Gilbert Gottfried's Amazing Colossal Podcast - The Last Detail And The Parallax View Encore

Episode Date: June 17, 2024

GGACP celebrates the 50th anniversary (released June 14, 1974) of Alan Pakula's classic paranoia thriller "The Parallax View" (also featuring podcast guest Paula Prentiss) with this ENCORE of a conversation and critical analysis from 2015. In this episode: Warren Beatty takes on the Warren Commission! Billy (“you can call me ‘Ray'”) Saluga “joins” the cast of SNL! The enigma of Randy Quaid! And Gilbert sings the praises of "The Last Detail"! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Hi, I'm Gilbert Godfrey, Mrs. Gilbert and Frank's amazing colossal obsessions. I'm here with my co-host, Frank Santopadre. I haven't seen you in a while. How have you been? Well, I've been searching for Papillon's Susu. I may have a reference for you. I may have a Papillon's Susu. You have a link to Papillon's Sus link? I have a piece of information. Yeah,

for you people out there, she was the girl, the Vietnamese girl in full metal jacket who goes, me so horny, me rub you wrong time. Yes, and Ken, you told me several weeks ago that you thought she would make a good guest. Yes. So we put the word out. OK. And the closest someone has come to identifying her whereabouts is someone wrote me

to say she was living in London. She had a website up until about five years ago, which does us no good. I'm going to call the Screen Actors Guild and see if we can get any kind of satisfaction there, but I'm not sure she's in the business anymore. Yeah, somehow I don't think, if she hasn't worked in the past 30 years.

Once she hears this, she's definitely not coming back. But I know Papi Han Susu listens to my podcast. Really? Yes. That's how she learned English. Well, we'll keep trying. If anybody knows where to find Papi Han Susu from Full Metal Jacket, please get in touch with us through Facebook or Twitter. Because me so horny.

You want to start us off this week, Mr. PC? All right. I think this is one I haven't recommended before. I hope not. OK. After this. We'll stop tape and start again. Yeah.

Or I'll just start recommending Ernest goes to camp. And that means I've given up. Okay, I know I've recommended a movie by Jack Nicholson and another movie by with Randy Quaid. Oh, I know where you're headed with this. And another movie that had Michael Moriarty. The Jack Nicholson one was King of Marvin Gardens. Correct. The Randy Quaid one was The Apprenticeship of Duddy Kravitz. Correct. And the Michael Moriarty one.

Bang the drum slowly. Bang the drum slowly. OK. This is another movie from the 70s. Can I guess? OK. Is it The Last Detail? Yes. Ah.

Yes. I love that picture. The Last Detail. This is where Jack Nicholson and another, he's a Marine. Right. And he and another Marine have to take Randy Quaid. Randy Quaid is like, you know, like he's got mental problems. He's backwards.

I'm talking about Randy Quaid, not the character in the movie. That's right. I said. Ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha That character in the movie is a road scholar. Before he was making sex tapes and putting political masks on his wife. I get it. But yeah, he plays this like really backwards character with mental problems who just like tries to steal some money from like some jar of coins or whatever. And it was the captain's wife's favorite charity. So they decide to throw the book at him. And Nicholson and this other

Marine have to go cross country. They have to escort him. Yeah. And it's just the trip all the way across country on trains and buses. And it's all very, very depressing and very down. And along the way, the things that happened, how they start getting close to him, actually. And he starts opening up. And it's one of those great 70s. It's a character study.

Yeah, yes. And it's a character study and road picture in one. And it's got that just depressing feel about it. Yeah, written by Robert Town, I think. Yeah. If I'm not mistaken. Now, was this Hal Ashby? Hal Ashby. Yeah.

Hal Ashby, who we've talked about on the show. I talked about being there. Yeah. And how he died young and tragically. Yes. After making some great films like Shampoo and Bound for Glory and being there in The Last Detail. Oh, and one thing I remember about the last detail

is Nicholson curses a lot in the picture, and they purposely staged some of it that he would be turning his head when he cursed, so when it would be on TV, or if they wanted to change it for the movies, they could dub in. Right, you couldn't see the... Oh, like fudge you or something.

It's like trying to watch Goodfellas on regular television. Hey, freak you, man. Right, right. That's a good picture. Written by Robert Towne, directed by Ashby. And Quaid is fun. I mean, we talked about Quaid.

I've mentioned Paper Moon on the show, too. And we've talked about when Quaid had a career. Oh yeah! When he wasn't in this kind of paranoid, you know, squatting in people's houses. Yeah, and a respectable career. And you didn't work with him in your travels? I worked with him in one of the last of the horrible Rodney Dangerfield films. Uh oh, was that Wally Sparks?

I don't know if he was in Wally Sparks, he could have been in that too, but he was in Back by Midnight. Oh, is that the one with the monkey? No, no, that's Funky Monkey. I apologize. Please, you know you should have some respect for my career. That's Funky Monkey. I apologize. Please. You know, you should have some respect for my career. Don't confuse Back by Midnight with Funky Monkey.

What was the plot of Back by Midnight? Back by Midnight, you know, I never saw Back by Midnight. And I don't think it ever made it to any theaters. I hope the check cleared. And I think the only country it may have played in was the one that Papi Anzusu. Oh, I played in Laos. She was the only person. Papi Anzusu is the only person.

She played in Kuala Lumpur. And so yeah, Randy Quaid was in that. And I think he was supposed, I was supposed to be like the security at a department store. Rodney Dangerfield was an escaped convict and I never saw the, I don't think I've seen two seconds. I'd never even heard of it until you brought it up on a previous show. And I thought I knew Rodney's career pretty well. I never even heard of it until you brought it up on a previous show, and I thought I knew Rodney's career pretty well.

Yeah, I never even saw a trailer for it. And what is the other thing that you and Randy Quaid have in common? That both of us went totally crazy and went to Canada to hide out. No. That you're both squatters. It's actually that you're both former SNL cast members.

That's right. Yeah, he was in the first year that Michaels came back in 85. That weird year that had Robert Downey. Robert Townsend would have been a better choice. Yeah, Robert Downey Jr. Right. Anthony Michael Hall. Anthony Michael Hall. The Cusack. Joan Cusack. Joan Cusack. Yeah.

Billy, no. Billy Saluga. Billy Saluga. Well, you can call me Ray and you can call me Jay, but live from New York, I'm going to be the one to call you. and call me Ray and you can call me Jay but live from New York. Who would have killed to see Billy Saluga on SNL? No, Terry Sweeney. Terry Sweeney, yeah.

Right. And oh, god, the host of the Academy Awards. Billy Crystal? Billy Crystal. No, he was in the previous. He was Crystal? Billy Crystal. No, he was in the previous. He was in Ebersol. Oh, he was in the Ebersol.

He was in the Ebersol with Harry Shearer. But didn't he stay over for the next? No, no. When Michaels came back in 85, he brought back this weird, it was Nora Dunn and Joan Cusack. I think Nora Dunn was that early. I could be wrong. It was Terry Sweeney who did Nancy Reagan. That

was his big thing. Anthony Michael Hall, Robert Downey, Randy Quaid we mentioned. Who am I leaving out of this? Damon Wayans. Oh yes, yes. Who got fired because he was playing a cop in one scene and he was angry about something so he played the cop as flamingly gay and after that he got fired. I think Lovitz and Nora Dunn were the two that carried over when they realized that the actor experiment wasn't going to work. And it's what was so funny, I remember in the cast I was in it was so idiotic that the

critics were saying, oh, why did they hire them? We don't know who they are. Totally forgetting. That's right. Nobody knew Gilda. Yeah. Who the hell knew John Belushi? Right. Or Billy Crystal or, no, John Belushi or Bill Murray or Gilda Radner. No one knew who the hell these people were. And now this was an experiment to get people who are known.

And it just was weird. Didn't work. Yeah. Didn't work. They were only there for one year. We will return to Gilbert Gottfried's Amazing Colossal podcast after this. The Last Detail. Good movie and there's a connection to my movie.

And you know, we don't tell each other what the films are, but Robert Towne, who wrote The Last Detail, also was one of the writers on mine. Which is a movie I think you know. We were talking about political paranoia thrillers last week I talked about the day of the jackal. Yeah. You also recommended The Conversation. Oh yes. We've talked about that how it's a whole subgenre. Yeah. Those 70s movies. This one is Warren Beatty, 1974. I'm gonna see if you know it. William Daniels is in it. Ah. Not John Hillerman. Yeah, Captain Nice. Captain Nice. Yeah.

It's called the Parallax View. Yes! Yeah. Yes! You know it. Yeah. 1974. And for those William Daniels fans out there,

Look, it's the man who flies around like an eagle. Look, it's the man who hates all that's illegal. Who is this man with arms built just like hammers? That's just a nun who flies around in pajamas. That's no nut, son. That's Captain Nice. Created by Buck Henry. Yes. Good stuff. Good stuff. The parallax view, Beatty plays a reporter investigating the assassination of a presidential candidate,

and it's not so loosely based on the actual Robert F. Kennedy assassination. Oh, yeah. And that they're supposedly a second gunman. And I don't know how much you remember about the movie. Beatty's terrific. How do I explain it? I mean, this is one of those movies I don't want to say a terrible amount about, because it's all about surprises and twists and turns, this movie.

He's a reporter who winds up faking his own death to apply to this thing called this shadow organization called the Parallax Corporation, which is a firm that recruits political assassinations. Do you remember this? Oh, yeah. And he gets in a little bit too deep and I don't want to say a hell of a lot about it because there's nothing I can say about this that won't give away the whole plot but I was doing a little research on it today and reading about the the Robert F. Kennedy assassination and there were definite

parallels. Oh yeah. And it was written by the great Lorenzo Semple Jr. who wrote the Batman pilot. Oh wow. The original Batman pilot in 1960. And we've had just about everybody from Batman. That's right. He also wrote a movie called Pretty Poison, which is a movie. Tuesday Well. And Tony Perkins.

And he wrote The Drowning Pool for Paul Newman. That's where he was that, was he that detective again? Harper. Harper. He wrote Three Days of the Condor, for Paul Newman. That's where he was that, was he that detective again? Harper. Harper. Yeah. He wrote Three Days of the Condor, which is another paranoia kind of a thriller. It's another great 70s. Sidney Pollock. And you'll love this, he also wrote Papillon. Oh, not to be confused with Papillon Susu, who will be on my show any day now. Any day. So Robert Town was one of the writers on this.

It was directed by the late Alan Pakula. And it was part of what they called his Paranoia Trilogy, All the President's Men, The Parallax View, and Clute. Yes. And this is the only one that didn't make any money, maybe because it was just a little too dark. But it's too bad, because it's a very rewarding rewarding film and Beatty himself was part of the RFK campaign and was supposedly so shocked by the killing that he was inspired to make this

film with with with Pakula. And it's funny, Manchurian Candidate, another one of those paranoia films with Frank Sinatra. Yeah, Lawrence Harvey. That they delayed release of because Kennedy. Oh, because of the Kennedy assassination. Yeah, and Frankenheimer, John Frankenheimer, who directed that, was also a friend of the Kennedy family. Yeah.

So, it's a very, very strange film. It's a very dark film, a must see. I really went down the rabbit hole researching it today and the whole Sirhan Sirhan thing and then the pantry and you know about the supposedly, some people believe that Sirhan did not commit the assassination at all. Forget it, that'll always be.

Yeah, that he was, there's a theory that he was shot from the rear by a security guard named Thane Caesar. But that's a whole other podcast. No, he was shot by Sid Caesar. Sid Caesar! Yes! Ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha Oh, God. Oh. We just jumped the shark on that one. The year is 1974. It's a terrific film, and of that genre

that we talk about a lot, political thrillers of the 70s. And without giving away too much of the parallax view, Warren Beatty and Faye Dunaway get shot. Really? Yes. Yes. In slow motion, as Denver Pyle looks on. Yes.

You remember Denver Pyle? Yes. And Bonnie and Clyde? Didn't Denver Pyle also appear a lot on the Andy Griffith Show? He did. He was an old man darling. Yes. Yes.

Yeah. Good lord. We can free associate the look on Darah's face. I love Denver Pile, but that's a whole other show. We'll do a Denver Pile obsession show. So Parallax View is my movie. And my movie is The Last Detail with Jack Nicholson. And Randy Quaid, who I'd love to have on the podcast.

Oh my god. Should we try? Yeah, yeah. He's going to... I think getting Rand... If I said I'm going to get Randy Quaid, Gary Busey would say, oh, I don't know. Stay away from that. He scares me.

Would you prefer if I offered you Randy Quaid or Papi Ansusu? Who would you pick? Oh god, well Papi Ansusu. Of course. She's number one on the list. Yeah, but maybe the police can bring in Randy Quaid. I like when Randy Quaid went to Canada to hide out and the first thing he did in Canada was call a press conference to announce I'm hiding in Canada. Okay. I thought somehow he doesn't quite have his finger on this. Oh, God.

So, Randy Quaid and Pappy on Susu. Hopefully two future guests. See you next time. Give me that fact, colossal obsessions! Give me that fact, colossal obsessions! Give me that fact, colossal obsessions!