Mel Brooks on Orson Welles | BFI 

He had so many radio shows he had an ambulance with a siren take him through the busy streets of NY to get to the next show. The law that was created that said you could not use a siren without it being an emergency was constructed because of Orson Welles !!!!

@@grahamhaynes9201 crazy how no one thought of this extremely obvious idea that still gets used all over the world of a fake emergency vehicle siren before Orson Welles 🙄

Was he actually the opening voice for "The Shadow"... "What evil lerks in the heart of man.." etc ??????

Like Sinatra and Crusty the Clown, One take and Out !

​@@richardthelionheart5594 yes, Welles was Lamont Cranston/The Shadow in the radio show for a while. He even wanted to make and direct a Shadow movie but for reasons which truly defy all logic, the producers passed.

And Hitchcock

The stories, man. The things these men witnessed.

Welles more than Brooks. I'd want Brooks to leave after about 2.5 minutes...

Same here.

As well as in my sleep.

All you have to do to know Mel Brooks' business acumen is listen to Gene Wilder.

He definitely had the Schwarz

James Feldman, All Jews are good with money, and the money side of anything.

so you could read his mind

@@RSR423 yeah, like Bernie Madoff

ahead of schedule and he didnt even charge extra! ... another way of looking at it ;)

@@mrrolandlawrence Very tacky comments around payments from Mr. Mel. Why do people think he's funny?

The market for voice overs paid peanuts. + it was probably Mel's personal $ he was paying. And any other producers would not like spending that much money on a voice over that could have been done by another famous voice for much less. Alas, if you want the best.... $ well spent

Yup.

all time greatest long Nose Merchants.. yes..

true. anyone to see welles in "catch-22" can attest to orson's great comic timing and inflection.

SOME American cinema is a legitimate art form. You need to use Netflix wisely.

Old American cinema was an art form. Just look to the first two Godfather films (or any mob-based Scorsese films), Citizen Kane, and a whole lot more. It's modern American cinema that is complete and utter garbage, with no artistic or cinematic value. Though I'm hoping it comes around in a decade or two.

My dad is a Frenchman and constantly cites Mel Brooks as some of his all-time favourites

​@@austinkersey2445 fingers definitely crossed.

And the 1980 Mini-Series, SHOGUN.

Plus Anna may seduce you while Mel was taking the kids swimming after the meal...

back then 25 was equal too 100,000 or more

Maybe he thought he was recording a frozen peas commercial. :P

I cringe when I think how much more these sports gits and talentless actors and rappers get now. Ugh.

What are you? an expert on actor salaries? Welles was no fool. He would have made sure he got paid right.

@@v-town1980 I mean they bring entertainment and joy to millions of people. Its pretty hard to put a price on that

That's a lot of caviar.

Well don't forget to adjust for inflation. $25,000 in the 1970s would equal roughly $100,000 in today's money. So $100,000 for 5 days work is nothing to sneeze at. However, you are correct in that he didn't have the kind of money you would expect for a cinema legend and American icon and legend like Orson Welles. When he died, his estate was estimated at around $25 million. I would have expected at least four times that for someone like him.

@@maxxxmodelz4061 who cares how much money it was what matters is if he thought of it as a bit of whoring lol

@@tictacterminator Have you seen his commercials from the 70's? Where he's so sloshed he can't even talk straight? Of course it was whoring, and he was whoring around for the last twenty thirty years of his life. Such an incredible waste of talent....

Maxxx Modelz Actually, about that would be about 75K (1981)

@@ingvarhallstrom2306 He didn't really waste his talent. He gave us some of the greatest bits of art in cinema history and changed the way movies were shot and edited. I think he did enough to warrant some whoring around and doing whatever he felt like for the last decades of his life. He was more invested in relaxing toward the final years, and I don't blame him. He's immortalized in cinema history anyway.

Plus he produced a lot of great films. Elephant Man and the like.

And not a single one of them could act their way out of a paper bag. More talent in a finger nail of Wells or Brooks. Capitalism can work in mysterious ways.

few hours? did you listen to what he said? he did 9 to 5 for a week.

​@@joj3734 Did *you* listen? He was *scheduled* to do 9 to 5 for a week but finished in a few hours

Yogurt

Smart move to block out the time - he had a budget to work with and 5 days covered random events beyond Brooks' control which might halt or delay recording. Booking Wells for 5 days means he has the time to get exactly what he needed in case Wells wasn't as perfect from the start or equipment issues cropped up or family emergencies or what not. Say he had booked Wells for a day and not got what he needed and Wells was busy elsewhere for a month. That's why you give yourself extra time if you can get it and afford it. Brooks could.

one mans trash is another mans treasure. in your case your trash is everyones trash.

.. of Israel?

@@cgavin1 Born in America, lives in America, and made his fortune in America - but only after going to Europe and fighting nazis FOR America. Yeah, President of the United States.

@@jkorshak You laid it down just right, Jerry. Thank you. Mel Brooks is an American we should all look up to.

President Skoorb! ('Brooks' backwards)

TheWholeYearInn it would be tempting 😁

Off to your meme-boards, idiot, enough of your bad pretending to be culutred.

Are you saying Mel Brooks has balls?

saying I love him lol

@@sclogse1 The man fought in WWII, made a hit comedy in B&W, and wrote a song called, "Springtime for Hitler." Enormous balls. And a lot of nerve.

Michael Bonet he's a comedian. You know that right?

He is also a jew so that makes even more sense.

yes

He was kidding.

You want cheap...take a look at PG&E. I've spent many years with middle class jews. Do you know that they donate around 25 percent of their income to the synagogue as a normal thing? Cheap. It's a stereotype that people like you like to keep heating up. Something to do with Hollywood producers. Well, guess who owns Hollywood now? Sony. Tight with a buck. Let's see you part with 25,000 for a narrator.

Wells was doing voice narration, not remaking Citizen Kane.

When the movie, History of the World starts and the theater darkens. You hear the magnificent voice of Orson Wells, you are immediately captivated and he delivers exactly what a Mel Brooks comedy needs more than anything. A rock solid basis in reality, so that the shenanigans may ensue.

lol

Underrated comment.

@@chiguirojaguar Thanks, it's all true.

He wanted Orson Welles for his distinctive voice and personality. His experience of actors led him to believe multiple takes would be necessary and that it might take up to 5 days of takes, retakes, coaching, and trying different readings to get exactly what he wanted. He did not take into account Welles long experience of live radio broadcasts and live theater which allowed him to nail the readings first go.

Ric: Why book five days? Watch the Paul Masson takes to see what could happen!

He probably had tons more narration than was actually used in the film.

The budget of 10 million is for production it doesn't include post production costs. There is a video on YT that explains the true costs of making a movie.

He's not miffed you idiot, he's telling a story. It's part of his schtick.

@@ingvarhallstrom2306 Haha, yeah, you are correct. I was an idiot here and you are correct in pulling me up on it. My kudos to you and I also appreciate your courage because "blowing the whistle" is not an easy thing to do.

@@Tom.Livanos I retract my previous statement, I do not consider you an idiot anymore. Furthermore, I apologize for even calling you that in the first place. I am so sorry! Self deprecating humour is among the corner stones of Jewish humour, and the way Mel Brooks uses it in this instance is a kind of humble bragging. He hired Orson Welles because he wanted to work with him, and I'm sure he gladly signed the check just for the pleasure of it.

@@ingvarhallstrom2306 Haha. Okay, yeah, idiot may have been strong based on one comment but, on my end, I am glad that you had me return and re-read my comment of over a year ago (as well as watch the video again). You are correct: Mel Brooks is telling an entirely well-intentioned and well-spirited anecdote here. I dare say/agree that Mel Brooks and Orson Welles had a fine time working with one another. Anyway, no problemo, apology accepted. I know that self deprecating humour is a key part of Australian and Greek humour/culture as well (being the two cultures I am most familiar with). Might I also venture that poking fun at oneself is very much a part of humour no matter where one goes. Not everyone finds the same thing funny but I'm sure self deprecating humour does exist in most towns, cities, countries... Aaaaaanyway, it is all good. Have a great day.

Welle's knew ahead of time he was going to be in'n'out in a few hours (with his experience of pages per hour historical output) so his hourly rate was off the charts. He was 'yea, that's about right, 5 days', during the talks, so the money counters wouldn't have a heart attack doling out $25,000 for 3 hours of work. Brando's 12 days @ 12 hours each calcs to $26,000 an hour. It wasn't that much of a steal.

It was satire on the Mormons who have a tradition of belief that the American Indians are descended from lost tribes of Israel.

"Tommy Gunnnn," says Joe Strummer from the great beyond.

You can get a whole Cuban for that.

The joke is buying very expensive caviar but opting for the still expensive but not as expensive different cavier with a less famous name.

philmstud2k. I would love a response to this, so please take my comment seriously and make sure you take to heart what I'm about to say. I believe what you are really referring to when you say "Jew " is the popular notion of the Zionist. whether Zionism exists or if so to what extent is another question but you, sir, may need to realize: Is Jew to you a religious preference or a cultural/racial ethnicity? I was born Jewish however I will not set foot in a temple, nor church nor mosque for that matter, because I value free thought. What also results in free thinking people I'd the ability to disagree with popular sentiment so...unlike many "Jews" whom you obviously dislike so greatly, I do not support the country of Israel nor do I see that as anybody's homeland...it is in fact this very issue which will result in the end of civilization one day whether in the next century or not is anybody's guess. therefore, am I still a jew? because I reject the very religion it defines itself with? YES I AM. Because I love my parents and my brother and his extended family, I have respect for others feelings . I feel when you disparage a group with such a casual/cavalier attitude, plus given the cover and protection of anonymity to some degee, I feel you have shown yourself to be not only uninformed, not only lacking in empathy and understand, but, more damming for you I should say, I FEEL YOU HAVE SHOWN YOURSELF TO BE A COWARD. Think hard about what that word means and also how you carry yourself online and ask yourself if you're a coward. if you can't see that in your behavior then you're either thoughtless, or if you are of another faith other than Judaism you have sinned because youre a liar.

LOL - and you can quote me on that. :)

Bro, not sure why you are bothering to respond in such depth to a random troll jew hater. He's a doofus saying bigoted stuff about someone who has led, and continues to lead, a life far more interesting and accomplished than he will ever know. I'm a fan of Brooks, and a lot of jewish celebrities/authors etc, even as a Palestinian-cause supporting agnostic of Muslim background.

Hahah antisemitism, amirite?

+Petit Haha, no you're not. In fact, tons of Jewish comedians (and ordinary people) could have (and have) made a similar joke on the thriftiness. Is making the same joke on Scottish people (as often happens in Europe) anti-scottism?

He got a deal...and was showing it off...pretending it cost too much. A bit like Steve jobs' mother saying ..."he's always in the garage wasting time with those metal boxes..."

It's an integral part of the story illustrating how competent Orson Wells was and what good taste he had, as well as riffing on himself as in distress for missing an opportunity to save himself $20,000 because he had booked Wells for 5 days instead of one - if he'd only known.