Thursday, February 15, 2007

JERRY LEWIS, W.C. FIELDS & JIM CARREY









24 comments:

Anonymous said...

Man, in that W.C. Fields one, those kumquats must have been of utmost importance!

William said...

I've always loved WC Fields, but man, I can actually totally relate to that. That was me at work today.

cableclair said...

Endless love for Jim Carrey. Endleeeeeesss. I don't think I'll ever *really* stop crushing that man.

Krishva said...

The W.C. Fields one is a riot!

Sean Worsham said...

Was that last clip from "Cinderfella?"

I will always love the Roxbury skit especially the first one that Eddie showed (which was also their first appearance, which in turn was the only one w/ Jim Carrey in skit form).

I'll check out the WC Fields clip soon. I always heard about him but never actually watched him perform.

You're a godsend Eddie, just drive safely w/ out playing your gameboy ok? :)

Sean Worsham said...

Heya Eddie,

Could you do me one favor and look at my cartoon too if you have any time? I just finished it before Thanksgiving last year and wanted to know what you though of the layouts and storyboarding at least:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6xioJ9NbT18

I understand the animation looks cheap, but I had to do this whole thing myself in Flash nonetheless. I'll send some of my full-animation stuff later via youtube when I have the time.

Jordan said...

NOT the best Jim Carrey....



Jordan

Unknown said...

THAT'S the way to come down some steps. I'd move like that if I had the poor man's Audrey Hepburn waiting for me at the bottom.

The poor man's Audrey Hepburn is better than the rich man's almost anyone.

David Germain said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
David Germain said...

That Jim Carrey piece is easily one of the best sketches SNL ever did. I'll bet Lorne Michaels actually said the the words "good job" to whomever created that (I think it was just written by Will Ferrell and Chris Kattan).

I haven't seen much W.C. Fields unfortunately. That scene of his was great. I read that he was one of Tex Avery's favourite comedians as well. He'd even wander onto the set of any of W.C.'s films and contribute a gag or two or three to the director. I wonder if any of Tex's handiwork was in that scene.

As for Mr. Jerry woHOYVAN Lewis, I never was really a fan of his. Besides the contemptuous off screen persona (he even once declared as "fact" in an interview that women can't do comedy. Geez, what a jackass), I never fell for him in his movies either. His facial contortions seemed to merely say "Hey, look at my facial contortions." And any time sentimentality was attempted he came off as cloying and insincere to me as well. And really, how far would Mr. Lewis' career have gone with the input of the great Frank Tashlin? Even Jerry and his ego admit that Tashlin was the true brains behind his greatest successes. (Although The Nutty Professor was all Jerry. It contained all the faults that plagued his career).

Anyway, that's my assessment of the three clips.

Matthew Cruickshank said...

Great way to end a Friday for me Eddie- thanks so much for posting.

Anonymous said...

Sean, you've never seen a W.C. Fields movie? Get thee to a video store posthaste, young man!

I suggest you start with his Paramount films (International House is my favorite, even though there are a lot of other stars in it, W.C. Fields and his cane own every scene he walks into,plus he drives a car down a fire escape--I haven't seen a contempory comedy yet that could ever pull off the kind of surreal gags that were routine in the 1930's. Added bonus: Cab Callaway has a cameo and sings "The Reefer Man".)

His Universal Films are bordering on genius, especially "Never Give a Sucker an Even Break" His films with Charlie McCarthy are only fair,(so don't even bother with them)and his film with Mae West, "My Litle Chickadee" is O.K., but this one should have been made ten years earlier, as they are both showing their age badly.

I read somewhere that most of Feilds best stuff was filmed by the the second unit director. While the main director would work with the "professional actors" to film the scenes involving the film's plot, Fields would go off with the second unit and improvise a long scene with a couple of actors and then they would later cut those scenes into the story.

Personally I can only take Jerry Lewis in small doses, and Jim Carrey is an amazing physical comedian but I hate most of his movies.

Anonymous said...

What a commentary on the state of animation today that three live action performers of the past are orders of magnitidue more animated than 99% of the 'animation product' we see today.

Keep up the silent reproach, Eddie!

-k

Jenny Lerew said...

Yes, it's "Cinderfella".
It's a great scene--Count Basie takes it all the way over.
The thing about Jerry is--I get the distinct impression the only thing he wants to find at the bottom of those steps isn't a girl, it's a mirror. ; )

{But that's okay. Anyway, I'm talking about the actor/dirctor, not the character.}

Ken Mitchroney said...

Wonderful friday post Eddie!Thanks for dusting off the Fields clip from " It's a gift". I still think that this is one of his best Films.
As for the " Cinderfella" clip, you cant beat Jerry when he is working with Tashlin. Great!
Jim Carrey? Sorry, I still think he's as funny as a child's open grave.

Anonymous said...

Jim Carrey is my favourite modern comedian, (Jerry Lee Lewis's favourite comedian is WC Fields, but he says the only modern comedian who comes close is Jim Carrey) and Will Ferrell is a close second!

Eddie, have you seen "Anchorman: The Legend Of Ron Burgundy"?

Anonymous said...

A True Six Degrees of Separation Jim Carrey/Uncle Eddie Story:

Remember when Sam Simon and the late Lorenzo Music visited Filmation around 1980 and carefully studied you and the unique collection of rubber shrunken heads adorning your desk environs? The pair of then-hot big time comedy writers were doing early research for a project that other people would take over and bring to fruition a couple of years later as "The Duck Factory" - a short-lived, live action sitcom about life in a Hollywood cartoon studio. In short, you were very likely the original model for the lead character, played by the young Jim Carrey! I doubt that Carrey ever knew it, either. But look at the facts: you're an accomplished rubber-visaged classic facial contortionist and so is Carrey. You're a living cartoon and so is he. He's a billionaire with few real friends and you've got this blog and are genuinely admired by teeming masses. Simon and Music were trying to inject life into their sorry project and they came to study you. Simon was a recent Filmation alum and he knew where to look."The Duck Factory" ended up a pale imitation of you and a woefully inaccurate mirror of the cartoon business. (Who the hell was the prototype for studio head Buddy Winkler, anyway? Seems to have been no one in animation history. And the animated sequences resembled a high budget Jay Ward but lame on comedy, also not a true reflection of the animation product of that time) But it was a semi-noble experiment and remains the sole primetime series ever set inside a cartoon studio. I ran into producer and ex UPA honcho Herb Klynn in 1983 and he bemoaned "The Duck Factory" network cancellation but said "Well, at least we got to shoot thirteen episodes, even though they only aired about four." He also predicted that Jim Carrey "is gonna be a big, big star someday!" At the time, I thought that that was just an old man talking. Carrey came off subdued in "The Duck Factory" and took a few years to fully ripen into the broad physical clown he is today. Though if you look at tapes of his early nightclub act, he was already there, pulling off impossible physical facial resemblances to people like Charles Aznavour. "The Duck Factory" just didn't know how to take full advantage of his unusual talents. Hollywood has had more than one chance to rip you off, Eddie, and they've blown it every time so far. You're still a lot funnier than Hollywood. And as far as corporate Hollywood goes, it's no contest.

Tom Minton

Kali Fontecchio said...

I'm not that impressed by Jim Carrey. Have you seen what he's doing now? What the hell??

William said...

As your potpurri for today- Field's amazing masterpiece of hilarity, "Bank Dick" was one of Stanley Kubrick's top 10 favorite movies.

Interestingly, he also loved The Jerk and talked to Steve Martin about doing a comedy together in the early 80s. What I wouldn't give to listen in under that table...

Anonymous said...

I love Jerry Lewis. I think my favorite movie of his is The Errand Boy, which you previously showed a clip from.

Was that music Count Bassie? He must have loved his music. He used it in the famous scene in the Errand Boy where he acts out the musical sounds immitating the studio executive in his office.

Tom- Did this "Duck Factory" have any origins in Ward Kimbal's "Mouse Factory"? I have never seen any footage of either of these projects, but I do remember reading about Kimbal's venture in making a show similar to what you describe, only it was called the Mouse Factory.

Eddie Fitzgerald said...

Tom: Wow! Thanks for the great comment! I'm a big fan of Carrey and Simon so it would be terrific if it turned out that I had a small effect on the TV show.

I wrote a treatment for a proposed Jim Carrey movie but it was all about physical comedy and I read somewhere that he didn't want to do that anymore so I shelved it. I hate to read that people don't want to do the thing they're good at anymore.

Sean: Interesting film! Maybe tighten it up a bit and add a couple of pumpkin acting scenes.

For all the writers with strong opinions about Carrey and Lewis: I only judge people by their best work. It often happens that comedy people's best work is embedded in problematic films. I 'm just grateful for the good scenes.

Anonymous said...

Justin,

Ward Kimball's "The Mouse Factory" bore no relationship to the later "Duck Factory", which was a non-Disney series. "Mouse Factory" was a vehicle that used old Disney footage with some new linking material and was one of the last things Kimball did before retiring from the Disney studio.

cableclair said...

"I wrote a treatment for a proposed Jim Carrey movie but it was all about physical comedy and I read somewhere that he didn't want to do that anymore so I shelved it. I hate to read that people don't want to do the thing they're good at anymore."

Don't believe everything you read, Eddie :-P. You shouldn't shelf that just because of some untruth you read somewhere. (I'd love to read it actually :-D, email it to me if you want) He's not turning his back on his roots. Just broadening his perspective.

Oh and it's true about the Duck Factory. I have them on VHS somewhere. They had no idea who they hired and what much more they could have done with Jim on board, really.

He's always done both Drama and Comedy. Long time back he did a tv movie called Doing Time on Maple Drive. He played the Alcoholic brother. It's very good. You should check it out. Of course, there's flicks to avoid (like Club Med hahahah even though you should see it just for the sake of hearing his cute thick Canadian accent of back in the day eeeeehhhh?)

Anonymous said...

Wow, I just watched these clips.
I know who WC fields was, but I never saw him in action till today... I was laughing more than I have in a long time. Then I watched the other clips... and it reminded me of a Picasso quote..." Good artists copy, great artists steal."
Who's stealing from these guys today? ... Most of the comedy I grew up on is nothing more than talking heads, cursing and complaining, The same postures over and over ad nauseum.. And it hasn't changed much.
Jim Carey is good, but what's HE up to these days?... he's got a horror movie coming out....Oh Well!
I love a good dirty joke and cursing used in funny ways ... but It really is a skill to make people laugh with out any of it... Just think you could watch that W C Fields clip with out sound anywhere in the world and people would laugh at it. Thanks