Gilbert Gottfried's Amazing Colossal Podcast - Mini-Episode #106: "Best Boy" and "Murder on the Orient Express"

Episode Date: April 6, 2017

"Life Animated"! The artistry of Albert Finney! The collaborations of Sidney Lumet and Sean Connery! And Gilbert stars in his own documentary! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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Sit with us, sharing our stories and hear our voices. Eat with us. Taste the many flavors of our cultures. Dance with us. Taste the many flavors of our cultures. Dance with us. Join in. Feel the beat of the drum and celebrate. Come. Walk with us. Indigenous Tourism Alberta. Here we go, boys. Hi, I'm Gilbert Gottfried, and this is Gilbert and Frank's Colossal Obsessions. And I'm here, of course, with my co-host, Frank Santopadre.

And where are we? We're at Nutmeg with our engineer, Frank Ferdarosa. Colossal obsessions. How do you feel being surrounded by all these greaseballs? Yeah. Do you feel persecuted and surrounded? Yes, I'm a lone Jew. But I'm sure a Jew owns this building, so it makes me happy. You'd like to think so.

You know, we haven't done, well, we did one, not too recently, but we get some complaints from people saying, why don't you go back to the damn movies? We like the movie pics. Oh, yes. And we did one a couple of weeks ago. And so here we are again. And we decided for those people who miss the old version of Colossal Obsessions, where we would each pick a film, that we would do that this week.

So... Okay. Now, this is strange because I'm going to start out with two that are just going to lead me into the one. I hope I've seen any of them because we don't tell each other what the movie pick is before we actually get into the booth. So you get surprised with us. So the beginning of this is more a self-plug, but then afterwards. Can't wait.

Okay. Well, you know, I have a documentary out called Gilbert. Made by the fabulous Neil Berkeley. And it was picked for the Tribeca Film Festival. And also, I've talked about this before. I was in a documentary called Life Animated about an autistic child who would watch Disney films, Disney anime. Owen.

Yep. Owen Susskind. Yep. And he would watch this, and he was falling deeper and deeper into autism, and then one day his father walked into the room and he saw a puppet of my character from Aladdin, Iago, and he put the puppet on his hand and started imitating my voice.

And his son answered like it was an old friend. Yeah. And they made that into a documentary. A terrific doc, by the way. Yeah, Ron. Ron. All of the reviews were amazing. And it was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Documentary.

I know. I actually saw you on the Oscars. Yes. I saw a clip of you. I think you were wearing that shirt. Yeah. As a matter of fact. And, yeah, I was on the Oscars for about a second and a half.

I was just hoping you weren't in the in memoriam. I was relieved. But so, I mean, I do recommend absolutely seeing Life Animated. Yeah, terrific film. But when I was watching Life Animated, it brought back memories of a documentary that came out, I think, in 79. And this was a documentary called Best Boy. Oh, I know where you were going. Yes.

I think that was an Oscar winner. Yes. Best Boy. Yeah, I think Ira Wall was the filmmaker. That's right. That's right. And this was like also he was it had to do with a grown man who was mentally challenged like he was 52 years old, but had the mind of like like an eight year old or something. And he was still living with his parents.

And so obviously, if he's 52, his parents were very old. Right, right. And this was a documentary having to do with, you know, coming to the fact that his parents are old and their health is failing quickly and something has to be done. He has to be put somewhere to live without his parents. And it's like looking at different homes and different places where they take mentally challenged people. So yeah, that was Best Boy. Best Boy. 79. Yeah. I never saw it. Yeah. Oh, it's a powerful film. You saw it now, what, in the theaters? In the theater. In the theater. Yeah. And it it's a powerful film. You saw it now, what, in the theaters? In the theater. In the theater.

Yeah. And it won Best Documentary. Yeah. Do we know what became of Ira years later? Was there a follow-up? I never saw the film, I must confess. I know of it. I know it won Best Documentary. documentary i think uh they they may have done another one or were planning to do another one

of him in the home in modern day i don't know what what it's what the most current word when was the last time you saw it oh god i mean i saw it like once or twice pop up on PBS and. Right. Yeah. And I shouldn't ask you how it ends because for people that haven't seen it, but it'd be very interesting to get a follow up. So if anybody's listening to this and saw that movie, I'd be very curious to see what what became of of Ira. Yeah. Not of Philly. Philly of the boy.

Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Well, a grown man. Right. Right. Yeah. Not of Ira. Of Philly. Of Philly, of the boy. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah, well, a grown man. Right, right, right. And I, yeah, I think they were planning, I don't know if he did it or not, to do like kind of a sequel. And you don't know whether there was a sequel? No, that I don't know. Interesting.

But I know it was very powerful. So the best boy, I didn't mean to call him a boy, he was a grown man, but the best boy, Philly, was, and how old was he when the film was made? He was 52. He was 52. And so I wonder what, that's a long time ago, 79. Oh, yeah. Yeah, I was still in high school. So I wonder what the follow-up was, what the outcome was.

Yeah, I have no idea. Okay, so you're recommending your first documentary. Yeah, I have no idea. Okay, so you're recommending your first documentary. Yeah, Best Boy. And once again, you have surprised me by not picking a film that has anything to do with comedy. Yes. That's remotely humorous. Well, I'm certainly not recommending Ferris Bueller's Tale. Certainly not.

I think we covered that ground. We will return to Gilbert Gottfried's Amazing Colossal Podcast after this. Want visibly glowing skin in 14 days? With new Olay Indulgent Moisture Body Wash, you can lather and glow. The 24-hour moisturizing body wash is infused with vitamin B3 complex and has notes of rose and cherry creme for a rich, indulgent experience. Treat your senses with Nuolite Indulgent Moisture Body Wash. Buy it today at major retailers. That's the sound of fried chicken with a spicy history.

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I'm going to do a complete turn here and recommend. And I'm also recommending my documentary. You're recommending your own documentary. And life animated, but best boy. And when does Gilbert, since you brought it up, when does Gilbert hit the Tribeca Film Festival? I thought you were going to say, when does Gilbert come out? Well, that happened. Yes.

Many, many, many moons ago. Oh, April 20th. April 20th is the premiere date of, yes, I will be at the premiere. Oh, geez. Yeah. That's not what you wanted to hear. Yeah, no. You want the robotic Scarlet to walk into the premiere on your arm.

Yeah, and our congratulations, a perfect opportunity to congratulate Neil, who spent probably, what, a year and a half following you around? Something like that. Maybe two years. He was in this very booth. Oh, my God. That's right. Filming Chevy Chase and Richard Kind at your house. And I think he was at Josh Groban's house with us.

And I don't know how much footage he actually used because you've seen the film. I haven't seen it. Oh, yeah. I mean, whenever you see how much they shoot, then you go, what happened to that scene? That scene. Yeah. How long was he following you? Because he was around a lot, as I recall.

I think it seemed like about two years. Right. I don't know. Right. Neil's an accomplished filmmaker. He made a film about Dan Harmon, another guest of ours called Harmon Town. And he made a film about Wayne White, the artist and the production designer in Pee Wee's Playhouse. So looking forward to this.

Nice that you managed to sneak in your own plug in this week's Colossal. Which is unlike me. Very, very much unlike you. As I said, I'm going to do a real 180 here, just a big turn, to your favorite filmmaker, Sidney Lumet. Oh, absolutely. This is a film that I mentioned casually in the last episode because I think we took a letter about it

or a Facebook post. And that's Murder on the Orient Express. Yes. Which we touched on last week. And we're going to talk about it in more detail. He talked about it. And one of my favorite Lumet films, Bye Bye Braver Man, which he himself wasn't that

happy with i never knew that but he said that bye bye braverman the mistakes he made on there made murder on the orient express a better movie it's interesting i don't and they're so completely different i don't know how how he uh't know what he's referring to. I watched it recently. I had not seen it since I'd seen it in a theater in the 70s. I remember Jacqueline Bissett. Oh, yeah. Well, an all-star cast.

Jacqueline Bissett and Lauren Bacall and Sean Connery and Michael York and John Gielgud and Anthony Perkins and your favorite Martin Balsam, Vanessa Redgrave, and of course, Finney. Oh, yes. Albert Finney. Of course, Albert Finney. Albert Finney playing Agatha Christie's master detective, Poirot, was only 37 years old at the time. Wow. And he absolutely disappears under that makeup. And he's playing the detective as a much older man, 55 or 60.

See, now, Albert Finney, he's I mean, he's a terrific actor. Terrific. We'd love to get him on this show. Oh, my God. Yes. And he was in. Oh, he was in that other movie. I like that. It's also a Sidney Lumet film, When the Devil Knows You're Dead. Oh, yes. That's Sidney Lumet's last film. Yes. Before the Devil Knows You're Dead.

Yeah, Before the Devil Knows You're Dead. With Philip Seymour Hoffman. Good sex scene, too, in that movie with Marissa Tomei. The one thing I have to criticize with Albert Finney, because he is a fine actor. Masterful. You didn't like him in Ferris Bueller. No.

He was miscast. No. He was in, what's that, Julia Roberts. Oh, Erin Brockovich. Yes. He's struggling on American action. A little bit. A little bit. But he's pretty good. Yeah. I have never seen Albert Finney do any accent. A little bit. A little bit. But he's pretty good.

Yeah. I have never seen Albert Finney do any wrong. Oh, no. Even in things like Annie, which is kind of a big bloated mess where he's Daddy Warbucks. Yeah, he's always a terrific actor. Tom Jones. Stanley Donnan's too for the road. Oh, yes.

I mean, take your pick. This is a fascinating film and a real departure for Lumet who was known obviously for making gritty films about New York City and police corruption and movies like Dog Day Afternoon and Prince of the City and Serpico and now he's making this this it's kind of almost a European film with a with an international cast yeah because LeMet was always in New York. Always. Yeah. Almost. Even The Wiz. Yeah, he's in New York. He's ultimately in New York.

So, and it's interesting too because the DVD comes with a documentary about the making of the film. They had a hard time convincing Agatha Christie, who'd had some bad adaptations made of her books in the 60s, to bite on this. Interestingly, they said she was allergic to film adaptations.

Oh, yeah. So they had to call in a member of the royal family, Lord Mountbatten, to convince her, to persuade her. Oh, jeez. To let her adapt the material. And she wound up loving it and considered it her favorite of her adaptations of Christie works. And that cast. Oh, my God, yes. He said about he got the biggest star first, which was Sean Connery,

who he'd worked with in The Offense and The Hill. There's two Lumet films, probably not. I don't think The Hill is in New York. Oh, so that means there's about three Lumet films with Sean Connery, because he was also in... He's in The Anderson Tapes. Yeah, oh, four. That'd be another one. Because he was in that, was that called The Family? The Family Business.

Family Business. Well, that would be five, because it's The Offense, The Hill, The Anderson Tapes, The Family Business, and this one. Oh, okay. So that's five pictures that they made together. Maybe I'm missing one. He got Connery lined up first, figuring that if you line up the biggest star— Oh, it knocks over all the others. Right.

Other people will fold in. And Ingrid Bergman for a very small part. Have you seen it recently? No. Yeah. She had a very small part. She was offered Wendy Hiller's part, which was a bigger part,

and she took the smaller part and wound up winning an Oscar for it. She's in the film. I mean, everybody's part is kind of of equal size, more or less. Oh, I have trivia for you, too, here. Oh. Speaking of Connery and the Orient Express,

what other film involved Sean Connery on the Orient Express? Oh. While you're thinking about that one. It was nominated for six Oscars. Only Ingrid Bergman won. It was nominated for Best Director. Lumet did not win. It wasn't The Great Train Robbery.

No, he's in the Great Train Robbery. Yes, that's why I thought of that. Yeah, no, no. If you want to stew on it for a while, I won't give you the answer. Yeah, I think I'm- From Russia with Love. Oh my God, yes.

Good trivia. I won't give away too much of the plot because it is a whodunit, but it is loosely based on the Lindbergh kidnapping. Do you remember the story? Yes. And it's also loosely based on an actual incident where the Orient Express bogged down in the snow in 19, I think it was 1929. It's a fascinating movie on so many levels, but we've talked before about movies with great actors acting

if you want to watch great acting. The first choice for Poirot was Alec Guinness. He was unavailable. Then they went after Paul Schofield, who was also unavailable and who were both older actors at the time, and then they get Finney, who's

as I said, in his 30s, and they pour this makeup on him. He's under heavy makeup and he's just, I mean, chewing the scenery and very, very broad performance, but it really, really works. And it's a terrific whodunit. And I watched it with my wife and my wife prides herself on being able to figure out any whodunit, she couldn't figure it out. And I should mention, this is very important, the actor who played Hercule Poirot on that PBS series. Oh, I don't know that actor's name. I know who you mean.

Yeah, he was a Jew. Oh, okay. Well, I'm glad you got that in. Yeah, he was a Jew. Oh, man. Well. I'm glad you got that in. Hey, can you look up who played Hercule Poirot? Well, you know, Peter Ustinov played him in Death on the Nile. Oh, okay. And I think another, one of the other Agatha Christie adaptations was it, oh God, what was the other one? This is going to kill me.

Maybe Frankie can look it up. See, we don't have Paul this week. Thank God. I knew, I thought, this is strange. The show's running smoother this week. Anyway, that's pretty much it for Murder on the Orient Express, which you guys really should watch if you haven't seen it. Terrific cast. Finney is wonderful.

It's being remade, of course. Uh-oh. Which is a big uh-oh by Kenneth Bronner with himself and Johnny Depp and Michelle Pfeiffer and an all-star cast. It's a funny thing. Every time, and we don't do it that much anymore, but every time we seem to recommend a movie, I then find out that it's being remade. Oh, yes. We recommended Time After Time, which is now a TV series. And we recommended the one that's out with Morgan Freeman.

I was just going to say that, going in style. Going in style, we recommended. I'm going to see them tomorrow because they're on The View tomorrow. Yeah, we were recommending the original. George Burns, Lee Strasberg, and Art Carney. And Art Carney. And they remade it with Alan Arkin, Morgan Freeman, and Michael Caine. Three actors you can't beat.

Yeah, I mean, and Michael Caine. Three actors you can't beat. Yeah. I mean, finest actors ever, but I'm not expecting a lot. Well, we'll see. And there's a couple of references to other movies. Like there's a couple of nods to The Lady Vanishes, which are fun. So Gilbert's favorite director doing something very different. Oh, yes. But well worth seeing.

And your film? My film is Best Boy. And again, we'll put out there to our listeners if you know what the outcome was with the character Philly. Oh, yeah. In Best Boy, we'd be curious to know. What else you got? Did we find out the name of that actor? We'll just refer to him as the Jew.

Could it be David Suchet? David Suchet. David Suchet. There you go. Nice work. I think that's it. Okay. Nice work, Frankie.

All right, so we'll see you next time. Gil? Yes. And David Suchet also played Shylock maybe in a play or something. Yeah. How come you didn't yell out Jew when I was going through the cast of Murder on the Orient Express? Oh, my God.

You didn't yell out who all the Jews were. Lauren Bacall, Jew. There you go. Sidney Lumet, of course, Jew. Sure. Martin Balsam, Jew. Yeah. Not Sir John Gielgud?

Major. He's an Ashkenazi Jew. Yeah. Yeah. You should probably sign off at some point. Okay, this has been Gilbert

Gottfried. Something like that. I'm Gilbert Gottfried and Frank Santopadre and this has been one of Gilbert and Frank's amazing colossal obsessions. Okay. Colossal obsessions.