I love this short excerpt from Conan O'Brien's occasional "Serious Jibber-Jabber" talk show, where Mel Brooks tells his story about dining at Chasen's with Alfred Hitchcock.
What a treasure Brooks is. Such a grand era he was from. Certainly entertainers don't come with the same class, charm and talent as he and his peers did back then.
I love these comments. Do you honestly believe there are no classy, charming, and talented entertainers out there today? I bet we could find some real assholes back in the day, too. Y'all gotta stop pretending that the past was somehow better than the present.
I got Mel's book "All About Me" on audio. It is read by Mel himself, and listening to it is like having him in your living room, in a big easy chair just regaling you with story after story! Great book, but best on audio for that reason!
@@zelmoziggy If you get a chance watch Blazing Saddles with the commentary on. Rye toast with butter, beef and broccoli with a Pepsi, Earl Grey tea with digestive biscuits that were sort of graham crackery. It goes on and on.
That's why Mel Brooks is who he is ,A tale spinner ,and a comic genius. O'Brien gifted his audience with a gifted man talking about another gifted man.
When I was a teenager, lo these long 4 decades ago, I stumbled across an anthology of short SF stories that was put together and edited by Issac Asimov. In the foreword, in which he catalogued the events of the year and the novels that were published, he used to include a line that said, "Mel Brooks was still known as Melvin Kaminsky." Then at some year in the anthology in the 50's, it changed when Mel changed his name. I always liked that.
When I was an exchange student in France, a buddy and I had an expression : "Go Orson." That meant going into a nice restaurant and ordering all we could afford to eat; we would imagine his chubby, beared head floating in the air, beaming down on us with approval.
This was beautiful. The background with Mel in a black suit, it creates such a beautiful mood. The story is so mundane but I was hanging on every word.
Mundane isn't the word for a story of dining with Alfred Hitchcock. Not this one anyway. Were it mundane, you wouldn't have hung on every word, by definition. (Oxford: "mundane: lacking interest of excitement; dull")
@@dixonpinfold2582 or maybe I was saying that, were it not for the mood and ambiance, the story would have been mundane, which is why I said it the way I did. You could rearrange the syntax like this: "The story was so mundane but I was hanging on every word because of the beautiful mood, etc." Ordinarily the story would be mundane and dull, "but" because the external factors, I was not bored by it. Glad we could have this chat about English grammar and its great versatility.
Yeah, I remember a period of 5 years in the 80's where I saw as many of his movies as I could. Made a lasting impression. He must have been inspired by Marx Brothers I recon. Perhaps you can find some of that weird comedy in some series today? Any suggestions?
@@YOURTECHFRIEND Mel's style is as near to comedy perfection as I can think just now. Near to him I guess is Jerry Zucker. Of Airplane and Naked Gun/Police Squad fame. Those were really funny too. Anyone modern, I have nothing.
That’s the exact attitude he was guarding against with that statement. I think Hunter Thompson said it best: “Life should not be a journey to the grave with the intention of arriving safely in a pretty and well preserved body, but rather to skid in broadside in a cloud of smoke, thoroughly used up, totally worn out, and loudly proclaiming ‘Wow, what a ride!’l
They say he was Anything but humble Kieran Behan. Pure comic genius, but his giant ego was nearly as legendary among those that knew him, as his talent
Fun fact: My parents owned a hardware store in a tiny town in Michigan. My mother, youngest daughter of an erudite and ironic Englishman, had posted near the cash register a sign that read: Eschew obfuscation. 😉
I had the good fortune to be seated at the next table to Sir Alfred Hitchcock during lunch one Saturday afternoon in the mid 1970s at the old Autopub, in the then sunken front plaza of the General Motors Building on 5th Avenue in Manhattan. People familiar with the building in those days will know this is the space that has since been renovated into the iconic Apple store. My back was to the great director so I wasn't able to observe his entire menu but while coming and going from my seat I did see he had numerous dishes on his table. Needless to say everyone in the restaurant noticed Hollywood's most famous director sitting there having lunch by himself!
And with the Oscars coming up in March 2024, they actually said the female director was snubbed because she didn’t get an Oscar nomination for directing Barbie and Alfred Hitchcock never got awarded a Oscar,however later on awarded a honorary Oscar?
Alfred Hitchcock's favorite dining song: Do it Again by Steely Dan, partially for the encouragement for more gluttony in the title and the violence hinted at in the lyrics.
I just watched the Mel Brooks tells Carson the Cary Grant story. He remembered every single thing Cary Grant ate too. I think Mel must always be hungry.
I could watch *Vertigo* again on the big screen but I keep wondering what it would have been like with Grace Kelly and Cary Grant, who were Hitch's first choice.
@Ubiquitary Audrey Hepburn is #2. She was somewhat competent, at best, in My Fair Lady, had as many cringe-y moments in Roman Holiday as decent ones (mostly because she was adorable, not because her acting got better), was an utter embarrassment in Charade, and then it just gets entirely forgettable after that. During filming of Roman Holiday, William Wyler was upset that she couldn't cry during the last scene so he yelled at her about wasting all of those takes--and THAT'S what got her to cry. And think of the irony of My Fair Lady, someone who doesn't know how to act being instructed by an expert. The one exception might have been Breakfast At Tiffany's, where she plays a woman going through life hiding her emotions. So in that way she was right for that role, although she didn't have the other qualities necessary to play a hooker. Lucille Ball is #1. Unattractive, scratchy (without being sexy) voice, got through I Love Lucy with one mug. Yours, Mine, and Ours is a particular awful-fest. World-wide fame and a solid C- at the Actor's Academy. Remember, this is relative to their fame--there are certainly worse actresses out there overall.
Hey Mike, old boy. They might not have been Shakespearean-level actresses, but you're certainly accomplished at being a douche! Perhaps you should try watching Audrey in Wait Until Dark. She holds her own opposite Alan Arkin and Richard Crenna. Or even Sabrina w/Bogie & Bill Holden. Might help your disposition, along with a bitch slap. Bye..
I heard this story before with other interviewers. Conan, do your damn job and MOVE IT, MOVE IT, MOVE IT!!! Interject, cajole, commiserate, anything to fill the dead space. Be like Johnny, not like Ed.
Interesting how certain people remember details so emphatically. Artur Rubenstein, the great pianist, was also quite taken with remembering details, particularly meals eaten, and of course piano music. Sorry, I digressed.
Try being around a person who is morbidly obese and you will see that there are great costs to pay for overindulging your appetites. A really fat person is physically impaired. They can barely walk, and forget about climbing more than a couple of steps. A vacation to Disneyland for a morbidly obese person is nearly a nightmare. And then there's the cost paid in living fewer years, possibly decades less. Enjoy your meals, by all means. But think about the costs of eating seconds before you do it.
Conan asks: "whats it like going to Chasins with Hitchkock"?. Mel answers: "Well you gotta get in on my boxette." You don't pay you don't find out. They don't call him Super Jew for nothing.
