Gilbert Gottfried's Amazing Colossal Podcast - Michael Clayton and HUD Encore

Episode Date: August 11, 2025

GGACP celebrates the centenary of screen icon and philanthropist Paul Newman (born 1925) with this ENCORE of a 2015 episode, featuring Gilbert's critical analysis of Newman's 1963 revisionist western "Hud." Also in this episode: the late, great Sydney Pollack! The cinematography of James Wong Howe! And Gilbert croons the theme song from “The Life and Times of Judge Roy Bean”! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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Visit Flyporter.com and actually enjoy economy. Hi, this is Gilbert Godfried, and I'm here with my co-host, Frank Santo Padre, and this is Gilbert and Frank Santopadre, and this is Gilbert and Franks, Franksantel Padre, and this is Gilbert and Frank. amazing, colossal obsession. Beautifully done. Yes. And now, I know one or two of you might have been complaining. Or 80? Yeah, well, 80.

You know, it's it's, we didn't do an exact count. But it could be in the thousands or it could be one or two. We don't have ways for knowing for sure. were complaining saying that the sound quality on our last episode was pure and total shit, I think was... Some people suggested it was done in the men's room at the friars. Yes, yeah, but it would have been a lot better. More interesting. And probably had Freddie Roman in it.

But see, what we should say is we did that on purpose, because we wanted it to be like the Blair Witch, project. Like, we wanted originally say, we found this footage lost in the forest, and everyone from this documentary film crew has died. But they told us what films they liked before they died. What can we say? It's not that professional in operation. It's not.

It's not. The mics are bad. The sound system's horrible. For Christ's sakes, do you think I want Frank as a co-host? No, no. I'm telling you everything could be better. How did I know it was going to go in that direction? So if you want some better audio, send us checks.

Yes. Yeah. We'll send an... Patreon. Patreon.com. Patreon. Right. Better audio.

Slash Gilbert Godfrey. Slash Gilbert Gottfried. Some people would like to slash Gilbert Gottfried. Yes. A lot of people. people want me dead. Anyway, the movie I recommended last week in case you couldn't hear it was the little fugitive. Yes, we'll say a couple of words again about it for people who couldn't hear. He was a little boy and his day and he thinks the police are after him and he escapes

to Coney Island. Right. And the whole, it was a movie that influenced the French New Wave. Correct. And this was a new wave, the French house. because they used to do it with their palms forward. The old wave. Yeah. But the new wave was the back of the hand, and they'd wave back and forth. It's a film that's near and dear to your heart, because you're from Coney Island. I was born in Coney Island, and it just brings back memories.

Yeah, because we talk a lot about movies that are set in Old New York. Oh, yeah. And this one really captures Brooklyn and Coney Island, and we talked about the subway train. Oh, yeah, and the subways, and I remember the steeplechase ride that were these wooden horses on tracks, and they would go around the roof, and then I remember there was like a clown with a whip when you were going by, and there was those... They blow women's skirts up? Yeah, they would blow women's skirts up, and a machine there would blow women skirts up,

and there was like the revolving floor. that would go in the opposite direction. And all of that stuff shut down, what, in the 60s? Yeah, yeah. All of it's gone. Yeah. So, and the little fugitive was we said last week, and we'll just say it again, it's worth repeating, was made by a couple, Morris Engel and Ruth Orkin, who was a very famous black and white photographer.

And I misspoke last week. I think I said it was shot in 16 millimeter. And since then I did a little research, and I think it was shot in 35 millimeter. Yeah. But it was very much a homemade movie. Oh, yeah. The sound was pretty. in later.

Correct. And Francois Truffaut. That's right. Was very influenced. And as I said, I saw Scorsese talk about it and introduce it. And I think the New School, very influential film. You think you saw it. I think I saw it.

I mean. It could have been just some homeless man. Could have been. I might not have been the new school. Very bushy eyebrows. Yes. A homeless man. A short guy who didn't trim his eyebrows was talking about the film.

I said, ah, Scorsese. I was at a party with, I was at a fundraiser, and Eugene Levy was at the table, and a drunk woman came over and said to me, could you do me a favor? Could you take a picture of me and Mr. Scorsese? And Eugene loved that. So the little fugitive, worth seeing, definitely, TCM runs it. And also, in that movie is one of the guy plays. the photographer is Will Lee. Oh, that's right.

Who was in Sesame Street as Mr. Hooper. That's right. And like I said last week, there was one part in Sesame Street where they go, he says to them, Merry Christmas, and they say, and Happy Hanukkah. And that spoke to you. Yes, yes, because it proves that Mr. Hooper on, there was a Jew living on Sesame Street. Well, Ernie was Jewish, wasn't he? Oh, yes.

Yeah. Yes. I also, so the little fugitive, I also talked about Sideways last week, which, and I won't say that much about it in case people did listen to last week, except suffered, suffered terribly through the bad audio. Paul Giamatti, Thomas Hayden Church. Yeah, who I worked with on wings. You worked with on wings, this funny actor, and written by Alexander Payne and Jim Taylor. Google it, watch it.

It's available everywhere. Terrific comedy and a great moving performance by Paul Giamatti, who we talked about last week, the son of the former commissioner of baseball. Yes, I knew his father had something to do with sports, and I remember he was going, was he a hockey player or something else? You are a sports.

A sports maven. Check out our upcoming episode with Bob Costas to see just how much sports. Skilbert actually knows. So moving on, let's pick two new ones for this week. And I'm just going to go first and go quickly. Yeah, that's what you wife said. Thank you.

Thank you very much. I'm laughing because it's true. I'd like to spend each Sunday with you as friend to friends. I'm sorry we're through I'm telling you how I feel I hope you feel that way too

Is that Rudy Valley? No, no I can't It's too early in the day To get my voice to a full Eddie Cantor Oh it's Eddie Cancer You just woke up You could have fooled me

Um Michael Clayton is the picture that I want to talk about, which is a kind of a 70s-esque thriller, a little bit, and a cousin of a movie like Three Days of the Condor, movies we've talked about, movies we've talked about Off Mike, like Parallax View, all the President's Men. It's a legal thriller. It's very smart.

Written by a guy named, written and directed by a guy named Tony Gilroy, who wrote a movie I know you like, The Devil's Advocate. Oh, yes. You told Paul Shear. That you like that you like that. that movie. He also wrote Dolores Claiborne, a movie called State of Play with our friend Josh Mostel. And I won't say too much about it because it's a film full of surprises and twists and turns, but George Clooney plays a legal fixer who fixes problems for a law firm,

gets clients in trouble, out of trouble. Tom Wilkinson, the British actor, has a great performance in it and Sidney Pollock who directed three days in The Condor and made those kind of thrillers, turns up in the film as the head of the law firm. And I just saw Sidney Pollack, they reran Ice White Shut.

Oh, and he's in that. Right. Right. He plays a weirdo. Yeah. It plays kind of a scary guy. Yeah, he's in with that whole weird sex organization. What do you think of that movie off the off the subject? I I liked Nicole Kidman's ass in the movie.

There is one scene where she's standing in front of the mirror, and I thought Nicole Kidman back then had the best ass possible. That's terrific. Yeah. That's your review. Yeah. If you want to see Nicole Kidman's ass, Give it too cheap.

See? What about the rest of the film? Yeah. Yeah, but there were a couple of other girls there naked at the party. That's right. Yeah. So you didn't see it on the, you didn't see the digitized version where they took the nudity out. Oh, that sucks.

Yeah. I saw when they show show girls on TV, they have these blurry floating bikinis on the girls. Isn't that strange? It's weird. And one on Kyle McClockland, too, which makes no sense. Yeah. So just getting back real quick to Michael Clayton, produced by Steven Soderberg, who made another Clooney picture I love called Out of Sight, which we'll talk about on another show. But 2007, we usually recommend older films, but that's a pretty new film. It won a ton of awards. Tilda Swinton's great. If you like thrillers and you like movies with twists and turns, smart films. In The Devil's Advocate, there's a very quick, uh, nude scene. Charlese? It's

Charlese the Rhone. You are Mr. Skin. Oh, yes. And she was in I forget the name movie I was in. A Million Ways to Die in the West. That's right. Yeah. Did you tell her you admired her nude scene? Yes.

No, she wasn't there when I was there. I think she purposely I think that was in her writer. She rearranged the shooting schedule. You this week, what do you got? I pick a movie. This is a very well-respected film, and I respect it, too. What the hell?

And going back to Scorsese, he said a quote, and I'm paraphrasing, that he can't imagine the movie industry, the world of movies, without Paul Newman. Yeah, I've seen that. That's great. And so the movie I'm picking is HUD. Oh. And it's Paul Newman, Bren. DeWild and Patrick

Patricia Neal. And of course Melvin Douglas, right. Melvin Douglas, who is very important to know, is a Jew. That's the reason. That's the reason. You should see HUD. Tell us the plot of HUD real quick. I don't know the plot. I know Melvin Douglas is a Jew, so you should see HUD. Jew spotting nude scenes is really what you're...

Yeah. And when Melvin Douglas has a scene where he steps out of the chapter. I didn't realize that. Yeah, yeah. People see the uncut version. Uncut. What do you mean by uncut? Then he wasn't a Jew.

Yeah, see. Well, he was circumcised late in life. And that was a very painful time of his life that he talks about. So HUD is a Western directed by Martin Ritt. Yes. Who was blacklisted. And it's got that, the legendary cinematographer. Oh, I know who you're talking about James Wong-Hau.

Yes. Right. Yes. And like they say, James can't be Wong. Wow. It is early in the morning, folks, if you doubted it at any point. Yeah. Paul Newman is one of these screw-up guys.

He likes to, you know, he fucks around. Melvin Douglas is his dad. Yeah. Right. And gets into bar fights. His dad is conscientious and a hard worker. And Brenda Wilde is looking up to Paul Newman. Oh, he's the nephew.

Yeah. Yes. And he looks up to Paul Newman. And, oh, it has that one great line in it, that one famous line where Melvin Douglas says something like, you know, nobody. you never loved anyone, no one ever loved you. And Paul Newman goes, my mom will love me, but she died. Oh, I love that. Yeah.

I remember that. Yeah. We talked a lot about Newman on this show. Yes. He keeps coming up. Yes. It's like he was in the life and times of Judge Roy B. Oh, I love that one.

With Stacey Keats. Yeah, he's the albino gunman. Oh, yes. And Jacqueline Bissitt and Victoria Principal. Anthony Zerbe. You know that actor? He turns up in there. And most importantly, the theme song was performed by Andy Williams.

How do you know that? And it's marmalade, molasses and honey, cinnamon and sassafresh tea. I know that life could be so happy. And Sonny, if you'd go away with me, I know I'd really like to do. Head for the hills, the hills with you. And here you say, hey, let's make a day of it, marmal. It's even funnier the second time. That's what my wife said.

Oh, Lord. It is too early. All right. So, recapping, you're picking HUD? I picked Tony Gilroy and George Clooney's wonderful Michael Clayton thriller. And we recapped The Little Fugitive. Yes. And we stated for a fact that the sound quality on this show is pure shit.

So send money and we'll hire professional engineer. And I'll get a new co-host. Oh, God, I dream of that. Give it that fact, colossal obsessions. Give it that fact, colossal obsessions.