igor, the hunchbacked Transylvanian servant whose hump keeps changing from side to side, to the modern-day descendant of Baron von Frankenstein, determined not to follow in his great-grandfather's nefarious footsteps, to the nurse, a voluptuous naif , to the fearsome Frau Bleucher, whose mere mention causes horses in the castle's faraway stables to neigh in fear ( I always thought it was for some sexual reference put thats my depraved mind for you)...to the scene of the monster and his creator singing and dancing in black tie to "putting on the Ritz," The cast was magically conjured. The late, wonderful British comedian Marty Feldman (Igor), who turned his congenital wandering eyes into comedic foils, never misses a beat as a second sidekick to Gene Wilder(I have a photo of Igor and A b Normal framed and hung in my toilet by the way), who plays the distraught Dr. Frankenstein with the passion of Olivier. Cloris Leachman, who looks like a cross between a prison screw and a warlock, played the feared housekeeper Frau Bleucher (neighhh!!!), and a very young buxom Teri Garr plays the nurse-assistant to the good doctor. Then there is the marvelous Madeline Kahn, who gave an outstanding performance as the doctor's fiancee (Oh sweet mystery of life at last Ive found you!- operatic ecstasy during her rape by the monster is simply inspired) and also the cameo of Gene Hackmans Blind Hermit is another diamond in the rough. This is one movie I cannot find a single flaw with and am flabberghasted that Ive not listed it in my favorite movies . Incidently the film was shot in the same castle as the original "Frankenstein" (1910). Also the lab equipment used was the same as in the old "Frankenstein" movie. Mel Brooks also made a cameo appearance in this film, making the sound of the off-screen cat screaming when hit by a dart.