Gilbert Gottfried's Amazing Colossal Podcast - Mini-Ep #27: How To Murder Your Wife and Point Blank

Episode Date: September 17, 2015

Each week, comedian Gilbert Gottfried and comedy writer Frank Santopadre share their appreciation of lesser-known films, underrated TV shows and hopelessly obscure character actors -- discussing, dissecting and (occasionally) defending their handpicked guilty pleasures and buried treasures. This week: Jack Lemmon's dark impulses! The TV (and movie) themes of Neal Hefti! And Lee Marvin tangles with the mob! If you've got a car and a license, put 'em both to work for you and start earning serious, life-changing money today. Sign up to drive with Uber. Visit http://www.DriveWithUber.com Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

This episode is brought to you by FX's The Bear on Disney+. In Season 3, Carmi and his crew are aiming for the ultimate restaurant accolade, a Michelin star. With Golden Globe and Emmy wins, the show starring Jeremy Allen White, Io Debrey, and Maddie Matheson is ready to heat up screens once again. All new episodes of FX's The Bear are streaming June 27, only on Disney+. That's the sound of unaged whiskey transforming into Jack Daniel's Tennessee whiskey in Lynchburg, Tennessee. Around 1860, Nearest Green taught Jack Daniel how to filter whiskey through charcoal for a smoother taste, one drop at a time. This is one of many sounds in Tennessee with a story to tell. To hear them in person, plan your trip at tnvacation.com. Tennessee sounds perfect. Don't forget to follow us on our Facebook page, Gilbert Gottfried's amazing, colossal podcast. On Twitter, at Real Gilbert ACP.

And on Instagram, Gilbert Podfried. P-O-D-F-R-I-E-D. You see, it's kind of a pun on the last name. Ah, never mind. Hi, this is Gilbert Gottfried, and I'm here with my co-host, Frank Santopadre, and this is another episode of Gilbert and Frank's Amazing colossal obsessions. You hesitated. Yes. Well, I'm wondering if anyone out there can hear what,

or it's going to just sound like we're stuck in traffic doing this. I think we solved that problem. Yes, because everyone was complaining. Once again, if you want better audio. Yes. Go to Patreon. You could donate. Patreon.com slash Gilbert.

Right. Send money. Send bags of money. Yeah. That way I'll get better equipment and a new co-host. God. I work cheap, buddy. Okay.

So who goes first? Did you want to say a few words about an actor you left out of HUD? Yes, yes. I was talking about the Paul Newman movie HUD, and we left out, most importantly, Whit Bissell. Now, Whit Bissell. Look that one up. Yeah, he was the mad scientist and I was a teenage

Frankenstein. Correct. And a fixture in your early act. Yes. Yeah, I'd have to, I couldn't do it right now because I'd have to remember the order it went in. And one day we'll have to talk about the actor Frank Overton. Wow.

Frank Overton. I think you've stumped me. Yeah. He was in a bunch of movies. He was in that episode of The Twilight Zone. I think it was called Walking Distance with Gig Young. Oh, I know that one. And he plays Gig Young's father.

Oh, that's Frank Overton. Frank Overton. Frank Overton. Now I'm picturing his face. I didn't know his name. Wow. And what does he have to do with Whit Bissell? Just one of those actors I liked. You should be pointed out that you used to do a bit in your act with Whit Bissell.

I'll have to remember the whole bit. Do it next week. Yeah, I'll do it next week. So you start us off, sir. Okay. whole bit do it next week yeah i'll do it next week yeah so you start us off sir okay this was a movie a jack lemon film and it was called how to murder your wife oh i love that one with verna lisi yes yes verna lisi uh casey adams right who was also known as Max Showalter. Max Showalter, yes. He's come up a few times on the show. He was most known for being one of the uncles in Sixteen Candles with Molly Ringwald.

And speaking of the Twilight Zone, he's in the Billy Moomy episode. He's playing the piano in, what's the name of that episode where he's wishing people into the cornfield? I think it was called Wishing People into the Cornfield. No. Oh, yes. I'll think of it. But, yeah, that's Max Showalter. Yeah.

Yeah. And he was also, most importantly, with Lon Chaney Jr. in The Indestructible Man. Oh, yes. Yes. He turns up in everything. He's in 10, the Blake Edwards comedy. Oh, that. Yes. He turns up in everything. He's in 10, the Blake Edwards comedy. Oh, that's right. He's the priest.

And he's in all kinds of stuff. Yeah. And he's gone now. Yes. Yes. But why did he change his name? Maybe I think Showalter might have sounded too German or something. He acted as Casey Adams.

Casey Adams. Originally, he was cast as Max Showalter. And also, in the movie, oh, God. Well, it's Terry Thomas. Right, right, right. Love Terry Thomas. And, oh, I'm forgetting. I'm getting

a mental block on this actor. Oh, give me a hint. He's like, you know, I always thought, like, the voice of Homer Simpson. Really? Was kind of like him. What was he in? Oh, God.

He was in How to Murder Your Wife and That's My Boy with Jerry Lewis. Oh, my. Can you look that up? Let's look up. Let's have Dara, our wonderful researcher, how to murder your wife. Don something. Don Murray? No, no.

He used to talk like that. Well, it's a little Matthau. Yeah, it's kind of a mixture of Matthau and... Yeah. Who was the director? Was it Richard Quine? Richard Quine, yeah. Read the cast. Jack Lemmon. Yeah. Yeah. Who was the director? Was it Richard Quine? Richard Quine, yeah. Read the cast.

Jack Lemmon, Verna Lisi, Terry Thomas. Eddie Mayoff. Oh, Eddie Mayoff. I know Eddie Mayoff. His name was the character actor Eddie Mayoff. Oh, and Jack Albertson is in it. Yeah. Oh, Jack Albertson, too? I didn't

remember him. And Sidney Blackmer, who I think is in Rosemary's Baby. Yes! And the music is done by Neil Hefti. Oh, the Batman guy, Neil Hefti. Batman guy, and also

da-da-da-da-da-da Sure, sure. Now, Neil Hefti always had that same guy and also da-da-da-da-da-da da-da-da-da-da-da Now, Neil Hefti always had that same beat in most of the songs, but there was something irresistible

about Neil Hefti. And I think the music in this movie is terrific. The versatility of him, that he could compose the Odd Couple theme and the Batman theme. Oh, yeah. They're such different animals. Yeah.

Yeah. He was terrific. And so the music here is very upbeat. I've got to see this again. And Terry Thomas, of course, is great. Jack Lemmon's great. Eddie Mayoff cracks me up. Real great. Jack Lemmon's great. Eddie Mayoff cracks me up. What's the plot, real quickly?

Jack Lemmon, don't rush me. Okay. Don't try to slap me into shape. It's a 15-minute show. Okay. Jack Lemmon plays a kind of playboy, swinging playboy cartoonist. And he's got a popular cartoon of a secret agent who gets into these adventures. And Jack Lemmon has to act out each one of the comic scripts before he does it.

Such a 60s plot. Oh, my God, yes. And he, quite by accident, gets married to the beautiful Verna Lisi. And whatever happened to— You could do worse. Yeah, yeah. Whatever happened to vernalisi she was like a poor man's gina lola brigida yes i don't know yeah well again you

know a lot of these actresses that disappear yeah good film yeah i have good memories of it yeah it was a lot of fun 20 years i don't know how audiences now would respond to it because it was of that 60s mentality. Yeah, almost like a Frank Tashlin kind of a movie. Yes. Yeah. Yeah, exactly. Yeah. Got to track that one down.

And who's the actor again? Eddie Mayoff? Eddie Mayoff. Eddie Mayoff. A little Matthau-ish. Yeah, there's a little Matthau, a little, well, I was going to say a little Homer Simpson. When Homer Simpson started, it was a Matthau. Yeah, Castellaneta was doing Matthau.

And then they changed it to that type of group. They went a little in the direction of Crazy Guggenheim. Yes, yes. Interesting. Hey, Gil, you love making good money, don't you? No. Okay, good. No, I do it all money, don't you? No. Okay, good. No, I do it all for the art.

Love. Yes. The passion. Yes, and when I make money, I give it to starving nations. Really? Yeah, it all goes to charity. Oh, dear. You were so altruistic and big-hearted.

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A little testimony. Yeah, I was in L.A. with Gilbert, and I use Uber all the time. And I wanted to visit. My sister was living in North Hollywood at the time, and Gilbert and I were in Hollywood, so I wanted to quickly go visit her, and I just used Uber, and it was only $12 to get from Hollywood to North Hollywood. Very easy. Got to visit my nephew for an hour and turn around and go back and be with Gilbert. It was a great, easy, easy experience.

I love it. An easier experience than actually living with Gilbert? That was not an actress, by the way. That was the actual Dara Gottfried. Tell us some of the attributes about Uber, won't you, Gil? Yes. If you drive with Uber, you can be your own boss. You make great money. It's easy to start.

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Drivewithuber.com. Thank you, Lily. My film, I think, is going to surprise you, but it's got to be one that you know. It's a Lee Marvin. I'm just going to say cast members and see if you come up with it. Lee Marvin, Angie Dickinson, Dean Wormer from Animal House, John Vernon. Now, was this the one that Mel Gibson remade? That's right. He remade it as Payback. Yes. Was this Point Blank?

Very good. Yes. Point Blank. Yeah. Is it a movie you know? Terrific. You're very good. Yeah. He gets out of prison and he's angry. Yeah, more or less.

He and John Vernon, who's his friend, his high school buddy or his college buddy, cons him into doing this heist, this job, and then double-crosses him and takes his money and shoots him and leaves him for dead in the closed Alcatraz. They actually shot in Alcatraz only a couple of years after it was shut down. It's a revenge story. He basically, he's left for dead. They don't show you how the hell he gets off the island. Oh, yeah.

Should have figured that one out. Filled with bleeding from severe bullet wounds. How he's able to then swim. Yeah, it's one little hitch in the film. But you don't mind it because the movie's so great. It's so masterfully directed. It's a film noir with European touches directed by a Brit, John Borman, with a great cast. John Vernon, who I said from Animal House, Dean Wormer, who plays a great heavy.

Oh, yes. I know he's played a scumbag in thinking everything before, even in Animal House. Oh, yeah. Well, I think that's why they picked him for that, because of a history of being this hateful guy. And Angie Dickinson, she's a great femme fatale. Carol O'Connor shows up. Kenan Wynn, who we talked about on the show, shows up. Oh, Kenan Wynn, son of Edwin. Son of the perfect fool.

Yes. Very, very smart. I just found it on, not on Netflix, but on On Demand, on Fios, and I remember seeing it in film school.

I took a class in film school with a film critic named Amy Taubin, and she loved this film and showed it to us, and I remembered loving it. I hadn't seen it since the 80s,

and it really holds up, and it shifts in time. I hadn't seen it since the 80s. And it really holds up. And it shifts in time. It's one of those movies where there's flashbacks and there's flash-forwards. So it probably influenced Tarantino. I think so. It looks like one of those films. I would say if you Google Tarantino,

you'll find him in point blank. You'll find him talking about it somewhere. It's funny because while looking up and referencing Michael Clayton, which I talked about last week, I found an interview with Tony Gilroy, and he's talking about Point Blank. So it was just a total coincidence. Now, what was the movie where Carol O'Connor played like a gangster? Oh, he played a, You know, you're talking about Priyol and the family?

Oh, yes, yes. Well, he's a gangster in this one, but he's really the businessman. Yeah, this is the one... He's the business end. He says, you're being very troublesome. Yes. Yeah.

Yes. Yeah, he gets off a plane and he's the guy with the suitcase full of money. I don't want to give too much away, but he's funny in it. He's actually the comic relief in the film. And it's a pretty dark film without a lot of levity. And because I remember them talking about it, where that was one of those films where they started to show how the mob was becoming just part of society.

Yeah, yeah, pretty much. Well, the mob has his money. Yeah. So he's like a mobster slash businessman, respected businessman. Carol O'Connor is, yeah, which he keeps saying. He keeps telling Lee Marvin, who wants his 93 grand, how naive he is. Yeah. That this is not a criminal enterprise.

This is just business. Yeah. And he's working his way up the ladder to try to get his money back. I'll tell you who turns up in it. Just speaking of the Twilight Zone, Lloyd Bauchner. You know this actor? Wait a second. And he's in possibly the most famous Twilight Zone episode ever. Which one? He's in To Serve Man. Oh my God. Yes's the guy that gets on the saucer. That's right. To serve, man, it's a cookbook. That's the guy.

Lloyd Bauchner. Now, didn't Lloyd Bauchner also pop up in one of the Friday the 13 sequels? Oh, I'd have to look that up. I think it was where he comes to New York. Jason comes to New York? Yeah, Jason comes to New York, which was such bullshit. To see the Rockettes. Yeah, exactly.

Because it's like this one scene for about three seconds of Jason and Times Square, and the rest of it's on a boat. You've seen this movie. Oh, yes. You'll watch any horror film, won't you? And then other scenes take place in one of those, like, prop department New York alleyways. Oh, I see.

Yeah, like a New York street on the Warner lot. It would be like, but in an alleyway. They wouldn't even bother trying to make a New York street in that movie. They had an alleyway with like a garbage can, and they always have steam coming up from the ground to hide. Well, they did that on Seinfeld. Oh, my God. They always had steam coming out from the ground to hide well they did that on seinfeld oh my god they always had steam coming out on the on seinfeld the radford lot to make it look like it looked like uh it looked like september 11th on seinfeld it was yeah it looked like he was

walking through hell it was just loaded with steam. It's like in those early horror movies where they'd be in England and the fog would be insane. Like, I know it could be fog in England, you know, they've talked about it, but this would be, you couldn't

see your feet, you couldn't see in front of... Those Ripper films, those, oh, the Hammer films. Oh, the Hammer films. Oh, the Hammer films I hated. Lots of fog. The fog machine guy was working overtime. So Lloyd Bauchner, who's in The Famous to Serve Man, I don't know if he's in that Friday the 13th.

Yeah. Go look it up. His son Hart Bauchner became an actor. Oh, yes. He's the slick guy in Die Hard. He's the slickster that's trying to smooth talk his way out of Alan Rickman shoots him. But I think Buckner was in Jason Comes to New York. Can you look up Jason Comes to New York?

Oh, researcher. Oh, Dennis. Oh, Dennis. That's a high anxiety reference, too. That's true. Oh, Dennis. That's a high anxiety reference, too. That's true. Oh, Dennis. Jason comes to New York. Boy, were they out of ideas.

Oh, yes. Well, that's like the Leprechaun in Outer Space. Are you a fan of the Leprechaun movies? The first one I was willing to go with. Isn't Jennifer Aniston? Jennifer Aniston's in the first one, which I'm sure she's so proud of. I think Tom Hanks was in an early slasher movie, too. Tom Hanks, yes.

Yes, he was in a slasher. There's no movie called Jason Comes to New York? Well, Friday the 13th. Something. Friday the 13th. We'll edit this part. We'll trim this part. Anyway, the thing about, one of the funny things about Point Blank that I found

in the research is that Marvin, I hope this is true, Marvin agreed to do the movie and then threw the script out the window. I don't know why, but Payback, the Mel Gibson remake, was is true. Marvin agreed to do the movie and then threw the script out the window. Oh! I don't know why, but Payback, the Mel Gibson remake, was supposedly so terrible that some critics said they used the script that Marvin threw out the window.

Oh, yeah? Yeah. But it was more based, I think, the Gibson remake, I think was more based on the original book. I think it was a story by Donald Westlake, who wrote The Hot Rock and lots of other stuff. So you're thinking of Lloyd Bauchner from something else. Oh.

A different Jason movie. See, so I was wrong about the Friday the 13th. Maybe he's in one of them, and he's just not in the one where they come to Manhattan. Anyway, point blank, with a great cast, Keenan Wynn, Marvin is at his most corrupt and violent. And it's just a really stylish film. And you're talking about Marvin Kidman. I'm talking about Marvin Kaplan. Yeah, Marvin Kaplan.

He's going nuts. Try to get that reference. So the movies are point blank. Oh, Top Cat. He's around Marvin Kaplan. We got to get him. We got to get him. Got to get him. I think he get him. Got to get him.

I think he's one of the last surviving cast members from It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World. He might be the only. He might be the last one. He might be the only living person. Because we lost Jonathan Winters and Sid Caesar recently. Yeah, Milton Berle. Yeah, Fox gone. Ethel Merman.

Yeah. Oh, Dorothy Provine might be alive. Oh. She's in it. We'll look that up. Arnold Stang's gone. Yeah, most everybody's gone. Yeah.

Oh, Jerry Lewis. Oh, Jerry's in it. He runs over the hat. Yes. Right, okay. So there you go. There you go. But Kaplan had a substantial role in it.

So point blank and your movie is? Oh, How to Murder Your Wife. With the fetching Verna Lisi. Yes. And we'll do the research and figure out the mystery of this Lloyd Bauchner, Friday the 13th. Yes. Yes. Thank you. Colossal Obsessions If you like listening to comedy, try watching it on the internet.

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