“…What closes on Saturday night.”

Bob Westal — Wed, 29 Jul 2009 04:00:34 +0000

I couldn’t help remembering George Kaufman’s famous definition of satire when reading Noah Forrest‘s post on the acclaimed political comedy, “In the Loop,” which opened last Friday in limited release. I’m a fan of all kinds of satire, but with the exception of “Dr. Strangelove,” “Network,” and a Robert Altman movie here and there, it’s rarely been a commercial success — though from the sound of it, I’m certainly hoping Armando Iannucci’s new film has decent luck.

Here’s a TV commercial for one movie that had almost no luck, Norman Lear’s “Cold Turkey.”

According to Wikipedia, the film was shelved for years by United Artists due to commercial worries. On the other hand, the film’s writer/producer/director wasn’t exactly intimidated and made a TV show that that touched a far hotter button than the cigarette industry. That did a little better, and lasted many Saturday nights.

Below is a longer clip of the film’s first ten minutes, featuring Bob Newhart, Dick van Dyke, “dingbat”-to-be Jean Stapleton, and veteran actor Edward Everett Horton, best known as Fred Astaire’s comic foil in numerous thirties musical comedies, who was apparently just as frail as he looked. (He passed away in 1970.)

See for yourself. Personally, I think this is long, long overdue for DVD.

Norman Lear – Premium Hollywood

“…What closes on Saturday night.”