A Fish Called Wanda (1988)

"A tale of murder, lust, greed, revenge, and seafood." In this episode, we discuss the sleeper hit comedy 'A Fish Called Wanda.' The movie stars John Clesse, Jaime Lee Curtis and Oscar Winner Kevin Kline. Directed by Charles Crichton 

A Fish Called Wanda - IMDB: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0095159/?ref_=nv_sr_srsg_0_tt_7_nm_1_in_0_q_a%20fish%20calle
A Fish Called Wanda - Rotten Tomatoes: https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/a_fish_called_wanda

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Jason's Letterboxd Ratings: https://letterboxd.com/jasonmasek/list/jasons-all-80s-movies-podcast-ratings/
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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:18):
Hello, and welcome to the All Eighties Movies podcast podcast,
where we talked about the block listeners, love flocks, and
everything in between from one of the freshest decades from
movies for nineteen eighties. I'm host Bill Banton Long McBeal.
This journey revisiting eighties movies is my co host Jason Massek. Hello, Jason, Bill.

Speaker 2 (00:36):
Don't ever, ever, ever call me stupid.

Speaker 1 (00:42):
That's right, listeners, we are discussing with spoilers of Plenty,
the nineteen eighty eight comedy kper a fish called Wanda.
It was produced and distributed by MGM. The movie stars
John Cleasee, Jimmy Lee Curtis, Kevin Klein, and Michael Palin.
Directed by Charles Crichton, this movie is rated R with
the running time of one hour and forty eight minutes.

(01:04):
The movie was nominated for three Oscars, for Best Writing,
Screenplay Written directly for the screen, Best Director, and winning
for Best Actor in the supporting role Kevin Klein. So
what is this movie about? What's on the box? If
you grew up in the nineteen eighties and went to
your local video store to rent this movie, you would
find this description on the back of the VHS box.

(01:25):
It is What's on the box, Take it Away. Jason
Jewel Thief. Wanda Gershwitz Jamie Lee Curtis is every Englishman's
dream of the sexy American babe, brash, bright eyed and buxom.
Barrister Archie Leech John Clees is the quintessential Englishman, polite,
poised and nearly comatose. Under normal circumstances, they might never meet,

(01:47):
but in a fish called Wanda, they're about to come
crashing together in a hilarious clash of cultures. Kevin Klein
and Michael palin Co star in this mad cap crime
caper about a band of bumbling thieves who rip off
a cash of diamonds from London's elegant jewelry district. The
perfect heist soon turns into a perfect mess when the
gang's double dealing ringleader, George, is arrested. What's more, he's

(02:10):
hidden the diamonds and isn't telling where. That leaves Wanda
with one option seduce George's lawyer. So she sets the
bait and launches one of the wackiest deductions ever seen
on the screen. Sink your hooks into this outrageous comedy
written by Monty Python's John Plice and directed by Charles Crichton.
A fish called Wanda, Fish called Wanda, So that was

(02:32):
what's in the box? Jason? Do you remember when you
first saw fish called Wanda? No, that's it, that's it.
I don't.

Speaker 2 (02:42):
I just think I vaguely recall seeing it in the
theater with the fam. I can't be totally sure. I
only know I remember watching on a cable more than
a few times as a kid, and I always thought
it was funny, always looked forward to the parts with
Kevin Klein. And although I always enjoyed the movie, I
just I can't remember many specifics about it outside some
of Klein's antics, including eating fish right out of the tank.

(03:05):
So not a lot when it comes to the early
memories for me. How about you, Bill Bant?

Speaker 1 (03:09):
Yeah, this was definitely a rental, and I remember my
mom was rolling off the couch with Ken's attempts to
kill the old lady expect the third one. She just
lost it. Yeah, that always stands out to me. I
don't remember hearing her laugh that hard, so that will
always stick with me. That's memory I always have associated

(03:31):
with this movie.

Speaker 2 (03:32):
That's fantastic because I also laughed out loud during those
scenes during this revisit, so really looking forward to talking
about it with you.

Speaker 1 (03:41):
Man. All right, let's talk about a fish called Wanda.
So what are our impressions of this movie?

Speaker 2 (03:46):
Well, as I mentioned, you know, I was looking forward
to seeing this again for you know, a lot of
different reasons. It's been many, many years since I watched it.
It's funny how it just kind of seemed to be
under the radar. But my first impression is that I
throw enjoy this movie, Bill, I just do. There is
the nostalgic attachment of it, just the fact that I

(04:07):
remember loving it so much as a kid that upon
rewatching cable etc. On vhs, like you said you had
rented it, no doubt I had rented it at some
point as well. And I just laughed my butt off.
That's all there is to it. So it was a
little different watching this as an adult because my sensibilities
have changed and my sense of humor is probably adjusted

(04:28):
over time, there's no question. So some of the things
I think I found funny as a kid during you know,
whether it be like pratt Fall kind of comedy or
physical comedy, versus the actual witty dialogue, et cetera. The
kind of farcical nature of the film and things like that,
all the hijinks. Some of it hit and some of
it didn't for me. But overall, I don't want to
come off overly nice about it or sound like, oh,

(04:50):
it was just okay.

Speaker 1 (04:51):
It was really good.

Speaker 2 (04:53):
It's really well written and just a really easy watch,
just a really fun watch.

Speaker 1 (04:59):
It's all say about that.

Speaker 2 (05:01):
What's your initial or first impression upon the revisit as
an adult?

Speaker 1 (05:05):
So this is my big surprise watching this movie. So
who to you was the standout character? And we have
a lot of odd and bizarre characters in this movie.
Who was the standout to you upon this rewatch? For me,
the standout was Michael Palin. I think he's really really
funny in this and now we can well, I have
this written down. I wanted to discuss the stutter with

(05:27):
you and how that hits you watching it today and
maybe today's climate, et cetera. Sensitivity wise, I think you
know what I'm talking about, but I appreciate what you know.

Speaker 2 (05:38):
What he was doing. He made me I couldn't keep
my eyes off him every time he was on the
screen because I think for me, Kevin Klein is a standout,
no question, in the way of He's got a lot
of the obvious funny parts. So I was already like
predicting those and seeing those coming versus Michael Palin kind
of surprised me a little more upon this watch.

Speaker 1 (06:00):
How about you, man, who was your standout? Jamie Lee Curtis.
I love her. Yeah, I think this is my favorite
movie with her in it because the premise of the movie,
it's four people that are robbing diamonds and it's her
and Auto, George and Ken. And then just the way
she constantly manipulates everyone. Yep, I mean she has everyone

(06:24):
eating out of the Palmer hand. And then John Clice's
character Archie. Just the subtle things she would do in
the movie when she goes to see Archie and she
takes off her glasses and she blinks her eyes like
she has a hard time seeing him, all those little
nuanced things, or when Ken arrives at the flat and
she pretends she's on the phone. She is just working

(06:45):
these guys throughout the movie and none of them have
any clue. I thought she was amazing. I couldn't believe
how much I enjoyed her. I mean, Kevin Glyne won
the Oscar for it, but I'm like, she almost should
have gotten nominated, just how she manipulates everyone this movie.
And she was just cracking me up anytime any of
the characters are speaking foreign language, and she would just

(07:06):
get all hot and bothered. That stuff was cracking me
up too. I couldn't believe how much I liked her
in this film.

Speaker 2 (07:11):
I mean, I have to agree wholeheartedly. She is so
good and so adorable. She plays the comedy very well,
so there's a little bit of the overtop nature of it.
But she's extremely seductive, man. I mean, she I got
it hook line and sinker. And if she I mean,
I would have been one of these poor SAPs that
fell into her trap, you know, easily, easily, very sexy,

(07:35):
and you would just fall prey completely. I mean, she's
the femme fatale. And I was watching the end of
this film just before we're recording here, and there's a
moment where Archie played by John Cleese, has felt like
he's been taken by her in a way. She's been duplicitous,
of course, and she's playing games and being extremely manipulative,

(07:56):
but he fell in love with her, and there's a
moment where she says as much, and then she looks
at him with these eyes where you can tell she's
fallen in love with him too, despite all the fun
back and forth and Hyjen since she's using everyone to
her advantage and all these things throughout, at that end,
she's extremely vulnerable and just so kind and warm, and

(08:16):
you're just like, oh my god, I would melt in
her arms. She's wonderful. The camera just loves her, so
totally agree. I mean, you've almost switched me over to
making her the standout for myself as well, because it's interesting.
She is definitely the lead of the movie, but doesn't
try as hard or too hard to overtake all the

(08:39):
other male leads. She's not chewing the scenery as much.

Speaker 1 (08:43):
Right because I think watching this, because Hevin Klein got
the oscar for it, my expectations are higher watching his
character in this movie. The character is funny. I think
for me, the most laugh out loud moments where him
just kind of appearing out of nowhere every time Wanda
and Archie were together or wanted Ken, like he just

(09:05):
came out of nowhere. It wasn't so much the dialogue
or his actions. It was more of just seeing the jealousy,
always making sure Wanda wasn't doing something she wasn't supposed
to be doing according to him. So I was kind
of interested on like how did he win this award?
Because I mean, he was really nominated for nothing else

(09:25):
going into the Oscars, and I was trying to think, like,
what did I see him in before? Like we discussed
him in The Big Chill, But when you really look
at his filmography up to that point, he really didn't
do any comedy. I think was cry Freedom was the
movie he did before this one came out. I think
it was more of Surprise of the Switch. But when
you think of Kevin Klein now all you think of

(09:46):
is comedies. But he really started as a dramatic actor.
It was given this opportunity, knocked it out of the
park and got the oscar. Like I'm wondering if this,
if this movie was made later in his career, if
he would have won it, because he would have been
known for doing comedy. So it's just like, oh, this
is just another character.

Speaker 2 (10:05):
That's a great question. I could not answer that. I
could tell you though that when I'm watching it now.
He has a lot of the shtick, kind of physical comedy,
and he has things that he comes back to. I mean,
I do love his vocal inflections at times. Some of
my favorite lines are when he opens the safe initially
and the jewels aren't inside, the diamonds aren't in there,
and he's like, okay, okay, disappointed. Yes, I love that

(10:28):
moment when he kind of hops up and then kicks
the car in a jump. He's very nimble and he
has a great physicality about him. He seems very athletic.
He's in great shape, by the way, Yes, Or when
he goes over to Archie's house to apologize to him
because Wanda has insisted because otherwise the plan is going
to fall apart and Otto pulls up in his car
and he's like, oh, and he's practicing his apology and says, oh,

(10:48):
I'm so very very very fuck youe I like. And
of course when he returns the callback to don't call
me stupid, don't call me stupid, and when he's smelling
his armpit it's ridiculous. So those things are funny, but
I also found like subtler moments different moments were funnier
that like you did as well, when he would pop

(11:09):
up at the most opportune moments, or just the faces
he would make. One of my favorite moments is in
the very beginning when George is laying out the plan
for the heist and Otto, Kevin Klein is just staring
right through him, and he's like, Otto, are you with us?
And he's like, what, Yeah, it was the middle part.
You know, that whole thing was the middle thing. Those

(11:32):
dumb looks on his face are brilliant. So I was
watching it and I found him extremely entertaining. However, I
also was just going to ask you, DoD you think
it was an Oscar worthy performance.

Speaker 1 (11:44):
I did look up who else was nominated, and of
course now I can't remember who it was, and looking
at the nominees there was no one. I was like, oh,
you know what that person should have gotten. Instead, I
didn't feel that way, and I apologize to the audience
that I can't remember who the other nominees were. I really,
do you think it was a surprise? It was just
a surprise. To the academy is like, wait, Kevin Klein's

(12:05):
doing great? What this is really funny? I like this,
and it's good because comedic roles don't often get the accolades.

Speaker 2 (12:14):
Yeah, the recognition and the reward. Yeah, absolutely, No, it's
a great point. And I wasn't asking the question as
if I feel like he was unworthy. I just did
find it a little surprising that he won, probably for
the same reason because it is a comedic role. It's
just something you wouldn't expect that it's as a surprise
unto itself. And man, I am a fan of Kevin
Klein for sure. I mean we covered the NHL on

(12:36):
this pod. I'm a big fan of Silverado. That's one
of my Western favorites. Dave.

Speaker 1 (12:42):
I mean, I love you to death. Have you seen
that with him? Yes, he's very busares that's a fun
one too.

Speaker 2 (12:48):
That's a little that he's doing com Yeah yeah, but
I mean he's been in some wonderful film, so he's
a wonderful actor. Also, I just wanted to make another
comment outside of like we're watching this movie and outside
of committing the robbery alongside Ken and George, I was like,
does I dono really serve any purpose in this movie whatsoever?
I mean, he's assisting Wanda of course, in some ways,

(13:11):
but he's really just a goof and a problem, and
he's very discriminatory and violent.

Speaker 1 (13:17):
Throughout the whole thing, I was just question, yeah, he's
a deterretor and how Yeah, And that was one of
the questions, like how did Wanda and Auto get together?
How did that happen? Why did Wanda thinks she needed
to bring Auto in so she can end up with
the diamonds for herself. That was a lingering question for
me throughout, like how do we get to that point

(13:38):
where the movie begins? How do Wanta be George? What's
the living situation on the flat? Is it Ken, George,
Rwanda all live there? I don't know. There was a
lot of fun questions of how did we get to
where the movie begins? That was definitely going through my
mind throughout the movie. One thousand percent. I thought about that.

Speaker 2 (13:56):
I thought about writing down that as a note and
I didn't, So I appreciate you bringing it up, because
it just they throw you right into this scenario of
this this heist team with Ken and George, who I
don't know if they yet do they are they like
flat mates? Are they living together? But obviously they're English?
And then you bring in Wanda, who's very American, and

(14:18):
the three of them have been planning this heist, and
you get the sense or it's established that she has
brought in her quote unquote brother Auto to help because
they needed a quote unquote weapons man, a sharpshooter, and
that's his ability, that's what he would bring to the team.
But that's where literally starts. You're like, wait, how did
this all come to be in the first place. You

(14:39):
don't see the planning of the heist or anything like that.
It's just like, it just is. You have to go
with it, and this I wrote down as well as
one of the ultimate just go with it movies, and
to its credit, it worked for me. But as far
as Auto's character goes, we do know that he's a
talented like sharpshooter, but other than that, he's there to

(15:00):
be this also intense and over the top like sexual
partner for Wanda, which is part of the hilarity throughout
because he's always spouting his Italian as you mentioned, whenever
he does, that turns her on. So that was another
thing I wanted to bring up with you, and it's
just how did you feel about the overall tone of
this film, because I think it's interesting watching this going

(15:23):
not what is this movie?

Speaker 1 (15:25):
It's clearly a very.

Speaker 2 (15:26):
Much a comedy, but the tone can it gets very
sexual at times. It's very over the top and farcical
and high jinks and things like that, and the writing
can get a little bit edgy at times. It can
be very irreverent. So I didn't know how you felt
about the tone.

Speaker 1 (15:43):
I think what I really liked about this movie is
it is very character based. It's not a reference based comedy.
I guess show this to my kids, and they're not
going to be who what do they mean by that joke?
Outside of they mentioned Margaret Thatcher once and that's it.
You good, almost remake it today. We'll get into the

(16:03):
Ken character, right, But there's a timelessness to this.

Speaker 2 (16:08):
That you're already answering another question.

Speaker 1 (16:10):
I think most of the comedy still works today. I
think most of the story still works. You wouldn't have
to change a lot if they had to remake it.
I don't think. I think the big question would just
be the Ken character, which I actually didn't have an
issue with. I know we said we were going to
get into it, might as well just get into it now. Absolutely,
I don't feel like they were playing four laughs, even

(16:34):
though there are funny moments. I always remember as a
kid in grade school, I had a babysitter and she
had a younger brother who had a really bad stuttering problem.
And I remember him coming into our classroom one time
to give a message to our teacher. He just couldn't
get it out. He just started stuttering. Of course, the
class started laughing. He walked out class was laughing again,

(16:54):
and our teacher reamed us, we're not necessarily laughing at him.
I think it's just the uncomfortableness of experience of that.
It's like there's someone farts and you laugh, you know,
It's just it's just it's just one of those things.
And yeah, Auto presses on him hard about the stuttering
and kind of makes fun of it. Oh, he's awful

(17:16):
about it.

Speaker 2 (17:17):
That's That's part of Auto's character as well. It's trying
to but yeah, no, yeah, but he's a dick. Auto
is a complete dick, and he's an asshole. So that's
part of his character. And so you feel empathy for
Ken obviously when you have this overbearing Auto that's just
continually mocking his stutter. That's insensitive for sure, but it

(17:37):
is also Auto's character.

Speaker 1 (17:40):
Yeah, but I like the way it was played where
Ken Winn's stutter as much when he's around people he's
comfortable with. Of course, when Auto it gets worse because
he can't stand him, and then even with Archie because
he's being pressured, it really comes out. I mean, I'll
get into a little bit in the facts in trivia

(18:01):
because supposedly Palin's father was a stutterer, So that's.

Speaker 2 (18:05):
I was just going, yeah, that's what I had written here,
because Michael Palin is a sir. Apparently, Sir, Yes, Sir
Michael Palin's father stuttered.

Speaker 1 (18:13):
So Palin used a lot of.

Speaker 2 (18:14):
His real life experience when playing Ken, including the fact
that Ken's stutter is less pronounced around people he trusts
like George and Wanda, and worse around people with whom
he's uncomfortable, like Otto. So I thought that was interesting.

Speaker 1 (18:28):
And supposedly there was picketing outside the studio for it too,
so people thought it was insensitive.

Speaker 2 (18:35):
And then afterward, I mean, Sir Michael Palin, he founded
the London Center for Stammering Children after a group of
stutterers confronted him regarding the sensitivity with which he dealt
with Ken's handicap in this movie. So, yeah, there you go.
So it was addressed at least, but I said that
I felt Michael Palin's performance was the standout for me. Now,

(18:57):
one little piece of inside was when I was acting
class with Ken Lerner years ago, I performed a scene
with a very talented actress named Sandy who was just wonderful.
And it's a scene from a play called Three Days
of Rain. And my character had a stutter. And it's
not easy to play. You don't want to do it
like a characterization of it. You don't want to knock

(19:18):
it in any way. You want to make it as
realistic as possible. But I had to get the memorize
the lines and know where the stutters happened and things
like that. And it was hard. It was hard, and
it was emotional. It's a very emotional scenes of drama.
It was not like a fish called Wanta at all
in tone. But after having done that and gone through

(19:39):
that performance, I just I'm watching Michael Palin and he's
quite wonderful. His facial expressions and his comedic timing and
the way he does. It's just funny and you can
have fun with it. It doesn't have to be taken
that seriously, don't ever. I didn't watch it thinking he
was making fun of people that have a stutter. I

(20:00):
just felt like his character has a severe stutter and
it plays into the comedy of in the tone of
the film and that scene at the end with Archie
and Archie's trying to get the location of the diamonds
out of him, and he's trying so hard. You feel
terrible for him, but he's great. And speaking of I

(20:21):
wanted to mention this too. I was watching It's just
great the fact that John Cleese wrote this and that
Michael Palin of course is in it, and we know
both of them from Monty Python. And I grew up
being a huge fan of Monty Python, especially the Holy
Grail film, and I just wanted to mention this because
they're great together Cleise and Michael Palin. And if you're
a fan of Monty Python, you know this. But for

(20:42):
those that haven't checked it out, go on YouTube and
find look up Monty Python's Flying Circus and look up
the episode Dead Parrot Classics. It is one of the
all time classics, and you'll see it's quirky and it's weird,
but it's funny.

Speaker 1 (20:55):
I just wanted to mention that I think you said
it best with the Ken character. Palin does it mock stutters.
That doesn't come across you empathize with Ken and his condition,
especially during that scene when Archie's trying to get from him.
Even I'm like, come on, you can say it. I'm
rooting for him. Get the word out. I know you
can do it. I never felt like I was laughing

(21:17):
at him. I was laughing with him. Correct.

Speaker 2 (21:20):
This is why he was a standout for me, because
on this one where he just to me, has some
of the funniest moments, and some of them have nothing
to do with his stutter. It's the way his character
is written. He's a thief, but he's also an animal lover,
and anytime bad things happen to animals, he's suffering. So
then when he's not only as a thief and an
animal lover, but he turns out to be a murderer

(21:41):
as well, because George has him try to take out
this old lady that was an eyewitness to seeing George
in the escape vehicle. After the heist, and so now
we have Ken Michael Palin trying to take out the
old lady and instead of killing her, he ends up
taking out her three adorable little Yorky dogs. And every
time there was a cut to the funeral from one

(22:02):
of the dogs, and you see Michael Paley in one
of the trees because he's there like and so like
depressed because he's a lover of all animals and by
accident keeps killing animals. It's so ridiculous, and the look
on his face, you just feel terrible for him. But
the way he plays.

Speaker 1 (22:19):
It is funny and he's very talented, so that's why
he was a standout for me. Yeah, and that was
another thing I saw when I was looking at the
kind of character that people with stutters. Animals are big help.
They soothe, So that's why he's such an animal lover.
And sure it's the fish. It helps him out. Yeah. Absolutely.

Speaker 2 (22:37):
I also wanted to mention one of my favorite comedians
right now, happens to be a gentleman by the name
of Drew Lynch. He is laugh out loud, he'll make
you cry. I've seen him live at the ice House
in Pasadena. He's amazing, and he got his start on
America's Got Talent. So when he was very young. This
is Drew Lynch I'm talking about. He went on the

(22:58):
show and had the courage, and he had a very
severe stutter and it was a result of an accident
he had while playing softball, a brain injury, and he's
overcome it. It's a wonderful story and he is dropped
dead hilarious, absolutely hilarious, but he uses that as part
of his comedy and you're empathetic and you're sympathetic, but

(23:19):
he uses it to his advantage and it's wonderful and
he's overcome it and it's a great story.

Speaker 1 (23:23):
So it just made me think of that.

Speaker 2 (23:25):
You don't have to look at it going, oh my god,
he's making fun of people that have a stutter. It's
a real thing, and you don't have to take it
that seriously. If it's done in the correct way, you
can find humor and everything. I think is my point,
and that's what I get from Drew Lynch, and that's
what I got from Michael Pellan's performance here.

Speaker 1 (23:43):
Another thing I really like about this movie being a comedy.
One of the things we run into a lot with comedies,
it's basically little skits that are just kind of put together,
strung together. I mean, the big one for me I
always think of first is National Landpin's Vacation. What I
do like about this movie is every scene does set

(24:04):
up the next scene, so that story really does move
along throughout, like you can't take something out, whereas like
you know, National Lampoons, you could take out a scene,
it's not going to affect the overall movie, or is
this one? I really like how something earlier on is
going to set up something later on. That's pretty good
writing for a comedy when you're really just trying to
get as many jokes and setups as you can, but

(24:26):
all this setups and jokes really are important to the
plot itself. So I was really impressed with that solid script.
I couldn't agree more. Just really solid script. Much much
credit to both John CLEAs and Charles Crichton. And I
wrote this whole thing here because it's interesting the way
the film is structured, because it is a lot of

(24:48):
the highjinks and you think, oh, this is going to
be a heist film, but the entire second act, and
this is what I wrote down, is that the middle
half of the film, it's not a whole lot happening
outside of the screen. Time is split between this one
through line of Ken trying to take out the old
lady with the dogs, and then the other half of
it is Wanda trying to seduce Archie, and it becomes

(25:09):
almost a relationship comedy. So the stars of the film
become really become Wanda and Archie, and you're watching their
relationship develop. And yes, obviously Otto is continuously forcing himself
into the situation and interrupting.

Speaker 2 (25:22):
The whole middle half has not a whole lot to
do with where's the location of the diamonds. It's a
lot of trying to get the key back from in
the locket, which is in the necklace and things necklace
and things like that. But you're watching Archie fall in
love with Wanda, and Wanda trying to manipulate these men
to get what she wants, and they become the star.
It's just it's great. Yeah, and then I'm like, oh, wow,

(25:44):
there's forty minutes left in the movie. They still don't
know where the loot is located, and you don't care.
You're like, I'm just having fun watching these people interact
and that's a lot of credit to the chemistry as well.
Between Clice and Jamie Lee Curtis. I thought they were
just great together. There's a lot of credit to Jamie
Lee Curtis. Going back to what you were saying Bill initially,

(26:05):
why she isn't standout as well is that she has
literally has chemistry with everybody. I mean, and she literally
makes out with everybody in the film. But she's great
with Michael Palin, she's great with Clease, she's great with
Kevin Klein, all of them.

Speaker 1 (26:19):
Yeah, I feel it's very character driven comedy, and there
are many arcs for everyone. Here's Archie kind of a
snotty bureaucrat, and now he finds a girl to fall
in love with, and let's loose and enduring life now,
and you had Jamie Lee Curtis's character as Wanda, who's
just trying to use men to get to an end,

(26:41):
and oh wait a second, she might actually be falling
in love with one of these gentlemen.

Speaker 2 (26:46):
It's really smartly written. They find the funny in all
these things, but it still stays light on its feet.
It never gets too heavy. Going back to that whole
thing with between Ken trying to take out the old
lady and he kills the dogs instead. It's oh, hilarious.
I just got the fact that he's so upset and depressed,
you know, and mad at himself when he ends up
killing the dogs because he loves animals. And then finally,

(27:09):
when the old lady has a heart attack and dies,
you don't feel too bad for the lady because they
positioned her and this is smart writing is kind of
an old bitch, so you're like, Okay, as an audience member,
you're like, I'm not too upset that she died. And
then second of all, then you have Ken coming to
the scene of the crime, and yes, he's upset about
the dead dog, but it just starts laughing out loud

(27:31):
and is like thrilled that he accomplished this thing and
that he killed the old lady, and everybody's looking at
him like why are you laughing? Yeah, And it's brilliant.
That's really I think that's very smart.

Speaker 1 (27:42):
Even the dog's dying, which you know, we're like, we
don't like to see animal deaths, but it is funny.
Like the Doberman. You obviously see the doberman has a
fake dog in its mouth, it's stuffed animal in his mouth. Yeah, okay,
you know that's not really the dog, so I thought
that was it.

Speaker 2 (27:56):
He runs over the second dog and you see the
dog flattened on the st but there's no blood.

Speaker 1 (28:01):
Yeah, it's just a stuffed animal that smushed. You know.
It's like, yeah, it's like.

Speaker 2 (28:05):
The Wiley coyote with the tire marks on it exactly.
I was going to ask you real quick the fact
that this movie was nominated for three Academy Awards, and
I started the movie going, wait a minute, who directed this.
I had no familiarity with Charles Crichton at all. I
know he's known for films like from the fifties. He
was already eighty something when they when he directed this,

(28:29):
or was he in his late late seventies. But he
was known for films back in the fifties like Dead
of Night, The Stranger in Between, and The Lavender Hill Mob.
And I know you're a fan of classic cinema, Bill,
I didn't know if you were familiar with any of
his work.

Speaker 1 (28:42):
And I had to go back and look at this filmography.
I had not seen anything that he's done before. I
thought maybe I saw one of them, but No, this
is the only thing I've seen of his. Yeah, in
the Lavender mom interested alec Ginness, So I was kind
of surprised. I hadn't seen that one. Yeah, and they
do reference that in this movie because in the plot
of the Lavender Mob is they steal this gold, and

(29:05):
what they do is they mold the gold into shapes
of the Eiffel Tower. And if you look in George's
flat or whoever owns that flat, there's an Eiffel tower,
a little miniature Eiffel tower in the flat somewhere. Got it.
That's great.

Speaker 2 (29:20):
Well, that's really all the commentary I have for now.
I was just gonna do a little wrap up here
with some just final thoughts about this revisit. I didn't
know if you wanted to touch on any other particular point, now,
go for it.

Speaker 1 (29:31):
We just touched on.

Speaker 2 (29:32):
All the performances, which are all great, the fact that
this film is still it's under two hours, great running time,
smartly crafted written.

Speaker 1 (29:41):
Is it as funny as I remember? Not quite, but
it was just as enjoyable. I just found different things
funny and I didn't have to laugh out loud. It
was just I like this movie. I love movies.

Speaker 2 (29:54):
It makes me love comedies, and I missed these types
of comedies. I was gonna even ask you if you
think like these kind of quirky sexual romps, irreverent, farcical,
hidick if these comedies are ever going to make a comeback.
I really miss these smartly written, less than two hours
long type of comedies. I found it very enjoyable. I'm
glad we got to watch it again.

Speaker 1 (30:16):
You're right, we don't see this type of comedy anymore.
Everything's got to be a parody, everything's got to be
a reference to something else. Almost feels timeless. Yeah, it's
a great point, and the themes still are irrelevant today.
And you really wouldn't miss that much outside of how
come none of them have cell phones? You're not missing much.

(30:36):
I think it holds up really well. It's a great,
just go with it type of movie. It's over the top, ridiculous, silly.
It's very charming. And when I say over the top,
by the way, I have to know, the whole ending
is completely ridiculous, and it's a blast, and that's a
testament to how it's done. It's like, I don't care.
I had a great time watching this and I'm having fun. There.
You go, trying to move on to favorite scenes or moments.

(31:00):
What are some of the favorite scenes or moments from
this movie? And I will start and this is definitely
not a scene I would have picked when I first
saw this movie oh so long ago, but I guess
being an adult being married myself, watching this scene just
made me laugh out loud. And that's the scene where
we see Archie and his wife Wendy are going to bed,

(31:21):
and it's intercut with Otto and Wanda getting it on.
And this was just making me laugh because here you
have Weddy and Archie. They're literally sleeping in separate beds,
barely talking to each other, doing their thing. Archie's cutting
his toenails, scratching his bald head while Wanda and Outo

(31:41):
are going at it crazy. Just a great back and forth.
I thought it was really funny.

Speaker 2 (31:46):
Again, really smart writing. As soon as they started doing
that compare and contrast as to you know, this very
proper English couple, and this is how they prepare for bed,
and there is no real attraction between them or any like,
there's no sexual occurring there versus this kind of hot
romance that is happening between Otto and Wanda. It's really

(32:08):
really funny and Kevin Klein and this part is really great,
the spouting of the Italian throughout, and I think there's
some things, well, I know there's some stuff in the
behind the scenes and the trivia where initially Kevin Klein
didn't want to be speaking Italian, but I think John
Cleese or krit and they insisted that he do the Italian.
I think he wanted to speak I don't know if
it was Spanish or French.

Speaker 1 (32:28):
But French, because he's fluent in French. Oh that's it, sorry,
thank you. Yeah, so it was French, but he's doing
the Italian bit. So he's just spouting random Italian words
and it makes Jamie the Curz hot and bothered. So
during that sex scene, then when he's on top of
her and they're going to town and he actually ran
out of Italian words to say, then he just starts

(32:49):
singing volare and it was just totally improvised because they
just he was doing great and they didn't want to cut.
And then that moment, of course when he looks up
when he's coming to fruition as you would say, and
you see his expression change, it is pretty damn funny.
And in the behind the scenes of that as well
as I guess Jamie Lee Curtis had to bury her

(33:10):
face in the pillow because to stop from laughing every
time he did that rooting takes So it's a nice
period on the scene there.

Speaker 2 (33:17):
It's fun stuff. What do you got a little more
of Auto and Kevin Klein. There's a part of the
movie where George is, you know, going to be on
trial here he got nabbed by the cops and gonna
be on trial for this this heist, for stealing these diamonds.
And during this corpse scene, he hands a piece of

(33:38):
paper to Ken, partner in crime, that has the address
of the old lady who is the eyewitness to seeing
George in the escape car with the rest of them
as they were getting away from the heist. So George
wants Ken to take out the old lady, the eyewitness,
and then the case will fall apart and George will
be set free. So outo Witnes. And this is this exchange.

(34:01):
There's a little piece of paper being given over to
Ken and follows him outside the court and just gets
into his face and is so loud, and there's all
these people walking around, and I just think this is
hilarious because already it's been established that he has come
on to Ken and made a sexual advance and is
pretending to be gay, and Ken is not really accepting

(34:23):
his advances. So Otto just comes at him in a
very intimidating nature and there's a little back and forth
that's funny because he Goto's saying to Ken. He's like,
I don't think you have the guts the balls to
take out this old lady. I'll give you I'll make
you a bet. I'll give you a pound if you
kill her. And he's just saying this in the middle
of public and right in front of the courthouse, and
Ken says, what's so funny, and Otto says nothing is

(34:44):
just that wasting old ladies isn't nice. And Ken's like, well,
it's better than buggering people. And Otto says, I'll bet
you a pound if you don't kill her, and kid
says all right and walks off, and Auto's yelling after him, saying,
all right, I I love watching your ass when you walk.

Speaker 1 (35:02):
Is that beautiful?

Speaker 3 (35:03):
Or what?

Speaker 2 (35:04):
Don't go near him? He's mine a pound, says you
won't kill her and he's yelling at Adams. He's walking
down the sidewalk, and I was wondering, because I'm watching
all these extras, the people walking around the background, they
were kind of were looking at Kevin Klein and Michael
Palin as if they weren't really extras. They were actually
just bystanders walking by, which made it feel very natural.

(35:24):
That just tickled me. I was laughing out loud when
Otto's just yelling at him, don't go near him, he's mine.

Speaker 1 (35:32):
Just how brazen auto is that? The fact they're having
this conversation right outside the court room where anyone could hear. Wait,
what it's going to kill someone? What? Yep, it is
pretty funny where it's happening. I think the next favorite scene,
I think we're both in agreement, and that's the first
time that Wanda appears at Archie's house right uninvite it.

(35:53):
And this is because Archie is George's lawyer or barrister
what do they call it. And Wanda's plan is to
try to get information out of Archie to find out
where the diamonds have been hidden because when they initially
did the robbery, they put him in a safe they
got moved no one knows where they are except for

(36:13):
George and possibly Ken, so she's trying to use Archie
to get that information. There's just a lot of hijinks
because here we have Auto. He's not happy about this
plan because Wanda basically says, if I'd need to seduce them,
I'm going to seduce them, and Auto's basically do touchy,
no touchy. And then he's outside the house and he

(36:35):
hears them getting flirty, and he comes in. And then
Archie's wife is supposed to be out in an opera,
but the car breaks down, so they come home early.
And then if you're a fan of Faulty Towers, which
John Cleese did twelve episodes, I used to watch them
all the time on PBS. One of the funniest shows
of all time. He almost reverts back to that Basil

(36:58):
Faulty character where he goes to get champagne and comes
back thinking he's bringing it to Wanda and his wife's
sitting there, and he has that quick freak out, and
of course he's trying to find out where Wanda is,
and then Auto's in the house and Auto pops out
out of nowhere. There's just so many things are happening
at once, and it's all really funny. It's definitely one

(37:20):
of the memorable and funniest scenes in the movie.

Speaker 2 (37:23):
This is really the farcical scene that is wonderful. I mean,
there's a couple, but this is this one stands out
for sure. I chose it as well. Hey man, Jamie
the Curtis again, she comes in. I love the fact
that they break in. Otto picks the lock and she
breaks into the house. But she surprises Archie obviously, she
just walks into the study or the living room wherever

(37:44):
it is, and Archie is surprised to see her, but
immediately all is forgiven, doesn't ask her, hey, you just
broke into my home. It's like, she just looks amazing
in that black dress, and she's very seductive, so she
looks fantast but his I laughed as soon as Auto
shows up and he's standing behind the door, and every

(38:05):
time John Cleese screams out loud and somehow makes it work. Yes,
I mean, that's always hilarious in comedies because obviously something's
very wrong and you would think the other character would
be like, why are you screaming? But it's really funny.
John Clees when he's scrambling trying to come up with excuses,
and it's like, yeah, no, no, let's we should celebrate.
Let's have shimpei. You know what, we should go to

(38:25):
the pub. Let's all go to the pub. It's just
great stuff. And then the you know, the door swings
open and he thinks Jamie the Curnis is behind it
and he just yells aha, and she's not there. Of course,
she's climing behind the couch. It's fantastic, the whole bit
with Otto distracting Archie's wife Wendy saying that he's a
CIA agent and that the a KGB defector in custody.

(38:48):
That story is ridiculous and none of it makes sense,
but you just go with it and somehow it all works.

Speaker 1 (38:55):
Yeah. There's a moment between there exchange when Otto makes
up a fake name. He's like, mister wandersin nny fletch Yeah,
and then Wendy addresses him and says the name like Boom,
exactly as how he was supposed to be. Said. That
made me chuckol. I'm like, oh, yes, all right, she's

(39:16):
on points, she's really paying attention. I like that we
should give her a quick shout out.

Speaker 2 (39:19):
Actually, that's a Maria Aitken, who played Wendy John Cleys's
wife in the film.

Speaker 1 (39:25):
She's quite good.

Speaker 2 (39:26):
She's very unlikable, very British, very English, very proper and
very rude, and very good at it.

Speaker 1 (39:34):
Yes, I do enjoy her. Another favorite scene that I
like is the apology. And this is the first apology.
This is the apology coming from Archie's character. And it's
a memorable scene where Otto is literally hanging Archie out
the window of the flat that he's borrowing, and the
apology itself just made me laugh. It's not so much

(39:55):
he's hanging out the window, but just what he said,
and I had to write it down. It's just so
over the time because he has to make sure that
Auto understands that he is sorry, and he says, I
offer a complete and utter retraction. The imputation was totally
without basis in fact, and was in no way fair comment,
and was motivated purely by malice, and I deeply regret

(40:16):
any distress that my comment may have caused. You are
your family, and I hear my undertake not to repeat
any such slander at any time in the future. And
of course he is saying this upside down four stories
high above I think the Thames River. That just made
me laugh.

Speaker 2 (40:33):
It is awesome. He says it so well. I love
the fact that he's hanging out the window and he
has his arms straight by his side. They're not like
falling down. That's just so English in that moment, even
though he's hanging upside down outside a window and rattles
off a whole paragraph of an apology with perfect diction,

(40:55):
and then it just it kind of surprises Otto actually,
he's like, oh, yeah, okay, pretty good. It's great. I
love that you chose that. That's fantastic. Moving on to
my last favorite scene is the final courtroom scene. So
we know that, as Bill's mentioned here that Archie is
the barrister for George. He is the defense lawyer for George,

(41:17):
and there really isn't much case against George being the
ring leader of this heist because all they have basically
is the fact that there was an eye witness, this
old lady that saw him in the getaway car. And
then on top of that, what's going to help George
is the fact that Wanda is his alibi, so she's
going to testify it on George's behalf and say that

(41:39):
she was with him. He was with her at his
flat during the time of the heist. So cut to
this final courtroom scene and you have Archie questioning Wanda,
and Wanda ends up throwing Archie for a real curve
because we think she's going to testify in George's behalf,
but instead incriminates George by saying he left the flat

(42:00):
with a sowd off shotgun with plenty of time to
get to the heist, and this clearly throws Archie off
his game. So when when Wanda says she was there
with Ken, not George, immediately John Cleese is like Wanda,
which is totally inappropriate and establishes the fact that he
clearly knows Wanda socially and everybody knows it, and he

(42:23):
tries to cover his tracks. So this is all about
John Cleese in the scene when he says Wanda and
then has to cover it by saying, Wanda, Wanda, I wonder,
I wonder, Wanda, wender wonder, and he just keeps stuttering.
And then when Wanda of course goes on to say, yes,
George had a sawt off shotgun and he left the
flat et cetera. Well, now he's really scrambling. He manages

(42:45):
to look up to the upper level of the courtroom
where he sees his wife, and he can see that
his wife, Wendy, knows clearly that he's had this ongoing
relationship with Wanda, so that's not good. And then he
even continues to stutter by saying Wendy when Wendy, Wanda wonder,
And it just keeps going and he keeps bearying himself.
It's just really fun again to watch John Cleese do

(43:07):
his thing, that's his stick when he has to scramble.
It's really really fun to watch, and he's a real
talent with that sort of thing. And of course, the
whole courtroom scene then devolves and George ends up jumping
over the railing and coming after both Wanda and Archie,
and the whole courtroom just falls apart. Everybody starts fighting

(43:28):
and then everybody runs out and it's just a big mess.
But I just love that final scene for the Wanda
Wendy Wendy Wanda Wonder, I wonder.

Speaker 1 (43:35):
That's all I love. That's the best John Cleese being
John Cleese. Yep, that's it. Okay, let's move on. To
Swiss Cheese and complaints apartment. And why do we call Swiss.

Speaker 2 (43:48):
Cheese because although this movie is delicious, it does have
Auto's silence or holes.

Speaker 1 (43:54):
Yes, if it doesn't have Auto's silence or holes, we
just file a complaint with the complaint department. So, Jason,
have any Swiss Teezer complaints?

Speaker 2 (44:01):
So here I have a question, and it is, I
mean a complaint question for you, Bill. Why did the
cops bring in the old lady missus Cody is her name.
I believe as an eyewitness to George fleeing the scene
in the getaway car. It was jarring in the moment.
I was like, wait, why did they bring her in?
Because we know that the cops were obviously called to

(44:22):
George's house right after the robbery, because Wanda and Otto
called the cops on him because it's a double cross. Great,
so they show up, they arrest him. But how would
the cops know there was an eyewitness who saw George
fleeing the scene because Wanda or Auto neither of them
told the cops. Did they when they snitched on it?

Speaker 1 (44:43):
Now? I'm just assuming it was good police work and
they were just questioning people in the area. And if
they saw anything unusual, and the lady might have said, oh, yeah,
someone was hit me with a car. Right. It was
just a good actual police work, all right, good.

Speaker 2 (44:59):
Enough, don't need over It was just as soon as
she showed up and was looking at the lineup of
all the guys and had to pick out George, I
was like, wait, how did she get here? Why would
they how did they find her? Overthinking what do you
have for complaints?

Speaker 1 (45:12):
Question? This is a cheese moment. I think I think
it might qualify as the cheese One of the favorite
scenes we mentioned is when Wanda shows up at Archie's
house for the first time and she loses her locket,
and in her locket is actually a key to the
safety's deposit box where the diamonds are now hidden. One
has no idea where the diamonds are, but she at

(45:34):
least has the key to get to them if she
ever finds out. Right, well, she drops it. Archie's daughter
picks it up and unfortunately has to give it to Wendy,
who Wendy now thinks it's a gift. Right, So now
she has this locket. She loves this locket. Archie never
gives her anything this nice. Well, the key is still
in the locket. It's a locket. How does Wendy never

(45:55):
open the locket and accidentally find the key? Great question,
wouldn't that be one of the first things you would do,
because you would think like, oh, maybe there's a picture
in here.

Speaker 2 (46:04):
One thousand percent, anytime I've ever held a locket in
my hand, the first thing I do is open it.
You want to see what's inside, yeah, or you want
to put something inside it.

Speaker 1 (46:13):
So either way, so she's had it for at least
two days and she never opened it. Yeah, key, And
first I was like, well, maybe they would have trouble
writing around that, but I think it could still have
her open it and find it and it would still work.

Speaker 2 (46:26):
Well, funny enough, because I'm going to take it one further.
I wrote a whole thing dealing with this very same subject.

Speaker 1 (46:32):
Build banks.

Speaker 2 (46:32):
Oh okay, absolutely, so yeah, I wrote, let's after Yeah,
the Hyjen said Archie's house. Wendy is in possession of
the necklace. Right, So here's the thing that I was like,
why doesn't either want to end or Archie make it
simple on themselves and just tell her there's a key
in it. That's how they could get it back. Because
Archie comes up with a story to try to get

(46:54):
the lockett slash necklace back from his wife Wendy. He says, right,
it wasn't. An old woman had it engraved and it
happened to be in the case at the store, and
by accident they sold him that particular neck Now the
lady wants it back, which is a good story. So
why wouldn't he just go one step further and say
there's a key in it that the old lady needs,

(47:16):
it belongs to her, and then Wendy could keep the necklace.
But at least Archie would get the key back to
give to Wanda. Does that make sense? One hundred percent?
Love it, like, use it as part of the story.
Just go with it and be like, Okay, Wendy, my love,
you can keep that. It's just that this old lady,
she had the key in the is in the locket

(47:37):
and I need she needs it for her own purposes,
so I got to get it back. And Wendy would
be like, yeah, what do I need the key for.
Here's the key, and now Wanda's got the key back.

Speaker 1 (47:46):
Done.

Speaker 2 (47:46):
Yeah, So that was there was a little there's a
little problem with it.

Speaker 1 (47:50):
There is another great moment though, with Jamie Lee Curtis,
when Archie tries to present her another Lockett. It's like,
why do you need that one? And she almost breaks
my mother gave that to me. Her reaction, there you
go on the spot, Yep, came up with a good story.
That's gonna gill Archie to do what he can to
get that lockette back there. Right.

Speaker 2 (48:10):
I just felt so bad for Archie because it seems
like every time he was so close to having sex
with Wanda, something always came up. Whether it was Otto,
or it's the Lockett or something was there's always some
sort of diversion. But that moment when he's dancing around
naked in that freaking that loft or that his friend's
place and then the family walks in is priceless. Easily
could have put that in one of my favorite scenes.

Speaker 1 (48:32):
Actually, that was the scene they always showed even when
we go to review as ciscol Indeaver, that was one
of the scenes that they had showed him dancing around Nick,
which I was kind of surprised. I was like, wow,
they almost he gets very naked. Yeah, he gets very
naked and he looks great, He's in great shape. I'm like, damn,
John Cleese is looking good too. Everybody looks great in
this movie. But the fact that then the whole family

(48:53):
with the kids walks in and they're like, we leased
this apartment from the guy. And he's like, oh, that's
a good point. And he has the woman's picture in
front of his crotch, and then they start having like
an almost normal conversation Yep, while he's standing there buck naked.
It's really funny. And that look on Cleese's face, Man,
he's so good. So I think they missed an opportunity
though with the picture. First I don't understand is like,

(49:15):
why is it the picture of the wife? She doesn't
live there. When you go on vacation, bring your pictures
with you to put around the house that you're staying at.
I was like, Oh, it'd have been funny if they
had something, if you grab some sort of picture that
represented what he was covering, that would have played it
better off for laughs than having the wife instead.

Speaker 2 (49:33):
That was just myint thought. I also thought one thing
that was interesting. What I was thinking about during that
scene is that he is enduring this embarrassment standing their
naked with the woman's photo in front of his crotch,
and they're having this conversation and it never cuts to
Wanda because Wanda's upstairs.

Speaker 1 (49:47):
Yep, what is she doing during that whole time? Yeah?
How does she get out? Exactly? That was my question?
How then did she get out of there?

Speaker 2 (49:53):
Yeaph Anyway, I guess we just added another favorite scene,
didn't we.

Speaker 1 (49:57):
Maybe, Yeah, here's a complain So Archie runs off with
Wanda at the end, see you later. Porsche, don't care
give crap about my daughter, who in actuality was his
real life daughter. So that's maybe a double whammy right there.
I could see why he left his wife, that's right,
because he's in the middle of divorce. But your daughter goodbye.
And I know they kind of try to play her

(50:19):
off as a little bratty in this, but no, there's
nothing right that bad about her because she's a typical teenager.
You know what. That's wonderful, Bill.

Speaker 2 (50:28):
I'm glad you'd picked up on that because I totally
forgot about it. Maybe that character wasn't that memorable. I
don't know, but that's a great call. He's abandoning his daughter,
and yes, his daughter, Porsche was played by his real
life daughter Cynthia. Please that's a great one man, good call,
Thank you.

Speaker 1 (50:43):
I just had.

Speaker 2 (50:45):
Yeah, one of your favorite scenes was with hanging Archie
out the window and he gives his long apology. I
was watching it the second time. I was like, there's
a whole group of onlookers while that's happening. They're watching
Auto hang this somewhat famous or well known barrister outside
the window, hanging him upside down out the window. And

(51:05):
I was like, nobody calls the cops. No cell phones, Yeah,
nobody runs to a payphone. I guess that's all I got.

Speaker 1 (51:15):
Man. Oh, airport's security terrible. Oh yeah, well I was.

Speaker 2 (51:20):
I was saving something from my additional thought on that
whole thing.

Speaker 1 (51:24):
Well, the gunflip is funny. I was like, Okay, that's
kind of funny how he gets the gun by but
he still had a silencer on him that should have
set the alarm off. And then Wanda had the stick
that's right, the little men or whatever, Yeah, that would
have went off. Also, Oh I mentioned it my you know,
just first impressions is that the whole ending is ridiculous.

(51:49):
Is it fun? Hell? Yeah, it's fun.

Speaker 2 (51:51):
But I was just gonna make a very sarcastic comment
because remember the day's bill when you could run through
an airport and slip through security by flipping a gun
out side the metal detector, and then shoot your way
out of a supply closet and hang out on the
tarmac and play in fresh cement and drive a cement
road roller and climb on the wing of a plane.
I mean, those were the days.

Speaker 1 (52:11):
Man.

Speaker 2 (52:12):
It's just not the same the whole airport experience anymore.
But that's basically everything that happens in that whole sequence,
and you're like, wow, how are they getting away with
any of it? But it's it's still fun.

Speaker 1 (52:25):
Yeah, it is. By time to go on to Hey,
it's that actor. Also in the segment, we spotlight a
character actor you have seen in many other films, an
actor making their big screen debut, or an actor it
makes an uncredit cameo. Let's hey, it's that actor. Who
do we choose this week?

Speaker 2 (52:42):
This week we've chosen for our hands that actor Stephen Fry.
Stephen Fry, he makes a cameo in this film, and
they actually gave his character a name, even though you
don't hear his name.

Speaker 1 (52:56):
If you look.

Speaker 2 (52:57):
In the credits, he's known as Chinsen and Otto speaks
to him ever so briefly during this ridiculous airports sequence.
He runs up to him and says, in a fake
British accent, Otto says, airport security, airport security may see
a boarding pass please, of course, Stephen Fry. It's like, oh, yes,

(53:18):
of course, and pulls out the boarding pass and gives
it to Otto. So Otto now has a ticket. And
then Otto proceeds to push him into the corner and
knock him out. But he was the one who really
stood out to me. He is a presence. This being
Stephen Fry is like, I know that guy for sure,
and he really was the only other face I recognized
to be completely honest. Stephen Fry is an English actor

(53:40):
and writer. His trademarks are being that he has a
tall stature. I think he's six' four and three.

Speaker 1 (53:49):
QUARTERS i BELIEVE i Saw it's like super.

Speaker 2 (53:51):
Tall he's known for his crooked nose and his sonorous,
voice and received Pronunciation Little. Trivia in nineteen eighty, Four
STEPHEN i.

Speaker 1 (54:00):
Was engaged to do the rewrite of The noel gay
Musical me And My, girl which made him a millionaire
before the age of, thirty and it also earned him
a nomination for A Tony award in nineteen eighty. Seven
also way back in the nineteen, eighties he shared a
house In london With Hugh.

Speaker 2 (54:19):
Laurie how about. That here's a bit of what he's
done in the. Eighties this is FROM. IMDb he was
uncredited In chariots Of fire in eighty. One he does
SOME tv series. Work he's in The Good. Father in eighty,
five he does six episodes of Black adder. Two That's blackadder.
Two in nineteen eighty, six does some MORE TV tv,
movies more Black adder. Appearances he does A tv series

(54:42):
Called Saturday, live Not Saturday Night, live But Saturday. Live
he did nineteen episodes of that from eighty six to eighty,
seven and then of course this a fish called one
in eighty. Eight he does go on to do a
lot of voice work in, movies videos and video. Games
he narrates a lot Of Harry potter movie Which i'm
curious as to what those are. Exactly but he's known

(55:04):
For Gosford, park v For. VENDETTA i remember seeing him
in the sequel to the Initial Sherlock holmes film and
the sequels ENTITLED A game Of. Shadows he Plays Microft
holmes and THAT'S i think he's Playing sherlock's, brother If
i'm not, Missing and that's in twenty. Eleven he was
also in a couple of The hobbit, films and from
twenty fifteen to twenty nineteen does eighty nine episodes Of

(55:26):
Danger mouse As colonel. K, recently it was in six
episodes of The netflix Series The sandman from twenty twenty
two to twenty twenty. Five one quote From Stephen, frye
the email of the species is more deadly than the.
Male All, right that's our heyts that actor this, Week Stephen.

Speaker 1 (55:44):
Frye, YEAH i don't think you really could have chose anyone.
ELSE i could.

Speaker 2 (55:48):
Have, yeah looked into the filmographies of some of the
Other i'm sure they're. EXTENSIVE i did sort of wreck hold,
on let's, see what's the old, woman Missus cody played
By Patricia. Hayes she seemed familiar to, me BUT i
didn't get a chance to look at her.

Speaker 1 (56:04):
Filmography, okay time to move on to facts and. Trivia
what are some facts of? Trivia we have about a
fist Called Wanda John cleese told an interviewer that he
called his Character Archie leach because that was Actor Carrie
grant's real, name And clease is quoted as, SAYING i
feel this film is as near As i'll ever get
to Being Cary. Grant there you. Go Although Charles crichton

(56:28):
is the sole credited director OF A Fish Called, Wanda
John clees was officially listed as co director during. Production that, credit,
however was mostly for. Appearance clee has since explained that
he did very little actual directing and only agreed to
the title because the film's backers were nervous about letting
the seventy eight year Old crichton direct entirely on his.

(56:50):
Own in, Practice clees directed just a handful of, scenes
Mainly Michael palin's solo moments As, ken including his increasingly
frantic attempts to silence the. Witness this wasn't about creative,
control but. Logistics it Allowed crichton to get a head
start on editing the. Film on, Set creighton seemed amused
rather than bothered about the. Situation he often wore A

(57:13):
t shirt given to him By cleisett Red age And
treachery Will Always Overcome youth and skill love it a
couple quick.

Speaker 2 (57:21):
Ones according To Michael, palin the original title was a
goldfish Called. Wanda, also this film was the number one
rental video in THE us in nineteen eighty.

Speaker 1 (57:32):
Nine see that all, right here's a fact that it'll
be disappointing to our male. Audience So Jamie Lee curtis
was originally going to have a nude scene until she
pointed out that men being nude is much. Funnier So
John cleese did it. Instead that's.

Speaker 2 (57:47):
Great during the initial run of the, film A danish
audiologist named Ol benson died while laughing during a, screening
which led newspapers to report that he had died from
the official cause of death was heart, fibrillation which may
have been caused by an increased heart rate due to extended.

(58:07):
Laughter clee considered using the event for, publicity but ultimately
decided that doing so would be in bad.

Speaker 1 (58:14):
Taste so The latin hymn sung by the choir boys
at The dog's funeral translates to have Mercy, Lord have Mercy.
Lord the dog is, dead, BRILLIANT i love.

Speaker 2 (58:27):
It In march nineteen eighty, nine a few months after
the release of the, film The Orange county chapter of
The National Stuttering, project the predecessor of The National Stuttering,
association picketed OUTSIDE mgm offices In Culver city in protest.

Speaker 1 (58:40):
Of the Movie You Touched upon that earlier bill right
down the street from. Me there you. Go, YEAH i
was In Culver city at the. Time, okay let's move
on to box. Office SO A Fish Called wanda was
released On july fifteenth in a whopping three. Theaters despite
a modest seven point five million, budget the film went
on to earn an impressive sixty three point five million

(59:03):
at the domestic box, office plus another one hundred and
twenty six point one million. Internationally the movie took a
little time to build, momentum AS A Fish Called wanda
didn't crack the top ten until it's fourth, week after
expanding to six hundred and sixteen, theaters where it debuted
at number. Five by week, ten the movie had climbed
all the way to number one and would hang around

(59:25):
the top ten for another five. Weeks by the end
of its, RUN A Fish Called wanda ranked as the
thirteenth highest grossing movie in THE, us landing just Behind Working.
Girl so the studio didn't have much confidence in the
movie and they were. Wrong this is the definition of
a sleeper. Hit there you. Go moving on to. Reviews
from growing up in the, eighties we would watch at

(59:47):
the movies With Geen cisco And Roger eber to hear
the reviews and watch clips of upcoming. Movies their review
OF A Fish Called wanda was unanimous two thumbs. Up
gene called the movie a superb combination of good storytelling
and a very very funny story being. Told roger strated
that the movie is just funny from beginning to. End

(01:00:08):
Rotten tomatoes gives it A tomatometer score of ninety six,
percent with A Popcorn meter score of eighty four, percent
and also has AN IMDb rating of seven point. Five all,
right so this takes us to additional thoughts and. Questions
do we have anything else that we need to cover
ABOUT A Fish Called wanda that we? MISSED i don't
Feel i've missed anything personally THAT i really wanted to

(01:00:31):
get off my chest regarding this. Film how about You?
Bill just one of my favorite quotes of the. Movie
hopefully this wasn't going to be your final quote at
the end here and it's the back and forth Between
otto And. Wanda When otto again Interrupts wanda trying to
get information out Of, archie she's just had it and
she goes she calls them. Stupid at some point he's,

(01:00:52):
like don't call me, stupid And wander's response, is, oh
right to call you stupid would be an insult to stupid.
People i've known cheap that could. Outweight you've dresses with higher.
IQs but you think you're an, intellectual don't? You? Ape
and then he follows up with, like, well apes don't read,
philosophy and she, goes they, do they just don't understand.
It and then she goes on with some other. Insults

(01:01:13):
BUT i really do like that. Exchange there is some
really good dialogue in that. Scene oh, yeah And i'm
glad you called that one. OUT i noted it as.
Well when it was, HAPPENING i was, like, oh this is.
Great she's letting them have. It but it's very, witty
it's very. Smart not. Stupid, no not. Stupid, Okay so
let's move on to our. Rating so here we go

(01:01:34):
on a scale of one to five, angelfish would you
give a fish Called?

Speaker 2 (01:01:40):
Wanda i'm giving this four four angel. Fishes, fish just
fish for, angelfish don't call me, Stupid bill For, angelfish
Called wanda for. Sure really solid four because this is, entertainment.
Folks at LEAST i felt like it was back in eighty.
EIGHT i feel like it still is. Today and just

(01:02:02):
to recap great performances By Klein, Clae Jamie Lee curtis
is beautiful in, this and she's a wonderful actress in.
This she's so, talented not in just manipulating the men
but in stealing their. Hearts but she stole mine as,
well and clearly she stole, bills so credit to her

(01:02:22):
And Michael. Palin of, COURSE i felt handled the stutter quite,
well SO i appreciate him and his acting ability is
comedic acting and felt a lot of empathy for this
character upon this. Rewatch, yeah just not many complaints from.
Me it's a great just go with it movie Credit Charles.
CRICHTON i thought the direction was well and the writing

(01:02:45):
is really. Strong so just not a lot to be
mad about. Here it's only to be happy, about And
i'm GLAD i got to see it. Again and there
are so many great, scenes a lot we may have not,
covered so if you are out there and pulling out some, hairs,
going how did you not talk about the scene where
he eats the fish and puts the chips Up ken's. Nose,

(01:03:05):
well it's. Fantastic, yeah that stuff's. Great or the final
scene When ken gets his revenge For wanda and rolls
Over otto in the.

Speaker 1 (01:03:13):
Cement it's all. Fun so what is an hour and
forty seven? MINUTES i believe something along those, lines and
it went by A New york minute it. Was it was.
Great that's my. Rating, YEAH i am totally with. YOU
i have a four also Four, angelfish and, YES i
cannot meet someone with the Name. Ken and the first

(01:03:35):
thing that goes to my head Is ken is coming
to kill me but saying it the way that's that. Line,
YEAH i can't not think of. That and this is
one of those movies that even last, NIGHT i watched
it twice AND i couldn't believe both. Times i'm, like,
wait we're at the end. Already it. Flies it, flies

(01:03:55):
and that's always a good compliment to the, film where
it's over before you know it and you've been smiling
or laughing or snickering. THROUGHOUT i cannot say enough About
Jamie Lee curtis and. THIS i was so. SURPRISED i
really THOUGHT i was really watching this For Kevin kline
And Jamie. Lee curtis ended up being the. Standout that's
definitely my favorite movie of. Hers very.

Speaker 3 (01:04:16):
Good all, Right so that about does it for this week's.
Episode as, always we appreciate you tuneing. In don't forget
to follow us on your favorite streaming. Platform we've been
rating and drop us review hopefully.

Speaker 1 (01:04:27):
Positive. One want to know more about the, show of
course you. Do head over To All gabiesmovies podcast dot
com for all the brad. Details we hope you'll join
us next time as we dive into another classic when
the greatest movie decade ever the nineteen. Eighties until, then
stay cool and have an excellent day. Everyone i'll avoid
the green. Ones they're not ripe. Yet thanks for staying

(01:04:52):
up with.

Speaker 2 (01:04:53):
Us Good night, world