Thursday, November 22, 2012
Wednesday, November 21, 2012
Tuesday, November 20, 2012
Monday, November 19, 2012
The Merv Griffin Show with guests David Burns, Lainie Kazan and Colonel Sanders (1966)
You may have noticed that some of the old timers speak about this cat David Burns in reverence. He was prolific in Broadway revues and widely respected - and now I know why. Watch him in action, tearing apart The Merv Griffin Show. First, reflections from those who know:
Jack Carter: Davey Burns, a great comedian. Davey Burns was a great comic from Broadway. He was like a Jewish version of WC Fields. Oh, Davey Burns was a brilliant character. He didn't live very long, but he was funny. He was like a... you can't describe him! He was one of a kind. Davey Burns. Who would remember that?
Michael McKean: A great, great comic actor.
Irwin Corey: Davey Burns was a poor man's W.C. Fields. He was very, very funny.
Pat Carroll: David Burns was one of the funny men of the theater. He was a naughty, naughty man. He would do dreadful things. Oh, he was very bad and a very funny man. Great to work with and marvelous to watch. He always made me laugh.
Tommy Moore: Davey Burns was indeed a wildman. A friend of mine was in Hello Dolly with him. After the show, when people would come to compliment him in his dressing room, he would say, "Excuse me for a moment, I want to freshen up with some toilet water." He’d leave the bathroom door open, lift the toilet seat, and wildly splash himself with water, come out dripping wet, and continue the conversation as though nothing happened!
Orson Bean: I loved Davey. Davey had a foul mouth. He was so charming, he could get away with anything. I didn't find him foul, I found him hilarious. When we were in Men of Distinction the mayor came backstage with his wife, a stout lady of a certain age. He grabbed her and he kissed her and he said, "You crazy cooze! Leave this son of a bitch! Run away with me!" She was like Margaret Dumont, flattered and appalled in equal amounts.
Neil Simon: Davey Burns had the funniest foul mouth I ever heard. He came into rehearsal ten minutes late and apologized in a mock British accent, "I beg your pardon everyone. Please forgive me. I was in the lavatory having my cock sucked by the most charming cleaning lady." Pert Kelton would throw up her arms and say, "Oh, Davey, you are disgusting." To which he replied indignantly, "Some cleaning woman I never met is sucking my cock and you call me disgusting?”
Jack Carter: Davey Burns, a great comedian. Davey Burns was a great comic from Broadway. He was like a Jewish version of WC Fields. Oh, Davey Burns was a brilliant character. He didn't live very long, but he was funny. He was like a... you can't describe him! He was one of a kind. Davey Burns. Who would remember that?
Michael McKean: A great, great comic actor.
Irwin Corey: Davey Burns was a poor man's W.C. Fields. He was very, very funny.
Pat Carroll: David Burns was one of the funny men of the theater. He was a naughty, naughty man. He would do dreadful things. Oh, he was very bad and a very funny man. Great to work with and marvelous to watch. He always made me laugh.
Tommy Moore: Davey Burns was indeed a wildman. A friend of mine was in Hello Dolly with him. After the show, when people would come to compliment him in his dressing room, he would say, "Excuse me for a moment, I want to freshen up with some toilet water." He’d leave the bathroom door open, lift the toilet seat, and wildly splash himself with water, come out dripping wet, and continue the conversation as though nothing happened!
Neil Simon: Davey Burns had the funniest foul mouth I ever heard. He came into rehearsal ten minutes late and apologized in a mock British accent, "I beg your pardon everyone. Please forgive me. I was in the lavatory having my cock sucked by the most charming cleaning lady." Pert Kelton would throw up her arms and say, "Oh, Davey, you are disgusting." To which he replied indignantly, "Some cleaning woman I never met is sucking my cock and you call me disgusting?”
Sunday, November 18, 2012
Wednesday, November 14, 2012
Tuesday, November 13, 2012
Chesterfield Sound-Off starring Fred Allen with guests Dave Garroway and Max Asnas (1952)
Here's a terrible, unwatchable program. It ain't Fred Allen's fault. You can't help but feel sorry for him. Hard to believe they even put it on the air. Yeech.
Monday, November 12, 2012
Jimmy Smith in Europe (1965)
The great Jimmy Smith Trio tours Europe with Dizzy Gillespie in this remarkable, black and white, cinema verite style documentary from 1965. As hip as it gets.
Sunday, November 11, 2012
Saturday, November 10, 2012
Friday, November 9, 2012
The Merv Griffin Show with guests Dennis Hopper and WIllie Mays (1971)
This - like so much talk show footage of its era - is compelling as heck. I could watch talk show footage from 1965 through 1975, every day, all day and never get bored. Man, can you imagine a cable channel with nothing but Paar, Cavett, Douglas, Griffin and Carson reruns? Throw in some Tom Snyder, Les Crane and Joe Pyne for good measure? This footage is of particular interest for you adherents of Peter Bisskind's Easy Riders, Raging Bulls (which should mean all of you). Dennis Hopper talks about the reception of his notorious The Last Movie and interacts awkwardly with a panel that includes James Brolin, Willie Mays and Diane Baker. What a trip, man.
Thursday, November 8, 2012
Wednesday, November 7, 2012
It's a Mad Mad Mad Mad World - the CBC Cinema Verite Documentary (1963)
In anticipation of the 1963 launch of Stanley Kramer's It's a Mad Mad Mad World, United Artists spent close to four hundred thousand dollars in promotion, flying international media to Hollywood, putting them up at the Beverly Hilton, and tossing them a lavish party with comedians mingling about. Among the international media was a film crew from the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation. In the States, Mad World's free infomercial came in the form of a cast appearance on the two-hour Jerry Lewis Show, a notorious and disastrous, short-lived ABC talk program. Dick Shawn, Jonathan Winters, Carl Reiner, Sid Caesar, Ethel Merman and plenty of others cavorted on Jerry's stage for the full 120 minutes. Back in Canada, the CBC's stark, black and white, cinema verite style documentary aired once and then vanished forever. If the eight minute selection below is any indication... it must be pretty amazing - and overripe for rediscovery.
Tuesday, November 6, 2012
Monday, November 5, 2012
Sunday, November 4, 2012
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