wwkentucky Reviews

The Gong Show Movie (1980)

According to my aunt . . .

[6 November 2023]

To be perfectly honest, I have never seen "The Gong Show Movie." However, my aunt went to see it on its opening weekend.

She said prior to the film, there was a coming attractions trailer for some movie nobody had ever heard of --- "Airplane!" According to my aunt, there was ten times more laughter during that 3-and-a-half-minute trailer than there was during the whole 90-minute "Gong Show Movie."

I have to admit that I, myself, have never seen this film (which is odd, since I never miss a Gary Mule Deer movie). It's no wonder I've never seen it --- it was reportedly pulled from movie theaters within a week of its nationwide opening in May of 1980 and was never released on VHS home video during the '80s, '90s, or 2000s! It finally received a DVD/Blu-ray release in 2016.

Nobody's Ghoul (1962)

Is this the one . . .

[20 June 2020]

. . . where the ghost says to DD, "Like boo, big daddy lawman"?

Something a Little Less Serious: A Tribute to 'It's a Mad Mad Mad Mad World' (1991 TV Movie)

Hackett, Caesar, Loftin, & Adams shine!!!

[10/10 · 14 August 2005]

My favorite part of this documentary is Buddy Hackett's impersonation of Peter Falk and Eddie Anderson and how they interacted off-camera. Hilarious AND insightful.

Equally insightful and humorous are stunt director Carey Loftin's tales of his on-the-set clashes with Stanley Kramer. Not once does he come right out and say that they didn't like each other, but you get the impression from his interviews (interspersed throughout the documentary) that their personalities (message man vs. stuntman) did not mix well while making this film. Yet, Loftin is a gentleman and even enjoys a laugh at his own expense when recalling a trick Kramer played on him.

Sid Caesar and Edie Adams deliver some lively anecdotes about the stuntwork and about Milton Berle's legendary camera-hogging.

Berle and Jerry Lewis both adopt their "wise old man of comedy" personas for their interviews and subsequently fail to deliver any significant insights into the making of the film. Berle throws around some flattering generalizations about his co-stars (too rambling to repeat here), but ultimately fails to tell us WHY they were/are so great. Even so, I think Berle's interviews are tolerable (both because of his importance to the original film and because some of his jokes in the interview are actually funny).

Jerry Lewis on the other hand....

He tells one good story about making $500 for his "Mad World" cameo and then turning right around and losing it all to Phil Silvers in an on-the-set crap game. The rest of his comments are 100% phony-baloney showbiz-lovefest garbage! Examples:

"Milton Berle is a teacher..." "Mickey Rooney was the first genius..." About Spencer Tracy: "I wish he was MY father..."

Mickey Rooney's contributions to this documentary, while not as morose as Jer's, are even less insightful and should have been axed from the final product altogether. He obviously refused to be interviewed and instead consented to present two short speeches---one lauding Kramer and the other praising the film in general. His first appearance occurs near the end of the documentary. He says absolutely nothing of value or importance. They shouldn't have bothered turning on the camera if he wasn't willing to really talk about making the movie.

The one surviving cast member that I sorely missed in this tribute was Dorothy Provine. I know she retired from show business, but it would make so many people happy to see her again (not just in this documentary, but ANYtime!) What happened to Dorothy? And don't tell me she joined a convent!

George Stevens: A Filmmaker's Journey (1984)

George Jr.

[19 July 2005]

I think George Jr. is using his position at the American Film Institute to "manage" his father's legacy---which is wrong. The impact of George Stevens' work should be judged on its own merits. His films speak for themselves, and it's embarrassing to see a son canonize his father so publicly.

I'm proud of my dad too, but I wouldn't erect a monument to him for being one of America's all-time great little league coaches.

If George Stevens' films are important (they are) and stand the test of time (they do), then let others praise this unique American artist. For a son to create documentaries about (and name AFI awards after) his father is a tacky cry for attention. "Hey, don't forget my dad! He was a great American filmmaker!" Usually, TV producers will see the potential of (or a market for) a documentary about a great American filmmaker and ask the artist's family to participate by donating old photos and agreeing to be interviewed on-camera. George Jr. apparently grew impatient waiting for such an offer. Possibly he feared no offer would ever come...so he produced his own documentary. And all to build up his father's legacy.