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Post by anarchistemma on May 13, 2018 5:37:36 GMT
i just watched smorgasbord for the first time. i had heard, it being one of his later films and barely distributed in the U.S., and panned by critics, that it wasn’t very good. but i thought it was hilarious and in many ways one of his best. the dark humor hit all the right cynical notes and frankly i laughed longer and harder than many of his ‘nuttier’ earlier films. i especially loved the bank heist scene where he does a hat and cane dance to ‘new york, new york’ (tip of the hat to frank). he danced with the same grace and beauty as in his youth..and the self-referential gag of the guy who comes in to steal but once he’s in front of the camera has to mug and make faces, then break into a performance: perfect! the sight gags and physical stunts, all great. i would love to hear comments from others....... youtu.be/zhkt6fpCY6c |
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Post by aajjgg on May 14, 2018 14:06:25 GMT
I was not a fan and understood why it was not released at the time after I saw it.
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Post by LadyItaly on May 14, 2018 16:55:12 GMT
I also liked that movie a lot! The dance scene was fantastic ! Surreal and very funny like only Jer can be!
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Post by Classickat on May 15, 2018 5:34:19 GMT
It's not his best, but it is definitely better than Hardly Working. I think he was able to get away with a lot more blue humor than he had in his other films, and this film he had more freedom to take risks. I love the art museum scene with all those gags. The naked statue bit, was clearly something he couldn't have gotten away with before, or the mannequin that flips him off at the beginning of the film. The whole scene on the mountain when the avalanche happens, and he yells out Oh Shit!, is hilarious. Followed by the peeing ice cubes bit. It basically is just a series of sketches, with the underlying theme attached. The humor is darker than his other directorial work, which I love about it. There's some slow parts, and parts that sometimes don't make sense to the rest of the film, like Jerry as the patrol cop, or the bank robbery dance scene, but overall it's a pretty funny movie.
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audi
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Post by audi on Jul 20, 2020 23:36:46 GMT
Flawed film but some of the best gags ever done in a Jerry Lewis movie are in this movie. Some of the bits are even in the style of Mel Brooks.
It's perfect for Saturday morning entertainment.
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audi
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Post by audi on Jul 21, 2020 2:19:36 GMT
In this 1983 interview (less than two months after the double-bypass surgery), Jerry describes Smorgasbord as "the best thing I've done" -- and, honestly, I think he meant it. www.youtube.com/watch?v=B2lbtCHa0_oFor the record: Jerry clarified that the double-bypass was not precipitated by a heart attack, but rather clogged arteries -- which would've eventually led to heart disease. This is why he didn't have to take heart meds. They caught the issue in time. |
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audi
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Post by audi on Jul 21, 2020 2:21:20 GMT
I also liked that movie a lot! The dance scene was fantastic ! Surreal and very funny like only Jer can be! The carpenters ball? Hilarious scene! |
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Post by naedra on Jul 21, 2020 3:23:36 GMT
I just watched it last week for the first time and I LOVED it! The opening scene kills me. I love this movie so much I wish I could tell him. Why they didn’t release and went straight to video Idk. A shame.
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Post by Classickat on Jul 21, 2020 11:04:21 GMT
I think a lot of scenes are some of the funniest gags he ever did. naedra mentioned the opening scene, which is hilarious and VERY underrated. He was out there sliding around and falling down killing himself for us. It hurts me to watch him knowing that likely all hurt, but I also marvel at his abilities there, and how unique that scene and his suicide scene is in comparison to his other films. Also in this film he was able to get away with humor that he hadn't been able to do before. Such as mannequin with the middle finger, or the bull that urinates on him from the painting, or the whole scene where he urinates the ice cubes into the bed pan. He even says OH SHIT, and curses for the first time in one of his films, in a hilarious way. Is the film a whole lot odder than his other films? Kinda yeah, but that's probably the point. I'm glad this was his final directed film instead of Hardly Working. It showed he still had a lot of potential for newer films, which we missed out on because he couldn't get the financial backing. |
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Post by aajjgg on Jul 21, 2020 17:06:36 GMT
I thought the dance sequence explained allot to me why he would never direct again. First of all it is just thrown in-there is no motivation for the character to do this-basically he did anything for a laugh-it didn't matter that it was totally not motivated. Something Chaplin would never do. Also note the bank teller desk in the middle of the shots. Why was it there? Because the location had it there. Instead of striking it or shooting around it-it just stands out. This was part of his 2 camera shoot. Basically he shot the sequence as if he was performing a skit on The Colegate Comedy Hour-not known for its cinematgrophy. The entire film seems so low budget especially the cheap sets. I agree way Better than Hardly Working but to be honest that was an easy bar to beat (and I saw it in the theaters when it first came out and literally nobody was laughing. I was embaressed for him.
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Post by naedra on Jul 21, 2020 18:32:34 GMT
I’m no expert but the no plot or very loose plot may in fact be part of the genius. The moment is always of ultimate importance. So take life, we may have a goal but what generally happens? Something unexpected right? How we react to that is life. Not the goal we serve but the moments. What’s more unexpected than gangsters dancing? It makes me smile just thinking about it.
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Post by Classickat on Jul 30, 2020 10:02:54 GMT
I thought the dance sequence explained allot to me why he would never direct again. First of all it is just thrown in-there is no motivation for the character to do this-basically he did anything for a laugh-it didn't matter that it was totally not motivated. Something Chaplin would never do. Also note the bank teller desk in the middle of the shots. Why was it there? Because the location had it there. Instead of striking it or shooting around it-it just stands out. This was part of his 2 camera shoot. Basically he shot the sequence as if he was performing a skit on The Colegate Comedy Hour-not known for its cinematgrophy. The entire film seems so low budget especially the cheap sets. I agree way Better than Hardly Working but to be honest that was an easy bar to beat (and I saw it in the theaters when it first came out and literally nobody was laughing. I was embaressed for him. Well it is called Cracking Up, so maybe that's why some of the stuff doesn't make sense. haha Like when he randomly appears as a state trooper? It's a funny scene, but what confuses me is that is he the same character there? Some of the sequences seemed disconnected from the character, like the bank scene as you mentioned too. Now I like a majority of the scenes and find them funny, but I think he need could have had more background/or a prior scene that explained why these scenes existed for the character. naedra That's a good analysis. It's possible  |
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audi
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Post by audi on Aug 2, 2020 14:17:16 GMT
The no-plot disclaimer at the beginning of "Bellboy" was more appropriate for "Cracking Up," actually.
I've come to accept the film as part of the surreal universe that Jerry's art thrived in.
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Post by Classickat on Aug 6, 2020 6:25:57 GMT
Does anyone know if the version we all have seen, is the complete version of the film? There was a cut of the film that was the European version that was 5 min longer than the American version. I'm not sure which version was released on dvd.
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Post by Jessica on Aug 6, 2020 18:35:53 GMT
Does anyone know if the version we all have seen, is the complete version of the film? There was a cut of the film that was the European version that was 5 min longer than the American version. I'm not sure which version was released on dvd. I checked a few european DVD releases and on all of them it said 89 or 90 minutes, the same as the american DVD. I also checked a european VHS which said 86 minutes, so I'm not really sure. Could be that the complete version was released everyhere on DVD then. |
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