Dear Kenneth he is impersonating the lovely, my dear favourite aristocratic, upper class accent with such a funny passion... I can't stop smiling, bless him🙂👏👍.
I found this movie just through random wikipedia hopping. So weird that nearly everyone in this movie or involved is likely dead now. I wonder what lives everyone ended up having...
The video quality of this clip deteriorates as it continues. Thankfully, the audio is intact and this story is great! Mel is so animated you just stick with it. Enjoy!
Cary Grant was very very good about sending notes -- thank you, congratulations, sympathy, thinking of you, gifting, etc. He was a prolific note-writer and entire articles have been dedicated to this. Such a thoughtful act and truly lost art.
Mel Brooks, I'd like to say God rest his soul, but he is still alive. So, God rest his soul in advance of his passing. May the Schwarz be with him always.
Cary Grant was wonderful and he offered his lap to me in the magic castle theatre when there were no seats left- everyone got in on the joke and I wound up in the LA TIMES ❤
The fact there's about four jokes in the opening few seconds of this anecdote, totally unrelated to the story itself, is why Mel Brooks is the best. "When I left the Sid Caesar show - well, not left, I was kinda fired" and "I was working with a guy called Marvin Schwartz. Marvin Schwartz - I trusted him!" Both of these have nothing to do with the story but they get you laughing before the story even starts and get you in the mood for an anecdote that isn't really that funny (it's all in the delivery!). It's basically a masterclass in stand-up comedy. Building up the story too with little details like what he ate and how he pronounced Cary Grant as one name - Carygrant.
I'm a tremendous fan of Mr. Grant. However, two things I suspect to be true of the man: something of a cheapskate and very dull conversationalist. Perhaps I am wrong but I was very slow to convince on the point. Randolph Scott on the other had, from my reading, was a good natured communicative fellow.
There's a moral to this story. You REALLY don't want to get to know your idols. Acting is a craft, like plumbing, carpentry, masonry. The job doesn't give you insight into the person who does it. Getting to know a celebrity is no different than wanting to make a personal connection with the air conditioning repairman. You're likely to have NOTHING in common. So, enjoy the movie, or the TV show, or concert...and get on with your day.
My storyteller was a weird introverted teacher bullied by his father, the headmaster. But he did elocution and read poetry to us on stinking hot days. The best was The Highwayman by Alfred Noyes and we all set off looking at that time in history! Then onto Pirates and thus never ending exploring hisktory. Grateful to you Mr Robinson - you died before your time. South Kalgoorlie Primary School.
