Gilbert Gottfried's Amazing Colossal Podcast - GGACP Rewind: Mini-Episode #9: "The Boys From Brazil" & "Where’s Poppa?"

Episode Date: July 27, 2026

In a series of topic-focused mini-episodes, Gilbert and Frank share their love of unheralded films, underrated TV shows, underappreciated pop songs and often unknown performers, discussing, dissecting and (occasionally) defending their handpicked guilty pleasures and buried treasures. This week: Gregory Peck channels Ming the Merciless! Robert De Niro watches (and enjoys) “Problem Child”! And George Segal and Carl Reiner go ape! https://www.gilbertpodcast.com/mini-ep-9-the-boys-from-brazil-wheres-poppa/ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

For the month of May, the producer of the month is Dave Craig. Thanks for your support, Dave. Go to patreon.com slash Gilbert Gottfried and support the podcast. What a love of all that is holy. Hi, this is Gilbert Godfrey. I'm here with my co-host, Frank Santopatra, and this is, is Gilbert and Frank's amazing colossal obsessions. See, I got it right.

I think we should just end right now. Well played. Good night. Yeah. Okay, so let's see. We'll start this week. Well, your turn. And I know that a comedy is not...

No, no, it's not a comedy. You're a serious man. It's like picking movies with Cesar Chavez. In fact... In fact... In fact, going serious, this one even has to do with Nazis. Wow.

Go all the way. And this was a movie. It got mixed reviews when it came out. But I've seen it a few times. Whenever it pops up on TV, I have to watch it. And that's Boys from Brazil. Mm-hmm. And this movie,

it's funny because the movie should have been absolutely terrible when you listen to the premise. Yes. And the casting of the main part. The premise of the movie was that a group of Nazis want to clone Hitler. And this is kind of harks back to that science fiction. They saved Hitler's brain. That's what I was thinking of. So right out of the box, it sounds like a B movie.

Yeah, it sounds like it'll be laughably bad. And yet, it turns out great. I mean, the cast is amazing. I mean, Gregory Peck, Lawrence Olivier, James Mason, and Udahagen. Oudahagen. Yes. Oh, and Anne Mira from Stiller and Mera. That's right.

Yeah. That's right. And my old bad medicine co-star, Steve Gutenberg. It's Steve Gutenberg and the boys from Brazil? Wow. Yeah, I thought you were going to say, Steve Gutenberg, oh, I've... No, I know, Steve. You should get him on the show, actually.

Talk about your working with him. And Gregory Peck, it's part of the fun of watching the movie for me is Peck was always the hero. He was always a holy figure. in all of his movies like to kill a mockingbird. Gentleman's agreement. Yes, he was always like this, just always good, a good person. And now he plays real-life Nazi Joseph Mangala. And Peck seems like he's having the time of his life.

Chewing the scenery. Oh, he plays it like an old-time movie villain. Like someone cast Lionel Atwill. Oh, yes, yes. It's like he's Ming the Mercilus in this. And he's having so much, you could see, he's having so much fun playing someone evil. And Lawrence Olivier plays what is basically supposed to be

real life Nazi hunter Simon Wiesenthal. And so they kept me. Mangala's name. And they change it. Simon Wiesenthal's, well, Simon Wiesenthal gets changed to Ezra Lieberman. And Gregory Peck said in an interview, he said, we changed Simon Wiesenthal's name because we were afraid he'd sue. We kept Mangler's name because we were hoping he'd sue. We kept Mangler's name because we were hoping Kitsu. I love that.

And yes, Simon Wiesenthal and Mangala supposedly were still alive. Yes. At the time. Yeah, he was living in living out a long life in South America. Right, right, right. I'd be interested to see

your impression of Gregory Peck having a conversation with James Mason because the impressions are similar. Oh, well, they're both in this together. And they're both in the film. Because in the, in the movie says and I talk to Mangeler

your plan has been cancelled and he goes cancelled my am not cancelled you are cancelled that's great and I

remember a pick says in the movie to this little boy and I don't know it just the way he says it he goes with an evil smile on his face. She goes, hello, puppy. I remember that. And there's a great scene where Lawrence Olivier is talking to this woman played by Uda Hagen,

who was a Nazi camp guard, and he's trying to find out information. And she's like putting him down the whole time and making insults. And, you know, she says, you know, if you're looking for some long-lost Jewish relative, you won't find him here. And then they're talking. And finally, Olivier, she's not giving him any information. And Olivier goes, I may leave here empty-handed, but you are going nowhere. I remember that very well. We should do this on stage where you do every part.

I do, I act out. You do the Boys from Brazil starring Gilbert Gottfried. And I think it may have been casino, but I know Martin Scorsese has a TV on in one of his movies, and it's a scene from Boys from Brazil. Fascinating. He also had a scene from Problem Child. Did he? Yes.

In what movie? Yes. That was in the one, Cape Fear. Oh, in Cape Fear. They're watching Problem, child. They're watching Problem. So they said for the purposes of that scene,

pick a scene because De Niro's laughing out of place. Give us a really unfunny comedy that we can slap up on the screen because he'll be the only one in the theater laughing. Boys from Brazil. Yes. And, of course, Olivier had played a Nazi himself earlier. In Marathon Man. A character also may be loosely based on Mangala.

Yes. Yeah, because he was a dentist this time. And Olivier also says in the movie, when he finds out, Hitler's being cloned, he goes, Who would believe such a preposterous story? That is excellent. Yeah. So, boys from Brazil.

And that was, oh, I were 11. I were 11. You had Rosemary's baby. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Once again, you've gone from a film last week about deformed people with deformities. Circus freaks to a Nazi hunter picture.

The very deeply troubled and very serious Gilbert Gottfried. Still waters run deep. As usual, I will pick a comedy and throw this. a very black comedy and a movie I know you've seen and know directed by Carl Reiner called Where's Papa? Oh, yes. Which is the blackest of black comedies about a lawyer played by the great George Siegel who was making a lot of funny movies in those days. And he was also in a movie I picked Bye Bye, By, Braverman. That's right.

That's right. And I neglected to mention when you brought up Bye Bye Graverman, and it was written by one of my comedy mentors, Herbsters. So I want to set the record straight on that, the Great Herb Sergeant. Where's Papa? Was a favorite of my dad's. This is another reason that I'm picking it this week. Just, I don't know if you could see a darker comedy. If there are any darker comedies out there.

Ron Liebman. Ron Liebman's the brother. Yeah. Let me just set the storyline. George Siegel's a lawyer who's got a mother. that's 87 years old, played by the great Ruth Gordon. Yes. And she is an albatross around his neck and ruining his life, and he can't date,

he can't fall in love, and he can't even bring a woman home. And the movie opens with him putting on a gorilla suit to try to jump on her bed and give her a heart attack, a fatal heart attack. And that's the tone of the rest of the film. Ron Liebman, who you bring up, is just wonderful as his brother, who puts on the gorilla suit and runs through Central Park. Do you remember the scene? Oh, yes.

He's basically he's trying to make his way home through Central Park from George Segal's apartment, and he's accosted by a bunch of muggers who strip his clothes off and make him run naked, and he has to run back to George Siegel's house, and he has no clothes. And then you see him in the gorilla suit trying to hail a cab. There are small parts by Rob Reiner turns up in the end. the great character actor we talked about Vincent Gardena. Oh, yes. Has a wonderful scene.

And Barnard Hughes, do you remember that actor? Oh, my God. Who's absolutely wonderful. I don't know how many times Barnard Hughes has been an Irish priest. Well, and probably most famously on All in the Family. Yes. As the Reverend Fletcher or Feltcher. A very funny movie, very black, very politically incorrect.

As I say, directed by Carl Reiner. And written by a writer named Robert Claim. who KLA&E, who became famous, not really for this film, but more famous and more successful, financially successful anyway, for writing Weekend at Bernies. Oh, wow. Yeah. And C. Where's Papa? Garrett Morris turns up in a small part as one of the muggers. Trish Vandevere, George C. Scott's ex-wife is the nurse that George Siegel hires to take care of his mother and winds up falling in love with.

Paul Servino turns up And there's an alternate ending There was an ending that the film was originally released with That was too dark for audiences of the time And they changed the ending And I won't give it away But if you go online and you look it up You won't believe the original ending

It was actually changed I think either by Reiner or by the studio Because it was just too strong So See where's Papa And you'll laugh But see it if you have a very very very very dark sense of humor.

Or see the boys from Brazil. So the two movies are boys from Brazil and where's Papa? Right. And you will never recommend a comedy, will you? No. What are we eight weeks into this? I'm going to see as far as I can go. If you like listening to comedy, try watching it.

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