Great Comedic Performances
Dean
Sheila (who's always talking about something fun) has a thread going on going on great comedies. Well I'd like to go a step further and ask a question:
In watching television and movies over the last few generations, what have been the all-time greatest individual comedic performances you've seen?
I don't mean greatest scripts, or greatest snippets of dialogue. Instead, I ask you to look at a single performance in a movie or television series, and that single performance, that crystal clear portrayal, and name one that you can simply never forget.
That's more challenging than you might think. For example, Don Knotts was simply immortal for his portrayal of Barney Fife in The Andy Griffith Show. That's an immortal character. It's been nearly 40 years since that show went off the air, and real-life cops still make jokes to each other about Barney Fife. Yet you can't point to a single episode (I don't think) where you can say, "that day, Don Knotts was truly sublime." Another example is the great Audrey Meadows, whose portrayal of Alice Kramden was without a doubt one of the greatest artistic accomplishments in television history, and yet I don't think you can point to a single episode of The Honeymooners and say "that was her apotheosis." She was always incredibly funny--indeed, when I argue with The Queen, I sometimes think I've married Audrey Meadows--but I don't think you can pinpoint a specific performance, a specific moment, when she became immortal. Lucille Ball may have come close, in that episode where she accidentally set her fake nose on fire. That was close. For all her greatness, that was a moment in television history that everyone remembers.
Still, what qualifies as a singularly great comedic performance? One you look at and admire again and again because it's just so damned funny?
My own personal nomination for best single comedic performance of all time is Gene Wilder in Young Frankenstein. Every time I see that movie (and I've seen it more times than I can count) I'm simply blown away by how brilliantly funny Gene Wilder is. Simply brilliant. The way he would at times look at the camera, his hair wildly poking out, screaming things like "It....could.... WOOOORK!!!!" I'm sorry, but I'm not sure anyone has ever topped that for a more sublime comedic performance. Mind you, everyone is good in that particular movie. Indeed, I think a close runner-up for best performance in that movie would have to go to Cloris Leachman, whose portrayal of Frau Blucher is so subtle, understated, and hilarious, I always bust out laughing jut watching her. Watch Young Frankenstein some time, and carefully watch Cloris Leachman. She does so many tiny little things in her performance you don't even catch them until you've seen the movie a half-dozen times. "Yesss.. he vas MY BOYFRIEND!!!!!" My God, she's hilarious. So without further ado I add my own suggestions for greatest individual comedic performance on screen:Gene Wilder as Victor von Frankenstein in Young Frankenstein. Honorable mention for Cloris Leachman as Frau Blücher in the same movie, because she's simply dynamite. You have to watch her closely to catch all the subtlties. ("Vould you like a glesss uf.... MILK?") Graham Chapman as Brian in The Life of Brian (see especially the "haggling" scene. That and, "It is said that only the true messiah denies his divinity." "What? Well what kind of chance does that give me? Okay, I AM the Messiah!" "He is! He is the messiah!") Groucho Marx as Rufus T. Firefly in Duck Soup. ("Of course you realize this means WAH!") Sandra Bernhard as the psycho fan in The King of Comedy Burt Kwouk as Cato in so many Pink Panther movies. Katherine Hepburn in Bringing Up Baby. Mike Myers as Dr. Evil in any of the Austin Powers films. "All I want is some frickin' sharks with some frickin' laser beams. Is that so hard to ask, people?" Tim Curry as Frank N. Furter in The Rocky Horror Picture Show. Gracie Allen who--although I'm breaking my own rules--was screamingly funny in every episode of The George Burns and Gracie Allen Show. And while I know this skit first originated on stage, and then went through numerous radio and television incarnations, but you have to admit, Who's On First is one of the funniest damned skits in the history of mankind. So. Who or what else would you nominate for Best Comedic Peformance?
I think Cary Grant is hilarious is Bringing Up Baby.
And Gene Wilder in Young Frankenstein. AbsoLUTEly. SO FUNNY that ... I could barely laugh the first time I saw it. it seemed so funny that if I started laughing, I would never stop, and then I would perish from lack of oxygen.
Peter Sellers holding a vacuum cleaner hose with a caged parrot in the room in Pink Panther. You know that the parrot is going to end up in the vacuum, but it's the WAY it ends up in the vacuum which is truly hilarious.
I'm a big Mel Brooks fan and The Producers is still my favorite comedy - followed closely by Blazing Saddles. If I had to focus on any performance it would have to be Harvey Koreman (sp?) performance as Hedley Lamarr in BS.
Finally, the 3 Stooges. One can't forget their brand of "politically incorrect" humor these days.
"Whatever happens, Do not open this door." and he repeats himself, " Do not open the door." Moments later is the funniest scene and he's screaming for
help for someone to save him from the monster. Its not please open the door, its OPEN THE G-D DOOR.
Hilarious......
Ramona: "It rained yesterday, you know." Ernest T.: "Yeah I know . . . I was right there in it!"
As far as TV goes, Hyacinth from "Keeping Up Appearances" or Kramer.
Severa lmoments of pure performance genius. The tunnel scene in the boat was absoultly pricless. So were all the little quickly runby comments throught the movie.
The killer isn't even verbal, it's the timing on the entrance scene where we fist see Willy Wonka. Unmatched comic genius.
(Wonka geek note- Gene demanded to do that scene that way or he'd walk. Needless to say he got his way.)
And only slightly off topic, at the minor league ballgame I went to the other night (Asheville Tourists vs. Columbus Catfish), the visiting team's lineup included Chin-Long Hu.
Unfortunately, he was playing shortstop instead of first base.
Lee Marvin in Cat Ballou.
Ed O'Neill as Al Bundy in Married with Children.
Jack Nicholson as The Joker in Batman.
There are so many. But for the one performance, I'll stick with Hackman.
Rich
Bill Murray in CaddyShack
Steve Martin in The Jerk
Allan Arkin in The In-Laws
The Black Knight scene in Holy Grail still kills me.
You asked if we could name one program of our favorites with a perticular show that was so funny you could remember it. Well yes then, in one episode I still laugh about.
Laura was always curious about what Rob got in the mail. One day a package came and she told herself she would not open it and wait for Rob to come home. She was absolutely darling. You knew Rob was behind this knowing she could not resist. She wandered around and around that package making the cutest gestures and funny funny faces. She couldn't take it anymore and decided to open the big package.
She carefully opened it, and a Big Inflated Raft came out! She was hysterical when it opened up real big and she was trying to lay on it, sit on it anything she could to stop it from Inflating!! Her arms and body were doing everything to stop it! She was so cute and absolutely Hysterical! I can still see that episode in my mind today.
I agree with your choice of John Cleese in Wanda and I'll add Kevin Kline in the same movie. I just watched that movie on TV last week and laughed my head off.
As for TV, there was an early episode of Happy Days where Ritchie and one of his buddies went to a school dance in drag. Fonzie took a liking to Richie and was blowing in his ear. Ron Howard was absolutely hilarious in that scene.
So many great shows, the many 'Lucy' shows, MTM, Andy G. and away we go!
What a rich heritage TV has given us, many of you are to young to have seen the great "Show of Shows" or the early Dean and Jerry TV shows...some of these caused me to hurt my self with laughing till pain.
If you see these shows today, you won't see it as we did, because then it was NEW, many of the same bits have been used over and over and don't have the surprise they once did...50% of humor is surprise.
Many of the early TV shows, Uncle Milty, Hennesy, etc we're doing and saying new things, Hennesey had more clever lines per episode than even Lucy, which was great.
I some times wish I had not seen any of the early great TV shows, so I could see them for the first time now.
"Steve Martin and damn... now I can't remember the movie. But he had a woman living inside his body."
That was "All of Me", with Lily Tomlin sharing his body (including his private parts). That was very sexy to me. I often have fantasies from that.
Of course we all lose our tempers now and then. Dean freely admits to being imperfect in this regard, which is why regulars to this establishment will generally be cut more slack than people who we don't know very well.
Still: behave like an adult, or go find somewhere else to play. Thanks.