Well, dear readers, 1) I am sitting here like so much fish, listening to Mr. Morton Gould conduct pieces that are not written by him – he was a wonderful and much unheralded conductor – right now it’s Bach’s Air on the G String, which was a personal favorite of Gypsy Rose Lee, 2) I have cooled the home environment down, as it was eighty degrees in here, and 3) earlier, I spent one hour and forty-four minutes laughing out loud, frequently belly-laughing out loud. And what motion picture could cause such a thing? Well, that’s easy, if you’ve been paying attention – that would be a motion picture entitled One, Two, Three, a film of Billy Wilder, starring James Cagney, Arlene Francis, Horst Bucholz, Pamela Tiffin, and Lisolette (Lilo) Pulver. I’ve written about this film many times, but every time I sit and watch it, I just marvel at the breathless pace, the brilliance of the dialogue, the performances, the set design, the photography, and how great a director Wilder was. Cagney is a comic whirlwind, snapping out his great dialogue so fast you can barely keep up. Wilder purposely left no space between the laughs, he just forges forward and if you miss one there’s another coming right on top of the one you missed. Yes, it was a topical comedy back when it was released, but at its heart it’s simply a farce with all those classic elements. I saw it back when it came out – I was a huge Wilder fan already from seeing Witness for the Prosecution, Some Like it Hot, and The Apartment (all at my beloved Stadium Theater), and I’m not sure why I waited to see One, Two, Three until it hit my neighborhood theater, but I did. I saw it at the Picfair, which really couldn’t show scope films at all – they were, I guess, what you’d call letterboxed with the sides cut off. I saw it the week of April 11, 1962. Even though it was released in December of 1961 at the Paramount Theater in Hollywood it played most of its engagement in 1962. Just look at the opening day add and note the other two films in the ad, one of which had JUST opened and one which would open just a few days later.
In articles, it’s generally written that it was a flop – but it wasn’t. It didn’t make much, but it did turn a profit. I mean, even at the lowly Picfair, it played three weeks, which was unheard of – on a double bill with A Majority of One, which I’d already seen. I knew nothing about One, Two, Three when I went to see it. I only knew I’d never heard laughs that loud and that continuous prior, and that includes Some Like it Hot – certainly the laughs in that were theater-shaking, but there’s plenty of the film that lets you breathe, something One, Two, Three never ever does. And the jokes – they’re just brilliant, with hugely quotable dialogue throughout. I mean, I was sitting alone on my couch, howling and guffawing. “I’ll pick you up at six-thirty sharp, because the seven o’clock train to Moscow leaves promptly at eight-fifteen.” “Put on your pants, Spartacus.” “I spit on your money, I spit on Fort Knox, I spit on Wall Street” – “Unsanitary little jerk, isn’t he?” “Did you know that Otto spelled backwards is Otto?” No one working today in comedy could make a film with this kind of laughs. You’re lucky if you get two or three big laughs in a comedy these days. It’s one of my all-time favorite Wilder films, in the top five, and one of my all-time favorite comedy films ever. If you’ve never seen it, do yourself a favor and watch it and marvel at a writer/director (writer with I.A.L. Diamond) who knows exactly what he’s doing, verbally and visually, and at a brilliant cast who gets every moment perfect. I was especially impressed this time around with Lilo Pulver, who was a very popular actress back then, mostly in German films (she was Swiss), but who’d done a few American films. Her comic timing is incredible. The Kino Blu-ray transfer via MGM/UA is not perfect, but mostly looks fine. And now, Mr. Gould is conducting Scheherazade, a wonderful and colorful performance.
Has anyone noticed that this is the last day of August? How did THAT happen? And tomorrow will be September, and, of course, it is my fervent hope and prayer that September will be a month filled with health, wealth, happiness, creativity, and all things bright and beautiful.
Yesterday was an interesting day. I got up at ten after eight hours of sleep and had an e-mail from David Wechter asking if we could do our meeting on Zoom. Since that saved me a very long drive, I was fine with it. We did the Zoom, discussing two projects and choosing the one I think we’ll pursue. That lasted about ninety minutes, I think. Then I got myself together (no mean feat) and went to the mail place, where I picked up two important envelopes and a surprise green envelope from the Writer’s Guild – a little residual from The Faculty. I then went to Gelson’s and got a little rigatoni with meat sauce (about four or five ounces) and a tiny bit of fried rice, just to try it, from the hot food bar, as well as a chicken Caesar salad. I came home and ate the rigatoni and the bit of fried rice, which was actually pretty good. Then I did some work on the computer, sent our musical director all his charts and some mp3s to hear, did some corrections on a chart for the upcoming Kritzerland show, had some telephonic conversations, ate the chicken Caesar, and then watched the hilarious One, Two, Three, after which it was Mr. Gould conducting the Chicago Symphony Orchestra.
Today, I’ll be up by eleven or thereabouts, I’ll do whatever needs doing, I’ll make the damn show order, then I have a lunch meeting win West Hollywood at one-thirty. Then I’ll hopefully pick up some packages, then come home and write some commentary and get that out of the way, after which I can watch, listen, and relax.
Tomorrow is more of the same, and then a lunch meeting at three o’clock. Thursday is a lunch with Kay Cole, Friday will probably be a work session for the Kritzerland show plus a Vitello’s meal in the late afternoon, I think. Then I can hopefully have a restful long Labor Day weekend, after which we go right into our Kritzerland rehearsal week and then show.
Well, dear readers, I must take the day, I must do the things I do, I must, for example, be up by eleven or thereabouts, do whatever needs doing, do a show order, have a lunch meeting, hopefully pick up packages, write commentary, and then watch, listen, and relax. Today’s topic of discussion: What are your all-time favorite film comedies, the ones that make you truly laugh out loud and guffaw? Let’s have loads of lovely postings, shall we, whilst I hit the road to dreamland, happy to have had such brilliant comedy viewing that made me laugh so hard I cried, and that would be One, Two, Three.