Gilbert Gottfried's Amazing Colossal Podcast - GGACP Classic: Marathon Man & Road to Perdition

Episode Date: May 8, 2025

GGACP celebrates May's National Dental Care Month by revisiting this discussion of a favorite Gilbert and Frank movie, the classic 1976 thriller "Marathon Man." In this mini-episode: Roy Scheider finds trouble, Dustin Hoffman relies on "the Method," Laurence Olivier attracts a crowd and Danny Kaye comes aboard as a "special consultant"?? PLUS: Frank introduces Gil to "Road to Perdition"! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Don't forget! TV comics, movie stars, hit singles and some toys. Trivia and dirty jokes, an evening with the boys. Once is never good enough for something so fantastic. Here's another Gilbert and Frank! Here's another Gilbert and Price! Colossal Classic You see it's been a long time no ice name. Ah, never mind. Hi, this is Gilbert Gottfried and I'm here with my co-host Frank Santopadre and this

is Gilbert and Frank's amazing colossal obsessions. Now last week we talked about Paul Newman. Yes. And we talked about the Hudson Proxy and here's I also touched briefly on a movie called Blaze which I like. Paul Newman's a Jew. That's right. Yeah. That's right. He's a Jew. Yeah. That's the most important thing. We do a third show on Fridays called Who's a Jew? Who's a Jew? Yeah, yeah.

Paul Newman's a Jew. This is one of... I'll ask you about the rest of the cast in a minute. I think Alan King's a Jew. I'm not positive. Well, you think. And Jackie Mason maybe? Yeah, we're still checking into that.

Perhaps Jackie Green, I don't know. I always love that Simpsons gag, Mel Brooks is a Jew. This is another, we talked about the Hudsucker proxy last week and a latter day role for Newman. This is another one from 2002, a movie that I love that Gilbert hasn't seen, but he's lucky because I brought it with me on DVD, called Road to Perdition, which is, you know, for the most part a Tom Hanks movie. Yes. With Hanks in a role that, you know, you would think you would have trouble buying him in

as a killer, as a hitman. He's terrific in the film. But Newman plays his kind of surrogate father that that he runs afoul of. It's a gangster picture, a very very good film based on a graphic novel by two guys Max Allen Collins and Richard Rayner. It's a wonderful movie. It was Sam Mendes's follow-up to American Beauty, his first movie. He took the world by storm and won Best Picture.

Kevin Spacey. Kevin Spacey, right. Also shot by the great Conrad Hall, who shot this. One of the great things about this movie is the production design done by Dennis Gassner and Conrad Hall cinematography. Conrad Hall. The cinematography in the movie I'm taking was Hunts Hall. Really?

Yes. It was Louis Dabr Hall. Really? Yeah, yes. The one you were doing with Dabrowski. Yes. Ooh, ooh. Put more light there. Ooh, ooh. Yes. Of course we like to digress.

You know who does a great Hunts Hall? Bobby Slayton. Oh, yes. Best Hunts Hall in the business. Come back to that. Because there's a real call for it. Yeah. Conrad Hall, who's shot, you should know who he is.

Liberty Valens. He did shoot Liberty Valens. He did shoot the movie that you're going to recommend after I stop yammering. Yeah. He shot, I won't mention it, he shot Butch Cassidy in The Sundance Kid Day and Locust Coolhand Luke, a great cinematographer. This film is sumptuous. It's a lot, there's a lot to look at.

It's beautifully shot. It's beautifully directed. The acting is great. Again, I won't give you too much of the story because I don't want to give away the guts of it or the surprises. Jennifer Jason Lee, who we keep talking about. Yes, who likes to take her clothes off. Who you like to point out likes to take her clothes off. Yeah, that's what I heard about her Jennifer Jason Lee if you're listening Come over to my apartment and take your clothes off. Thank you

Jason Lee yeah Jennifer Jason Lee She's the she's in the film Stanley to cheat turns up Jude law Is as a killer another killer very, very scary character. If you haven't seen it from 2002, we usually recommend older movies, but this one has been on my list. I haven't got my wife to watch it yet. I want to get my wife to watch it. It's one of my favorite movies of the 2000s. Hanks is great. The direction's great.

I don't want to say, oh, Daniel Craig turns up. The future James Bond. Oh, yes. Is in it too. Not Jewish, but he's in a lot of movies that had to do with Jews. Yeah, isn't he in a Holocaust film? He's in that one about, based on a true story,

they were like- With the Hiding in the Woods? Yeah, yeah. What's the name of that picture? Oh, God. Jews on the Loosers were like like hiding in the woods yeah yeah what's the name of that picture oh god Jews on the loose Jews in the woods I think it was called with Marty Allen yeah Charlie Brill and he was also in Munich correct yeah he was in Munich which which subject we talked to Bob Costas about. That's right. It all comes full circle.

So I'm not going to give away. Well, it means we have nothing to talk about anymore. We're running out of ideas and movies. Road to Perdition is a terrific film. If you haven't seen it, great performances. Check it out. We will return to Gilbert Gottfried's amazing Colossal podcast after this. Mr. Gottfried's amazing colossal podcast after this.

Mr. Gottfried. Okay, the next film that I'm picking is one directed by John Schlesinger and it who directed Midnight Cowboy with Dustin Hoffman and John Voight and I've been falling down a lot. I'm scared. You know what they do to you when they find out you can't walk. So he... Ratz O'Riordan by way of David Brenner. Yes. Oh, oh hi, I'm Ratso Rizmo. It's David Brenner as Ratso Rizmo. Oh boy, hey look, Joe Buck, Joe Buck, you know what you should do? You should become a male hustler.

A male, you ever, you ever see those male hustlers? They wear cowboy hot thing You know what I mean? You're talking about oh Wait wait wait wait You know one thing you go on thing you pick you get pain to have sex is that wild? Oh John MacGyver yes Oh, John MacGyver, yes. You've got a strong back there, Joe. Get on your knees. A strong back.

You're gonna need it, Joe. Name me one other podcast that gives you John MacGyver and David Brenner as Ratso Rizzo. And he makes him go and read from the Bible and read scripture And I was funny old Daniel freaking out like that Yeah, and yet that's not your movie now after all that no but John Schlesinger Oh, I was supposed to pick a movie John Schlesinger would team up with Dustin Hoffman again.

Correct. For another fun action film. Lighthearted. Yeah, lighthearted. And you know, I love my Nazi films. Yeah, you give me my Nazi films. I'm happy. And this has to do with

Nazis the House of Un-American activities and the Olympics Yeah, with they keep having clips of Jesse Owens right running and Dustin Hoffman plays like he's a you know, he's basically a college student and he goes out running every day. And then he finds out his older brother Roy Scheider from Jaws is mixed up in some strange activity that he didn't know about.

And Lawrence Olivier is there, I think, Snell or Schnell? Zell. Zell. Zell. We haven't even said the name of the picture. Yes, yes. You might want to throw that in. It's Marathon Man.

People that don't know it, shame on them. And Marathon Man taps into, you know how Jaws tapped into people's fear of water? This does them one better. Peep everyone's fear of the dentist. And so there's a torture scene that is hard to watch where Olivier takes an electric drill and starts drilling into Dustin Hoffman's teeth as they're holding him down. And that's where that line cuts. Is it safe?

Is it safe? What do you mean? I don't know what you're talking about. Is it safe? He runs through the whole game. It's very safe. Totally safe. Yeah. Is it safe? He runs through the whole game. It's very safe, totally safe. Yeah, it's safe.

It's so safe you wouldn't believe it. And it's, yeah, so Olivier's great in it. He's terrifying. Oh, he's so scary in this. And oh, he also has that line, simple oil of clove. Yes. Pain relief.

Life can be that simple. Yes. And it's wonderful. William Devane turned up. William Devane, yeah. And where are you, Marta Keller? Marta Keller. where are you Marta Keller? Marta Keller, beautiful Marta Keller. Another actress from the 70s that kind of went away. Yeah she was there for that tiny period of time.

Isn't she in Black Sunday? Yeah Black Sunday with with uh and and uh from Jaws, Robert Shaw. Right, right, right. Yeah. It's a scary film, and it's sort of a companion piece in a way to The Boys from Brazil, which you've already recommended. Yes, yes, because he's also back with his German accent, although this time he's a Nazi. And then Boys from Brazil, he was Simon Wiesenthal.

The Nazi hunter. And, and because they, because, you know, the, or the clips of Jesse Owens brings it back to that time period when Hitler wanted to use the Olympics as his proof of the, wanted to use the Olympics as his proof of the superior Aryan race. And then this black runner goes on and beats the Germans. Very famous. And as Cleavon Little said in Blazing Saddles, for my next impression, Jesse Owens. And that brings me to that Marty Glickman.

Oh, the sportscaster. Famous. He was supposed to be running. That's correct. And he's Jewish. And the guy in charge said, no, no, you're not running. And I think they found out later the guy in charge of the Olympics was doing business with Hitler. It's a fascinating story.

Yeah. Look it up. Marty Glickman. Yeah, he was a runner. It's a scary film. It's a good film. I think it's the film I read William Goldman's Adventures in the Screen Trade. Yes. William Goldman wrote the story, wrote the book, he wrote the screenplay based on his book. And I remember him talking about Hoffman doing a lot of method work. Oh yes. And Olivier famously, you know this line? Famously says to him.

Oh yes. He's like saying that according to the story at least, Hoffman was staying up late and like, you late and using all this intense method and- Right, sleeping for days. Yes. And Olivier said to him, have you ever tried acting? Yes. It's in Goldman's book.

I hope it's true and not apocryphal. Terrific movie. Yeah. It's one of those edge of your seat. When people talk about great American films of the century. And a great New York. Yeah, yeah. You get to see New York.

You get to see especially the Diamond District. Oh yes. Central Park and a lot of New York in 1976. And there's something interesting about it. There's one scene where Lawrence Olivier, as the former Nazi Zell, I think that they called him the white angel. He's forced to go into the diamond district to sell these diamonds. And they start, as he's's walking by they're going is is that Zell? Zell and they're all these old Jews are recognizing and you know what's so weird about this? This this is gonna sound totally nuts when I walk down the street in the diamond district anywhere when I'm

walking down the street and I'll go oh is that that guy Gilbert something and I always think of that scene in Marathon Man I feel like I feel like Lawrence Olivier in Marathon Man. It just happened to us 20 minutes ago we were out on the street doing something for TMZ. TMZ! It just happened. Yes. You felt like the angel of death. Yes. Alright so the movies this week. Yes well I picked Dustin Halfman, Roy Shider, William Devane and Lawrence Olivier and Martha Keller in John Schlesinger's Marathon Man. Shot by Conrad Hall, who I also just talked about. Terrific film. Two terrific films. So I hope Jennifer Jason Lee never gets your message. Yes. Come here and take your clothes off. One last thing I want to add. Does Danny Kay have a cameo in Marathon Man, since Olivier's in there?

Ah ha, yes. Yes. But see, they're only filming Olivier from the waist up in that scene, so you don't really see what's going on. But he's definitely there. And that's what gives Olivier such an evil look on his face that Danny K has his fist in Olivier's asshole. It's been talked about.

I was at the, they gave a speech at the American, yes. The American Film Institute. They said, it was, they flew Danny Cahen to put his fist in Lawrence Olivier's asshole. Yes, to make him more evil. If you like listening to comedy, try watching it on the internet. The folks behind the Sideshow Network have launched a new YouTube channel called Wait For It. It's got interviews with comedians like Reggie Watts, Todd Glass, Liza Sleischinger, Slicing, driving friends with it for 10 years. One of the funniest people out there,

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