60 years ago, I knew a real nun like that. She could whip out that ruler and wack-a-wrist so fast it would put a Jedi to shame. She was teaching us to circumflex. I did it, and then the kid after mid did it, but like running the bases. "Do that again!" the Nun demanded And he did it again. WHACK! My eyes were wide! Thank God I didn't screw that up!
to be fair, despite any flaws Jake might have had, he was willing to risk going back to jail in order to steal money to save the orphanage. Got to respect that
Yes, one of the best parts of an all around fabulous scene! Everything just comes together perfectly, topped off by the chemistry among the three actors! This and the fancy restaurant scene are my two favorite scenes in the movie, which is my all time favorite comedy!
My Dad went to Catholic school in the 50s and early 60s. His handwriting is like that of a calligrapher. As my Dad reminds me, he owes it all to the nuns at his school. When teaching him script, they would whack his hand with a ruler whenever he messed up.
Yeah, a lot of people unfamiliar with the Catholic school environment are kinda blanking on this scene. Jake and Elwood are chronic sinners in the court of an angry Queen. She even makes them sit in the stupid little desks again, with Jesus watching them from the cross on the wall. I love it.
@@thehighllama8101 I did that too but I was left handed and back in the 50s and early 60s the nuns called that "the bend sinister" and tried to make me write right handed instead and messed my handwriting up for the rest of my life when they used to whack my hand with a ruler whenever I tried to use my left hand. It was a good thing that I learned to type when I was in high school or no one could ever read what I wrote
Kathleen Freeman delivers a flawlessly perfect performance here - a master class in comedic timing and vocal inflection that simply does not age with time. Masterpiece.
It's such a great film, that I see something new every one of the many many times I've watched it. I grew up in Chicago,, and the movie captures the flavor perfectly. Plus, what great music!
"Oh, you fat penguin!" I went to Catholic school until I got out of high school. Nuns during the first eight years, brothers during the last four. That is exactly how I moved my desk, when I was still in it, whenever I had to. Lots of beatings to a good number of us, over time. Very few got through it all unscathed. Good times! 👍
Funny thing: I super glued my desks to the floor! You would find those round metal pads still stuck to the floor where they broke off many years later!! Almost got excommunicated for that!
Jake: I offered to help you. Penguin: Mhm. Jake: You refused to take our money. Penguin: Mhm. Jake: Then I said, "It looks like you're really up shit creek!" *Smack*
@@retroguy9233 Oh no ,no,no, for a highspirited young boy , I can attest yes they can , and then parents, brothers and sisters and pretty much anyone else will agree and maybe add to the punishment.
According to John Landis, John Belushi sprained his back falling down the stairs in the desk from the Penguin's office. He was in a back brace and on painkillers for the rest of filming.
It brings back memories of catholic primary school in the 1970's...Our principal was St Gae. I was on the receiving end of more than a few of those "attitude adjustments". Fun times.
I forgot how funny this scene is, I was in tears laughing so hard... LOL... After that first ruler broke and she started to weld that other cane I was crying and couldn't see what was happening but just the sound made me laugh harder, then John ends up rolling down the stairs still in that seat OMG they don't do humor like this anymore LOL... Thanks for the walk down memory Lane...
B rings me back to my days in Catholic School. We had Penguins too. Not all were like her just the Mother Superiors. Some were actually cute and nice. Made you wonder why they would choose that life? But that was their decision.
Yes , been there done that , Catholic school early seventies , belted by a nun . 53 now , looking back probably deserved it . Didn't do me any harm and l have a lot of respect for nuns . Also easily one of the best movies of all time
man, she is really fucking with these two, not only making two grown men use children's desks but then making them move closer.....makes me think she purposefully has the desks that far back just to make kids do the same thing to lord it over them. I know that sounds like it reaching, but I've known my fair share of folks who tell me similar stories of Nun's power tripping when they weren't beating kids senseless with rulers (and in ones case a full on belt, poor guy always wore suspenders he was so traumatized by it)
June 15, 2022----Watching the mother superior beat the shit out of the boys reminds me of The 3 Stooges for some reason. As to nuns and rulers, true story. Mom and her sister grew up during the Depression and were sent to a nunnery or something like that and when you lied/misbehaved, ruler went across your knuckles.
OMG!! Growing up in a Catholic School back in the 60's and 70's, this is absolutely hilarious!!! Seen this movie dozens of times but never heard Elwood call her "Fat Penguin" nor did I ever hear him say, "F*ck this noise!!" as he bailed on Jake!! lol
Went to catholic grade school. The bruises healed up in junior high. 😃 But even back then I realized that they were strict because they wanted us to have good lives.
Just recalling - now he's died and in the news - that the great Kathleen Freeman here was a regular of Jerry Lewis's films (and a close friend to the extent he paid her to be on set even when she had no scenes because he just liked having her around), and that after he stopped making movies in the late 1960s her work dried up and this was her 'comeback.' And also Henry Gibson (the Illinois Nazi Gruppenfuehrer) got his Hollywood break in JL's best movie 'The Nutty Professor' playing a stereotypical Aryan Jock Meathead Asshole.
What is so real is how the Penguin lays that guilt trip on Jake and Elwood, which hurts 100 times more than the yardstick, believe me i know from experience...
Having gone to a Catholic grade school myself, this scene really struck a nerve. But I was a video tape engineer during the taping of a PBS drama that starred Kathleen Freeman, and she was as nice as you could imagine.
Fxxx the hatin critics. .Blues Brothers is a classic comedy full of great scenes with many soul ledgends. .gotta love Rays music store scene where he fired a warning shot at the kid trying to steal a guitar! !!
"AAH you FAT PENGUIN"... breaks the wooden stick on Elwood and swings the sword... I am still crying till today.. what a scene LOOOL cant stop watching this scene... I am just thinking, how many scenes were not scripted and just came out, from the moment... I think this was one of those.. :D
I was sent by my Catholic parents to parochial schools, one was served by The Sisters of Mercy (though I now refer to them as The Sisters of NO Mercy). One or two nuns looked like The Penguin, though most did not, and 1 was the exact opposite, tempermentally, even though she was the school principal. Thank you forever, Sister Joel, you were one of my favorite teachers. Absolutely love the actress Kathleen Freeman who plays The Penguin, she manages to take all her roles and make them so realistic. You were one of my favorites, too.
When John Belushi fell down those stairs in the desk while filming this scene, he sprained his back. For the rest of filming, poor Belushi was in a back brace and on painkillers.
It has been almost 50 years but the pain of those rulers still stings when I think about them. Those old school nuns were real samurai with those rulers. At least Church schools gave would-be Karens a useful occupation in life; now they are judges and politicians and everything is going to hell. 😄
