The musings of Sean Paul Murphy: Editor, Producer, Screenwriter, Author. Or, Hollywood -- and beyond -- as seen from an odd little corner of northeast Baltimore, Maryland.
The team at the website believes that Christian Entertainment has the ability to change the culture, and they want to draw attention entertainment worth the time of the Christian consumer. That is an admirable goal. They also are not afraid to call to task Christian entertainment that isn't worth the time of the Christian consumer. That's where I come in.
I became acquainted with the website as I sought out some reviews of my films. Their reviews of my PureFlix movies were often harsh although not always unfair. I have no problem with that. However, they did make two factual errors. First, they correctly guessed that Bobby Smyth was not the real name of the director ofThe Encounter: Paradise Lost. However, they incorrectly assumed it was directed by David A.R. White who had helmed the first one. That was not so. The film was directed by a DGA member who couldn't use his real name since it wasn't a union project. When I brought this fact to their attention, they corrected their review.
They also incorrectly said our television pilot Brother White was a rip-off of a faith-based film called The Rev. Granted, many PureFlix films are unabashed ripoffs of popular secular films. For example Hidden Secrets rips off The Big Chill, What If?.... rips off The Family Man, In The Blink of an Eye rips off Groundhog Day andMarriage Retreat rips off Couples Retreat. None of this was coincidental. I would get a phone call or email from David A.R. White saying he wanted a Christian version of this or that film. That said, I assured Justin that I had never seen The Rev, and, to my knowledge, no one else on the team had either. We only ripped off more popular films. They also made that correction.
Since they are obviously sincere and conscientious, I was happy to do an interview with them when I was invited to do so.
Who doesn't love to laugh? I know I do. I grew up during in a great time, when the television was filled daily with Three Stooges and Laurel & Hardy shorts, and there was always a Marx Brothers or W.C. Fields film playing somewhere. And let's not forget Abbott & Costello, Martin & Lewis, Ma & Pa Kettle and, of course, Francis The Talking Mule. Comedy was king. As a youth, I started collecting silent comedies on Super 8mm and discovered the comic trinity of Chaplin, Keaton and Lloyd.
The biggest problem with making a list of comedies is deciding what actually is a comedy. How many laughs are needed to turn a drama into a comedy? What about funny musicals? Or funny horror films? It calls for some very subjective judgments.
I am not going to handcuff myself with as many self-imposed restrictions as I did when I made my lists of horror films. My decision concerning what is a comedy will be decided on the basis of the individual film. However, I will try to restrain myself from flooding a decade with the work of a single comic visionary. For example, I am not going to put six Marx Brothers films on my Top 10 Comedies of the 1930s list. I will only pick one of their films as representative of their work during the period.
Also, I am going to try to rate the films in the context of their times. Therefore, expect to see some films on the lists which would be considered politically incorrect today. I will, however, discuss the controversy concerning some of those films when it seems appropriate.
I was actually surprised how many good comedies were made during the 1940s. While few of the films on my list were made during the height of American involvement in World War II, there were plenty of funny films both before and afterwards. However, I do look to the comedies of the 1940s with some melancholy. This decade proved to be a waning period for some of my favorite comedians. Laurel & Hardy, Harold Lloyd, Charlie Chaplin and The Marx Brothers all made films during this period, but they were clearly past their prime. Their brand of comedy was replaced by the wise-cracking style of Abbott and Costello as well as Bob Hope and Bing Crosby in their Road pictures.
Special material for Abbott and Costello by John Grant
My IMDB review:
Bud and Lou join the army and, like many comedians before and after them, endure the hardships of basic training in their first real feature. Having recently purchased the Abbott and Costello DVD boxed set, I decided to watch their features in a chronological order to study their comic development. It is an interesting journey for me. As a child, I was a big fan, but I somewhat soured on them over the years. (Probably due, in no small part, to reading how they grew to hate each other in real life.) Still, as a child, I often found them very funny, although, apart from the monster series, I had a hard time remembering which ones I liked the best. The box set seemed to be a good place to start. Buck Privates was always one of my favorite A&C films, but, now as America fights its war in Iraq, I found it hard to concentrate on the comedy. Instead, I was astounded by what a perfectly-constructed piece of propaganda it was. Hollywood certainly went to war with the troops, but this film is somewhat unique because it is a pre-war piece of propaganda. This is nothing short of a love letter to the draft. Through songs (admirably provided by the Andrews Sisters), comedy and social drama, we see how the draft not only helps the country, but the inductees as well. Although this film is regarded as the first "real" Abbott and Costello feature, they are, as in the One Night In The Tropicsonly supporting players. The real stars are Lee Bowman and Alan Curtis, a spoiled playboy and his former chauffeur, who become happy if competitive equals via the loving leveling of the military. This film so levels the two leads that neither of them manages to get the girl. I am not critical of the film. I'm simply amazed by it. I can't imagine Hollywood making such a patriotic film today - even if we were at war. It says a lot about Hollywood's, and our nation's, loss of innocence. ‘Tis a pity.
This film was nominated for two Oscars. One for the score and one for the song Boogie Woogie Bugle Boy of Company B.
Here's Director Larry Cohen's take on the trailer:
Childhood friends Bob Hope and Bing Crosby find themselves shipwrecked in Morocco where they meet Dorothy Lamour.
This is the third Road picture and arguably the best. However, to me, they are all more or less the same. An exotic location. Hope and Crosby try to one up each other while competing for Dorothy Lamour. Lots of industry jokes and breaking the fourth wall. These films were all the rage during the 1940s. I recently saw one of the later (and lesser) efforts on cable and I thought it held up surprisingly well.
This screenplay was nominated for an Oscar. Screenwriter Frank Butler would be nominated again for his script for Wake Islandand later win for the Bing Crosby film Going My Way. Screenwriter Don Hartman had been previously nominated for an Oscar for 1935's The Gay Deception, which was not what you might think.
This film was also nominated for an Oscar for Best Sound Recording.
A young man, angry that his mother was shunned by her noble family for marrying beneath her station, conspires to murder all eight of the heirs between himself and the title.
I saw this film on PBS when I was very young. I believe it was the first black comedy I saw that I identified as much. I remember being amazed how Alec Guinness played all of the ill-fated heirs. A real tour de force. (And, no doubt, an inspiration for Peter Sellers' similar comic stunts.) However, since the "hero" was also a D'Ascoyne heir, Guinness should have played him, too.
A couple decides to build their dream house in the country but cost overruns and other issues turn it into a nightmare instead.
This film perfectly captures the post-war prosperity and optimism. Unfortunately, for Mr. Blandings, Cary Grant, the prosperity doesn't go quite far enough to build a house for his wife, Myrna Loy. Frustration leads to paranoia and he begins to suspect that his best friend, Melvyn Douglas, may have designs on the lady of the house. A good domestic comedy well-played by a skilled cast. Cary Grant was one of the best comic actors of the era, and Myrna Loy matches him every step of the way. She is very under-appreciated today.
Groucho is hired as the manager of a hotel in Casablanca where he, and Harpo and Chico, must tangle with former Nazis over a treasure.
The Marx Brothers of the 1940s were a pale shadow of the Marx Brothers of the 1930s. They knew it, too. If they were action heroes in the 1980s, they would have collectively said "I'm too old for this s**t." They apparently only did the film to help Chico with his gambling debts. Still, pale Marx Brothers are better than no Marx Brothers at all. I definitely prefer this film to some of their late MGM features like 1940's Go West and 1941's The Big Store. To me, this is the last real Marx Brothers film. Love Happy,The Story of Mankind and The Incredible Jewel Robbery don't count.
Chaplin plays two roles in this film, a poor, persecuted Jewish barber and an anti-Semitic, Hitler-like dictator of the country.
This was an exceptionally bold film. Chaplin set out to make it when the big seven Hollywood studios, who were mostly run by Jews, were working hard to placate Nazi Germany and Fascist Italy for business reasons. (Pretty much the same way Hollywood now studiously removes any content from their films that might possibly offend the totalitarian overlords of the People's Republic of China.) Chaplin was his own boss and he had the power to follow his conscience.
This was the last of his great slapstick comedies, and the film is very funny in places. (The comedy in 1947's Monsieur Verdoux would take a darker and more cynical tone.) I particularly enjoy the scenes between Chaplin and Jack Oakie, who stands in for Mussolini. Chaplin's dance with the globe is also justly celebrated. That said, Chaplin completely steps out of the narrative when the barber, mistaken for the dictator, delivers a radio speech to the nation. This heartfelt speech, for world peace and equality, was widely applauded at the time, but later got him in trouble during the postwar Red Scare.
The film was nominated for five Oscars: Best Picture, Best Actor in a Leading Role (Chaplin), Best Actor in a Supporting Role (Jack Oakie), Best Writing, Original Screenplay (Chaplin), and Best Music, Original Score (Meredith Wilson).
All that said, The Three Stooges beat Chaplin to a Hitler spoof with You Nazty Spy. (Chaplin started his film first, but the Stooges beat him to the theaters.)
A theatrical troupe in occupied Poland, lead by a hammy actor, Jack Benny, and his leading lady wife, Carole Lombard, finds itself in a plot to save the underground from the Nazis.
Ernst Lubitsch, a European emigre, brought his famous "touch' of sophistication to this anti-Nazi film. I rate this film higher on the list than Chaplin's film because he managed to make his points within the context of the story, which was funny in and of itself. Unlike Chaplin, he didn't step out of the narrative to deliver a speech.
This film was completed in 1941, but held back for release until after America entered the war. It proved to be the last film for the talented Carole Lombard. She died in a plane crash returning home after a war bond rally, making her an early American casualty of the conflict.
Screenplay by W.C. Fields (as Mahatma Kane Jeeves)
W.C. Fields tries his hand at directing and working at a bank while mainly trying to find his next drink in this film.
W.C. Fields had three starring vehicles for Universal during the 1940s before his failing health slowed him down considerably: My Little Chickadee, with top-billed Mae West, The Bank Dickand Never Give A Sucker An Even Break. Many Fields aficionados think the later two films who the Great One at his finest. Not me. I like his earlier Paramount films better. Still, all three of the films have their charms. I find The Bank Dick the funniest, but Never Give A Sucker An Even Breakranks a close second. Fields was a unique presence in American comedy. He resolutely remained himself, and wasn't afraid to appear unlikeable. He didn't beg for laughs. He just earned them.
The patriarch of a wealthy New York family in the 1890s, William Powell, tries to run his family of his wife, Irene Dunne, and four sons with the efficiency of a business.
The Patriarchy Police will no doubt be triggered by this film, but, of course, we soon discover that, despite his bluster and intentions, mother ultimately rules the roost. The film is excellently played by William Powell and Irene Dunne and an adorable young Elizabeth Taylor. Although its roots on the stage are obvious, director Michael Curtiz makes it a movie.
I never understood why Michael Curtiz isn't ranked in the top echelon of Hollywood "auteurs" with the likes of Alfred Hitchcock, John Ford, Frank Capra and Preston Sturges. It is perhaps that those other directors specialized in a specific genre. Curtiz could do it all. Imagine directing a drama like Casablanca, 1942, a musical like Yankee Doodle Dandy, also 1942, a swashbuckler like The Adventures of Robin Hood, 1938, and a comedy like this one equally well. Wow. Talk about no respect!
David Ogden Stewart, the best screenwriter out of Columbus, Ohio, was previously nominated for an Oscar for the 1931film Laughter. He would finally win the prize for the next film on the list.
A rich woman's ex-husband shows up on eve of her second marriage with a tabloid reporter and photographer in tow.
This is a very interesting film in the context of today's times. I think Katherine Hepburn's status as a feminist icon holds the politically correct police at bay. It would not be difficult to view this film as a misogynistic exercise in a taming a confident, socially-defiant woman so that she can accept a more acceptable feminine role. Nor can we forget the way Cary Grant pushes her over in the open. That's spousal abuse. Or maybe we can just relax and enjoy the film as a comic examination of social mores of the time. Personally, I'll take the later.
The film one three Oscars: Best Picture, Best Actor in a Leading Role (James Stewart) and Best Writing, Screenplay, David Ogden Stewart. Katherine Hepburn, who had gained the reputation of box office poison before this film, was nominated for Best Actress in a Leading Role. Ruth Hussey was also nominated for Best Actress in a Supporting Role and George Cukor was nominated for Best Director.
Cary Grant and Katherine Hepburn also appeared in George Cukor's 1938 film Holiday, another adaptation of a Philip Barry play. That film is perhaps my favorite Katherine Hepburn film, but I don't know if it will make my list of 1930s comedies since it leans toward the dramatic side. If you like The Philadelphia Story, you should check out that film as well.
Honorable Mention:
HIS GIRL FRIDAY, 1940. Perhaps the best version of the oft-filmed play The Front Page by Ben Hecht and Charles MacArthur. The play set the tone for snappy dialogue in Hollywood and Ben Hecht himself became perhaps the greatest screenwriter in history. Just thinking about it makes me want to rework my list.... MY FAVORITE WIFE, 1940. This screwball romcom starring Cary Grant and Irene Dunn found itself on and off the list a couple of times. THE MAN WHO CAME TO DINNER, 1942. Acerbic critic Monty Woolley becomes the unwelcome house guest of an Ohio businessman in this comedy based on a play by the great George S. Kaufman and Moss Hart. SHADOW OF THE THIN MAN, 1941. All of the Thin Man movies are worth watching. However, the films lost some of their subversive charm as Nick and Nora became more domesticated later in the series. HELLZAPOPPIN', 1941. Many people rank this Olsen and Johnson film one of the greats, but I am ashamed to admit I haven't seen it. (Yet.) SULLIVAN'S TRAVELS, 1941. Don't get me wrong. I appreciate all of Preston Struges' films, but they just don't make me laugh as much as the other films on the list. SAPS AT SEA, 1940. Although I enjoy Laurel & Hardy's weaker efforts, none of their films in the 1940s reach the classic level of their work in the 1920s and 1930s. I think the boys would agree with me. THE FULLER BRUSH MAN, 1948. Perhaps the best Red Skelton vehicle, but he would ultimately find a comfortable home on television.
My novel Chapel Street is now available! You can currently buy the Kindle and paperback at Amazon and the Nook, paperback and hardcover at Barnes & Noble.
"The writer's job is to get the main character up a tree,
and then once they are up there, throw rocks at them."
Movies tend to be about events that change of the lives of the characters in a fundamental way. The older you get, the more you realize that people do not change except under duress. Therefore, you must apply a great deal of pressure to make your characters arc seem legitimate to an audience. You can't let them off easy.
This is a major failing in most amateur scripts I read. Particularly the faith-based scripts. Those authors tend to be nice people themselves and don't want to make their characters suffer too much or possibly appear too unlikeable. As a result, their scripts tend to be boring and unrealistic -- with very low stakes.
That said, I understand why they do it.
Niceness killed many of my spec scripts of the 1990s. Let explain how.
Early in my career, when my work was plot driven, I didn't have a problem with niceness. The relentless plots confronted the characters at every turn. However, as I began writing character driven scripts, niceness began plaguing them. Why? Because I began loosely basing characters on real people I found fascinating. These people I wrote about often meant something to me. As a result, I didn't want to hurt their fictional counterparts or present them in an unfavorable light.
Here's an example, those of you who have read my memoir The Promise, or the Pros and Cons of Talking with Godknow I had a complicated relationship with a woman, with whom I was briefly engaged, during the 1990s. She suffered from issues related to abandonment and childhood sexual assault, which led to behavior damaging to our relationship. Partially in an attempt to understand her better, and my sometimes self-destructive attraction to her, I tried to create stories centered on a character built around my perceptions of her. However, because I wanted people to like her, I couldn't bring myself to convey any of the behavior I found troubling. As a result my two attempts to build stories around that character remained unfinished for nearly twenty years. I only recently completed one of them, with the aid of sufficient distance and a co-writer.
This tendency is one of the reasons why I caution people about writing about themselves and their own circumstances. (See my blog: Writing about yourself.)
Yes, you should love your characters. However, if you truly love them, you should mercilessly toss them into the maelstrom in order for them to emerge stronger!
Who doesn't love to laugh? I know I do. I grew up during in a great time, when the television was filled daily with Three Stooges and Laurel & Hardy shorts, and there was always a Marx Brothers or W.C. Fields film playing somewhere. And let's not forget Abbott & Costello, Martin & Lewis, Ma & Pa Kettle and, of course, Francis The Talking Mule. Comedy was king. As a youth, I started collecting silent comedies on Super 8mm and discovered the comic trinity of Chaplin, Keaton and Lloyd.
The biggest problem with making a list of comedies is deciding what actually is a comedy. How many laughs are needed to turn a drama into a comedy? What about funny musicals? Or funny horror films? It calls for some very subjective judgments.
I am not going to handcuff myself with as many self-imposed restrictions as I did when I made my lists of horror films. My decision concerning what is a comedy will be decided on the basis of the individual film. However, I will try to restrain myself from flooding a decade with the work of a single comic visionary. For example, I am not going to put six Marx Brothers films on my Top 10 Comedies of the 1930s list. I will only pick one of their films as representative of their work during the period.
Also, I am going to try to rate the films in the context of their times. Therefore, expect to see some films on the lists which would be considered politically incorrect today. I will, however, discuss the controversy concerning some of those films when it seems appropriate.
So here we are in the 2000s. Looking back, I must admit that comedy fatigue set in during the decade. I felt a certain sameness after a while. The same configuration of actors appearing in a nonstop series of films about man-children afraid to grow up. This proved to be one of my most difficult lists to assemble because, after the top few, I wasn't passionate about any of the films. Still, there were some gems scattered about.
Two unpopular high school seniors try to reverse their status by providing all of the alcohol for a massive party.
Every generation has their version of a coming of age comedy where high school friends either try to get to that giant party or score with a girl before they separate to go to college. Ladies and gentlemen of 2007, this was your version. With their obsessiveness on either partying or sex, and raunchy humor, these films tend to be very politically incorrect in our more "enlightened" times. Overall, I found this one better than its earlier Porky's and American Pievariants. If you want to check out high school from a female perspective during the decade, watch 2004's Mean Girls, with a script by Tina Fey.
Superbad former CIA agent Black Dynamite decides to clean up the ghetto after his brother is killed, only to discover a conspiracy by The Man at goes all the way to the top.
This homage to blaxploitation films of the seventies is a true gem. Unlike, say, I'm Gonna Get You Sucka, the filmmakers so perfectly captures the form that it serves as both an actual blaxploitation film and a loving, and hilarious, homage. Michael Jai White was born to play this role. He has the built and martial arts skills for the action and the necessary comedy chops. The key to the comedy is that everyone plays it completely straight. The film inspired an adult swim animated series, but I'm still waiting for a sequel!
Fortunately, we got to talk to one of the producers of the film in a very special episode of the Yippee Ki Yay Mother Podcast. You can listen to it here. Or watch it on Youtube below:
A pothead summons server, Seth Rogen, gets caught up in a gangland war after witnessing a murder. He is forced to go on the run with his clueless dealer, James Franco.
This decade had a number of stoner comedies. Not one to indulge myself, I need something a little more substantial than some subpar Cheech & Chong humor. Fortunately, this film delivers mainly due to the chemistry between Seth Rogen and James Franco. They are an enjoyable duo to watch, and fortunately they would follow this film up with some other comedies.
A television news anchorman from the seventies falls in love and confronts his misogynistic assumptions.
This decade Will Ferrell replaced Adam Sandler as America's favorite boy-man. That was good news, I suppose. He is funnier than Sandler, but, as far as I am concerned, his schtick started getting pretty thin by the end of the decade. That said, I found many of his films pretty funny. For this list I debated between Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby, Old Schooland Elf. I think Anchorman was the funniest of the group, if only for the quickly escalating rumble between the rival news teams. Elf might make my list of Christmas films one day.
The owner of a small record store, John Cusack, tries to come to terms with his recent breakup by revisiting his former breakups.
There's something about guys that make them obsessive collectors or fans. That's what I find most amusing about this film: The snobby elitism of the staff of the record store. Granted, I like the whole romcom thing too, but I keep coming back for the record store. This film also represents John Cusack near the pinnacle of his career. I have been enjoying his work since the 1980s and I think he reached his peak here with this film and the previous one Being John Malkovich.
A recently widowed man decides to drive across the country in a motor home to attend his estranged daughter's wedding.
I have a hard time placing Alexander Payne in the cinematic universe. He displays the intelligence and cynicism of the Coen Brothers, but lacks their overall idiosyncratic worldview. Still, Payne makes consistently good films -- Downsizing notwithstanding. The most important tool in Payne's arsenal this time is Jack Nicholson. Much more subdued than usual, Nicholson still gives a masterful performance. It ranks high in his canon. He is also aided and abetted by Kathy Bates, who also gives one of her best performances. Both Nicholson and Bates were nominated for Oscars.
A group of highly-strung actors filming a big budget Hollywood war film don't quite realize it when the shooting becomes real.
This is a fabulous satire of Hollywood ego and studio greed. I have always appreciated Ben Stiller, but I often get the feeling that, with a few exceptions, he isn't the right fit for the roles he chooses. In this film, he finds that role: As an actor trying to find the right role to define himself. Even better is Robert Downey, Jr., who plays a multi-Oscar winner, who is so committed to his role that he has his skin surgically dyed black to play an African-American. The film is loaded with cameos. Tom Cruise, hidden under heavy makeup, provides the best one as a ruthless studio executive. This is the kind of film you watch and wonder who the characters are really based on....
Three escaped prisoners in the depression-era South experience a series of adventures oddly reminiscent of Homer's Odyssey.
Stealing its title from Preston Struges and the structure from Homer, the Coen brothers score yet another intelligent, comic hit. Talk about an idiosyncratic vision! They go places no other filmmakers would even think of going. So far, they have had a film on my comedy Top 10 every decade from the time they arose. They will have one on the next decade, too!
Extra points for briefly popularizing Americana music.
This mockumentary follows a group of people whose pets compete in a prestigious dog show.
This film follows in the vein of This Is Spinal Tapand Waiting For Guffman, but surpasses them both in laughs. Christopher Guest is a genius. He and co-writer Eugene Levy created a structure that allowed their talented comic cast to develop characters that were both hilarious and grounded in reality. I know exactly how grounded these characters were in reality. When this film came out, I was editing a series featuring dog agility competitions for Animal Planet. Every character in this film seemed based on one of our real contestants!
Shameless plug: Here's star Fred Willard talking about performing in my film Holyman Undercover.
An overzealous London police officer, who makes his colleagues look bad by comparison, is exiled to a small, peaceful village where he soon begins to suspect that a series of accidents might actually be murders.
This film was made by the same team that brought us the horror comedy Shaun of the Dead. I didn't think it would be possible for them to surpass that film, but they did with this gem. The script is simply perfect. Witty and intelligent. Also, it is structured beautifully. They literally pay off everything they set up. There isn't a wasted word. But the success of the film relies on more than the writing. It is directed and acted beautifully. Simon Pegg and Nick Frost make a fantastic comedy team. They should only work together. However, the film also features a who's who of British cinema in a supporting and cameo roles. Everyone from Bill Nighy, Jim Broadbent, Steve Coogan, Cate Blanchett and director Peter Jackson. They even have a James Bond: Timothy Dalton. Who could ask for anything more?
I don't think this film got the release or recognition it deserved. If you haven't see it yet, do yourself a favor and take a look.
Honorable Mention:
WAITING...., 2005. Perhaps it was my years as a busboy, but I found this film hilarious. THE 40-YEAR-OLD VIRGIN, 2005. Funny, but not a classic. Maybe it hit a little too close to home for me. TEAM AMERICA: WORLD POLICE, 2004. America, F**k Yeah! THE HANGOVER, 2009. Pretty good. The sequels are shameless money grabs. JACKASS THE MOVIE, 2002. Laughed all the way through it, but felt ashamed afterwards. STEP BROTHERS, 2008. Men refusing to grow up. The theme of the decade. Yawn. SCHOOL OF ROCK, 2003. Liked it, but I think Jack Black began to take his rock star persona too seriously. BORAT, 2006. Sasha Baron Cohen's Candid Camera-style big screen debut. Laughed through it the first time but I didn't feel it sustained repeated viewings. IDIOCRACY, 2006. Very funny. Perhaps I should have put it in the Top 10. LEGALLY BLONDE, 2001. Enjoyed it, but two sequels. Really? NAPOLEON DYNAMITE, 2004. Didn't like it. Sorry. I might have been a nerd in high school, but not that much of a nerd.
My novel Chapel Street is now available! You can currently buy the Kindle and paperback at Amazon and the Nook, paperback and hardcover at Barnes & Noble.
