Gilbert Gottfried's Amazing Colossal Podcast - Mini Ep #18: No Way to Treat A Lady & The Hudsucker Proxy

Episode Date: July 16, 2015

Each week, comedian Gilbert Gottfried and comedy writer Frank Santopadre share their appreciation of lesser-known films, underrated TV shows and hopelessly obscure character actors -- discussing, dissecting and (occasionally) defending their handpicked guilty pleasures and buried treasures. This week: Rod Steiger's a ladykiller! Tim Robbins invents the Hula Hoop! And the subtle genius of Paul Newman! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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Don't forget to follow us on our Facebook page. Gilbert Gottfried's amazing colossal podcast. On Twitter, at Real Gilbert ACP. on Instagram, Gilbert Podfried, P-O-D with my co-host Frank Santopadre, and this is another episode of Gilbert and Frank's Amazing Colossal Obsessions. It is. So who should go first on this? Why don't you start? You've got your chicken scratches there.

Yeah. I see something that you're excited about. Okay. We should tell people that we don't know the film that we're going to pick. We don't know each other's movies, so it comes as a complete surprise. Now, this is a film, another in my long list of films, that I enjoyed, but I always bring up how Robert Osborne on Turner Classic Movies always talks about, you know, the essentials. Right.

This one's not essential. Yeah. Inessential. I recommend the inessential movies. Let's see. Like they're worth watching, but there's stuff wrong with them. I wouldn't call any of them citizen cane or anything. We've picked a few like that.

Yeah. So, so this one came out in the sixties. Okay. And it was called, um, no way to treat a lady. I can't believe you're saying this.

Yeah. Last night we have Leonard Maltin coming up on the show. I pulled out Leonard Maltin's TV guide. I went through it, and I said, I'm going to pick No Way to Treat a Lady. Oh, wow. I didn't write it down for this week. Wow. Right.

Jack Smite. Yeah. Rod Steiger. So we are definitely running out of movies to recommend. Okay, this will be the last. No. But I checkmarked it in the book. Wow.

And I said, that's because I have a George Segal thing, and I love him. Wow, great pick, and you're reading my mind. Yeah, so it's Rod Steiger's A Serial Killer, and he, you know, it's a perfect part for Rod Steiger. Because he could chew the scenery. Yeah, oh, oh, he plays an actor, of course. Right. And each time he murders a woman, he's in total disguise. One as an old German.

Right. An Irish cop. Right. He plays a homosexual hairdresser. He plays a woman at one point. That's right. And now I'm kind of wondering if much like the Marx Brothers, you know, when I watch A Night at the Opera with the Marx Brothers, to me, that seemed like the beginning of the end. Oh, I agree.

the beginning of the end. Oh, I agree. When they went to MGM, and we talked about this, how Thalberg decided that being anarchist wasn't enough, that they had to have a musical comedy subplot and a romance. And it's funny because business-wise, he was right. Business-wise. Yeah. Yeah.

Because, I mean, duck soup bomb miserably. I think that's what sent them packing. Didn't they lose their contract at Paramount? Yeah, and that was a great movie. That's remembered as a great movie. There's a lesson there in quality versus commerce. Yeah, yeah. And Night at the Opera was their big, big hit.

But Steiger, I always kind of thought Steiger, the beginning of the the end for him was no way to treat a lady I didn't know where you were going with that I thought you were going to say one of Steiger's disguises was Sig Ruman I didn't understand the connection I was going to say one of his disguises was Nat Pendleton perfect

I remember sitting in the theater and the audience going guys's was nat pendleton that pendleton yeah perfect i love that because when people i remember sitting in the theater and the audience going hey doesn't he look like nat pendleton there all right as you're talking i'm looking up no way to treat a lady yeah and george siegel's the cop yeah now i remember what i thought was kind of embarrassing. It was sort of funny, and then it got too cliche. He's like, you know, he's got a Jewish mother. That's right. And was that Ellen Brennan or something? Eileen Hecker.

Eileen Hecker. Yeah. And after a while, I thought it was getting too cliche. But it's a fun movie to watch, nonetheless. Well, it's a strange hybrid. It's a serial killer movie that's sort of a comedy. Yes. Which is a tough thing to pull off. I'm trying to think. I can't

even think of a second one. And I even just got a weird flashback that at one point, I think his girlfriend's about to get murdered, and he rushes to where it's happening. Is that Lee Remick? Yeah, on the subway. Right.

Where he runs into Tony Musante and Ed McMahon. Yes. And Brock Peters. And Brock Peters. I think it was the fetching Lee Remick. Yes, yes. Who was his girlfriend, who didn't live very long.

Now, I heard that Anthony Quinn, when he was at the height of his career, was in a limousine, and he was fucking Lee Remick. This is what I heard. He was fucking Lee Remick. This is what I heard. He was fucking Lee Remick. God bless you, Anthony Quinn. While he was standing up in the limo with his head sticking out of the top of the limo. Doing Zorba? Yeah, like waving to people. Like they were going down to Times Square and he's waving.

Like he was JFK. Yeah, and they're all cheering at him while he's fucking Lee Remick underneath there which sounds to me like he lived the greatest life of any person I'm trying to picture the physics of that the physical ability to actually pull that off

wow I pull it off every night, thank you that's your Lee Remick story? yes, that's my Lee Remick story? Yes, yes. That's my Lee Remick Anthony question. Well, Leonard Maltin, who's coming up on our show in his book, in his wonderful, indispensable movie guide, calls it a delicious blend of romantic comedy and murder

with Steiger as a flamboyant lady killer, literally, Siegel as Mo Brummel. Oh, yes. That's a funny pun. Like Mo Brummel. Right. As the cop on his trail and Remick as Siegel's new lady. Oh, yes. That's a funny pun. Like Moe Brummel. Right. As the cop on his trail. And Remick as Siegel's new lady friend who could be the next victim. From the novel by William Goldman, of all people. Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid and the Hot Rock.

Marathon Man. And Marathon Man and Misery and the Princess Bride and on and on. That's a good one. Yeah. So you thought that was kind of a tipping point for Steiger? Yeah. I thought maybe it let his ham part of his performances run away with him. Well, there was the loved one where he was pretty hammy.

Oh, yes. But that called for it. Yeah. Yeah. So 68, I think he makes in the heat of the night right around that time. Oh, so maybe I'm wrong. I don't know. I don't know. No, I think this was the heat of the night right around that time. Oh, so maybe I'm wrong. I don't know. I don't know.

No, I think this was after heat of the night. Oh, was it like maybe a year later? Yeah. And heat of the night, I think he wins. Most people thought he won the Academy Award that they felt he got cheated out of in the pawnbroker. Oh, for the pawnbroker. Yeah. Of course, nothing will top his performance in W.C. Fields and me.

You want to see Rod Steiger overact like crazy? You want to see everybody overact like crazy? There's a movie called The January Man with Kevin Kline. It was written by John Patrick Shanley who had won the Oscar for Moonstruck. I guess this is what they call

the trunk scripts where once a writer breaks through, the studio says what else you got lying around? Moonstruck. And I guess this is what they call the trunk scripts, where once a writer breaks through, the studio says, what else you got lying around? And forgive me if this is wrong, or my friend Rick Willett, who's a John Patrick Shanley fan, will correct me. But this other movie, he was given the shot to direct

after Moonstruck, and he made Joe vs. the Volcano. Oh, yeah. A big, big, big hit. A movie that has some nice moments in it. Nice moments, but that was one of those movements. And that guy in particular, at times I feel like, you know, when I see his movies or scripts, I feel like slapping him across the face and going, okay, that's very wacky, but it's not good. Well, that movie in particular. Yeah. It's easy.

Being wacky is very easy. It's a bad movie that has good performances. Meg Ryan plays three roles but I'm going off on a tangent. The January Man, which he also wrote, has Danny Aiello and Kevin Klein. I think Harvey Keitel. God, I'm trying to piece this together in my mind.

Rod Steiger. Everybody overacts. Just full tilt for 90 minutes. It's a serial killer film. Oh, yeah. Yeah. Hot to picture Steiger overacting. I know.

I know. I know. But anyway, so no way to treat a lady. Yeah. Can't. But this is like. That is so strange. I swear to you, I was in bed Way to Treat a Lady. Yeah. Can't, but this is like. That is so strange. I swear to you, I put, I was in bed last night with a book, and I took a bookmark, and I said, oh, No Way to Treat a Lady.

I always loved that one. Yeah. And brought to mind, was there. Oh, wait, wait. Also in No Way to Treat a Lady, my midget obsession. Oh, really? Michael Dunn. Oh, Michaelael dunn turns up yeah from wild wild west yeah he was dr or mr loveless right mr loveless yes what does he play in no way to

treat a lady uh he's someone who confesses to the murders okay i'm trying to piece it together yeah he shows up and is confessing oh the murder. He's very funny. Taking the parts Billy Barty turned down. Yes. Was there a movie with Victor Bono as a serial killer from a similar period? Yes. We have to look that up because I used to confuse it with this picture. Yeah.

We'll have to Google that and figure it out. That's the sound of fried chicken with a spicy history. Thornton Prince was a ladies' man. To get revenge, his girlfriend hid spices in his fried chicken. He loved it so much, he opened Prince's Hot Chicken. Hot chicken in the window. This is one of many sounds in Tennessee with a story to tell.

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Oh, my God, yes. Speaking of actresses that fell off the planet. And it starred Paul Newman. And I was reading about Blaze and I was reading about Paul Newman and I thought, why am I not recommending Paul Newman movies for the podcast? That was 89, but I want to

talk about one he made a few years later in 94 called The Hudsucker Proxy. Do you know this picture? By the Coen brothers. I guess a film I would recommend with reservations, certainly not their best movie. Once again. Once again, flawed, but if you like the Coen Brothers, if you go in for that kind of showy, we love filmmaking, we love the history of filmmaking style, and we're going to throw everything at the screen here.

It's such a fun movie. It's a little reminiscent of a Capra or a Sturgis film. Tim Robbins. Tim Robbins plays a Rube, uh, named Norval Barnes. Um, and who's the girl?

Jennifer Jason Lee. Yeah. And she's playing it up like very old movie. Big time. She's basically doing, doing a kind of, I guess a Catherine Hepburn, Rosalind Russell.

Yeah. Kind of a thing. She's that old, like quick talking-talking broad in the old movies. But her dialogue is so snappy and so clever. And Jennifer Jason Leigh is on that list of actresses that has no problem taking her clothes off. Yes, you mentioned that in the previous episode. That's more important than talking about the movie. The daughter of the late Vic Morrow.

Yes, yes. And she made some good films. Dolores Claiborne is a good film. I like Mrs. Parker and the Vicious Circle. Was that the one? Yeah, that's the one. And this one, she plays Amy Archer. Yeah, she's a fast-talking reporter.

I mean, he's a rube you know she's a big city girl john mahoney is the editor and they're sort of playing him for a sap it's a little bit i think the closest thing it's it's reminiscent of is cappers meet john doe oh because they're taking the bumpkin and they're gonna lend the local newspaper is gonna is is making a fool out of him and of, of course, he's so pure of heart. And he invents the hula hoop, basically, in the movie. I don't want to give too much away. I don't want to give the plot away.

It's so much fun. Now, meet John Doe. Yeah. As much as it's a great classic movie ending, like, hey, the people talking. Look at that. I don't think Capra was ever happy with that ending. And, you know, I mean, great movie. It became a classic ending, you know, lick that, Norton.

I think it was... Lick that, Norton. Norton. And the guy who said it was Gleeson. That's right. Yeah. Oh, James Gleeson. James Gleeson.

Right. That was so funny. But I think originally in the script, he was supposed to commit suicide for real. That sounds right. And they couldn't allow it back then. That sounds right. And it's like I'd almost like to see them computerize it with the original script ending. And I would have thought it would be more powerful.

If in Capra's book, and I'm trying to remember because I read it years ago, in Capra's book, the name above the title, he talks about that very thing. Yeah. I think that was the intention. Yeah. And I don't think the studio in 1941. Yes. I don't think that. Suicide.

Especially a star like gary cooper yeah but boy i would have loved to have seen it me too me too it's a terrific movie on its own um this film goes in a similar direction without giving too much away yeah but i want to talk about newman's performance as sydney musburger the uh the oh yes the mustache twirling and cigar chomping villain a lot, a lot of fun. He is so much fun. I mean, and you see the range that this guy could play anything, you know. And here he comes in, and this is a broad, a lesser actor would have looked so terrible playing this part.

And he manages to get all the comedy and all the subtlety and all the nuance out of it. And it's just a terrific performance in a flawed film, but a really original film. I saw it on the big screen, and it was so – there's a great – the old movie tone news. Oh, yes. There's a great sequence that's narrated by John Goodman. Yes.

That you have to see. There are great set pieces, great performances. Our friend Steve Buscemi turns up in it. Of course, you don't remember him from that. No, I stopped watching the movie when Steve Buscemi showed up. Forgive us, Steve. We love you. It was made in 1994.

There isn't a bad performance in it. The Hudsucker Proxy. It seems the Coen brothers are big fans of John Goodman. Yeah, they used him a lot. Yeah, he's been in a few. Yeah, he's in Brother Where Art Thou? He's in Raising Arizona. Barton Fink.

Right, he turns up in Inside Llewyn Davis. Yeah. The last one. But everybody's good in the picture. It's very broad. It's very over the top in spots. It's not for everybody. I think if you're a film lover and a cinema buff,

you're going to get the references. You're going to understand what they were trying to do. So, Hudsucker Proxy. And No Way to Treat a Lady. Two movies that I'm sure have never come up in the same conversation. No. And if you guys, if our listeners know the movie where Victor Buono

played a serial killer, write us, tweet us. See you next time. If you like listening to comedy, try watching it on the internet. The folks behind the Sideshow Network have launched a new YouTube channel called Wait For It. It's got interviews with comedians like Reggie Watts, Todd Glass, Liza Schleichinger. Schleichinger, I've been friends with her for 10 years. One of the funniest people out there, and I still have a hard time with the last name, Liza Schleichinger. Schleichinger. I've been friends with her for 10 years. One of the funniest people out there, and I still have a hard time with the last name, Liza.

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