POLICE SQUAD (IN COLOR), THE NAKED GUN and other Zucker / Neilsen joy

[EOLAN]

Val Kilmer also gives a magnificent performance including his own singing in The Doors. Although the film itself is rather plodding and should just be retitled Jim Morrison.

Top Secret!  is one of Weird Al's favorite films. Trigger Happy and One More Minute are effectively reworks of songs in it which he openly admits.

Skeet Surfing is also just one of my favorite movie openings.

[Ballad of Ballard Berkley]

Is this pure coincidence this has just been posted by The Poke?

https://www.thepoke.co.uk/2021/02/16/this-genius-train-joke-in-top-secret-is-making-everyones-day-better/

It's pure coincidence. Nick de Semlyen is the author of Wild and Crazy Guys, a good book about the SNL-inspired film comedies of the 1980s, so that's the sort of thing he tweets about.

I know Top Secret didn't spring from SNL, but de Semlyen is obviously a big fan of comedy films from that era.

[Cold Meat Platter]

The big phone https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QJoTBlDfVhk and the persistent helmet chinstrap are good visual gags. And the boots on the table https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sD_8O5pAyes . And the other boot gag where the camera pans up to reveal no one's wearing the boots https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vy7wVL6iW-s .

So many.

[mobias]

And then there's Chocolate Mousse

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5cFSWxzXXOo

It wasn't until relatively recently that I discovered what that Ford Pinto gag was all about.

[The Culture Bunker]

Top Secret!  is one of Weird Al's favorite films. Trigger Happy and One More Minute are effectively reworks of songs in it which he openly admits.

Weird Al of course appeared in all three Naked Gun films, with his cameo in the second (as the guy preparing to execute Ed, Noidberg and the rest of the squad) being the best.

"Nice work, Frank!"
"What?"

[famethrowa]

Whenever thinking about A Hard Day's Night, I will always sing it in the (little) horse's voice

[Dusty Substance]

And then there's Chocolate Mousse

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5cFSWxzXXOo

When he appeared on screen during my recent rewatch, I exclaimed "Oh wow, it's Presuming Ed!".

*insert Leonardo DiCaprio gif pointing at a TV set*

[dr_christian_troy]

It's pure coincidence. Nick de Semlyen is the author of Wild and Crazy Guys, a good book about the SNL-inspired film comedies of the 1980s, so that's the sort of thing he tweets about.

Loved that book, a good read during the first lockdown. Probably deserves a thread of its own, but I'd be very interested in recommendations for similar books on US film history, or US comedy film history (or specific film making-of books) in particular.

[studpuppet]

I'm so glad that TS! has hijacked this, and that it's held in fond regard here. On the very few sick days I've ever had off work, it's always been the VHS/DVD I've gone to in order to cheer me up.


The reputation of Kilmer being difficult to work with was born on this movie, and Kilmer seems to acknowledge that he was difficult because of his experience on it:

David Zucker: You know, he was troubled. And at the time, we thought he was difficult. But, it's important for me to say, when I say he was "difficult" – and, in fact, Val may be difficult in his career; I don't know what other directors' experience was – but some days we'd get one Val and some days we'd get the other.

Val Kilmer: I lived the boys and their comedy, but it took me 25 years to "enjoy" not knowing what is going to happen on a set. My acting training is formal and I was fresh out of Hamlet-land and the Julliard School. The boys always wanted me to have more fun, but I wanted to be good and I took it all way too seriously.

Jim Abrahams: I remember him struggling with the character, but I always thought he was a good kid. We hung out -- my wife and I kind of hung out with him a little bit socially when we were making the movie.

David Zucker: But, we all liked him. We all liked him.

Jerry Zucker: On set, I remember him being a bit mercurial. Some days, he was incredibly fun to be with and we were laughing. And some days were more difficult.

Val Kilmer: Message to young actors: When your bosses tell you to have more fun, believe them and do it. It doesn't happen that often!

David Zucker: But, I will say in his defense, that was a tough character to play. And in retrospect, when Jerry and Jim and I have discussed this, we've thought, Well, gee, who was this character? We didn't write him a great character. So, we assume a lot of the responsibility.

Jerry Zucker: I feel bad for the movie, not for Val. I don't mean that in a negative way to Val... I take that back. It's always difficult as an actor just to play "a guy." And here's another case where we didn't understand.

Val Kilmer: It's kind of weirdly engaging that I'm clearly taking all the lunacy so seriously.



Read More: How Silly Can You Get? The Tumultuous Making Of 'Top Secret!' | https://screencrush.com/top-secret-30/?utm_source=tsmclip&utm_medium=referral

[mobias]

The fact that Val Kilmer took it all so seriously is absolutely key to its success. I don't know why they're being so critical of it.

[Rizla]

The fact that Val Kilmer took it all so seriously is absolutely key to its success. I don't know why they're being so critical of it.

It's mental that the writers cast him after seeing him in The Slab Boys of all things, a John Byrne play set in a Paisley carpet factory. With Sean Penn and Kevin Bacon too. I wonder if they did the accent?

[Bongo_Christ]

And then there's Chocolate Mousse

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5cFSWxzXXOo

That "Lovely" at 1:05 is one of my favourite things in all the world.

[BeardFaceMan]

It's mental that the writers cast him after seeing him in The Slab Boys of all things, a John Byrne play set in a Paisley carpet factory. With Sean Penn and Kevin Bacon too. I wonder if they did the accent?

That's why it's a bit odd that they're critical, they must have wanted a serious actor for the part and not a comedy guy. And they got one, and he delivered. Wouldn't have worked at all with a comedy guy, same reason they didn't use comedy people in Airplane, you need people there to take the silliness seriously.

That "Lovely" at 1:05 is one of my favourite things in all the world.

Favorite Shockolahte Mousse moment is the glugging sound effect when he's drinking the gasoline. They really did just try and throw in every type of joke there is.

I watch this film every year on my birthday, have done for about 30 years now, and this thread has still put me in the mood for watching it again. And I'll still fucking lose it when the elderly cello players start rocking out on their back.

[Ambient Sheep]

I marvel at Lucy Gutteridge' glowing breasts https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qMojOwk2jOg

Tom Baker would approve.

[Rizla]

As great as Airplane! and The Naked Gun are, there's not a scene in either that comes close to this. Genius.

[DrGreggles]

The guy by the jukebox always gets me:
https://youtu.be/ar3wkC8U6LA?t=101

[studpuppet]

The guy by the jukebox always gets me:
https://youtu.be/ar3wkC8U6LA?t=101

The inspiration for this: https://youtu.be/h0YI_eHg3Aw?t=14

[Glebe]

Watching Thriller episode the 'The Savage Curse' on YouTube the other day, who should turn up only John Sharp, who plays the Maître D in Top Secret! (also spotted him in an episode of The Avengers before). According to Wiki, actor Anton Differing who co-stars in the episode makes an appearance in a different comedy film called Top Secret!

Just looking it up on Wiki again, I don't think I ever copped that Warren Clarke is in it! In any case it is indeed a comedy classic.



"This is not Mel Tormé!"

[pupshaw]

The guy by the jukebox always gets me:
https://youtu.be/ar3wkC8U6LA?t=101

Those stunt girls are amazing

[Coprolite]

All you need to know is that its got a man in the back end of a pantomime cow outfit being sucked off by a calf. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lb4asEv4jz8

That sounds like it would be a laugh but, you know, the bull..

[g0m]

Rather hope everyone's forgotten An American Carol.

To be fair, that movie DID have a really funny scene in it -

Spoiler alert

the really serious 9/11 victims dust scene

[close]

[mobias]

That sounds like it would be a laugh but, you know, the bull..

The bull is very much the crescendo of that scene. You've just recovered from him getting sucked off by a calf and then a few moments later he's sodomised by a bull. Poor Nigel. 

Its tempting to make the observation that they don't make films like this anymore but I guess you could easily say they don't really need to. It can't be bettered.

[Ant Farm Keyboard]

Top Secret! has an incredible amount of animal-related comedy. There are also the pigeons (well, the people who take a dump on a statue of a pigeon), the singing horse, and the mice (next to the cars in the miniature of the street).

[BeardFaceMan]

And the flaming hogs balls.

[Glebe]

the singing horse

"It's been a hard day's night, and I've been verking like a dog!"

[lankyguy95]

The low energy delivery of "he's just a little hoarse" is perfect.

[mobias]

I always loved the fact Nick Rivers was abandoned by his parents and brought up in a department store.

There are also the pigeons (well, the people who take a dump on a statue of a pigeon),

Thats another scene which is just completely surreal. I'd love to know how they filmed it and how much camera trickery was involved. It does genuinely look like they built a giant pigeon and then got people suspended from a crane to
urinate on it.

[BeardFaceMan]

Its tempting to make the observation that they don't make films like this anymore but I guess you could easily say they don't really need to. It can't be bettered.

That's all that needs to be said, really. Brooker had a decent stab with A Touch of Cloth, but there's nothing in this genre of comedy that comes close to Top Secret, or something that has ZAZ involvement, is there? All the other decent films I can think of like Hot Shots or BASEketball has some kind of input from those guys.

[mobias]

That's all that needs to be said, really. Brooker had a decent stab with A Touch of Cloth

Yeah very true. I did like A Touch of Cloth. It seemed like a worthy love letter to the early ZAZ movies. That being said it did show you how well refined the ZAZ movies are. There were a fair few gags in the AToC which just felt a bit flat and/or naff. There was a bit too much filler in it

[BeardFaceMan]

Yeah very true. I did like A Touch of Cloth. It seemed like a worthy love letter to the early ZAZ movies. That being said it did show you how well refined the ZAZ movies are. There were a fair few gags in the AToC which just felt a bit flat and/or naff. There was a bit too much filler in it

Indeed. If they'd just done one feature-length episode, or did it as a film, it would have been a lot tighter and better. Writing a trilogy of films as your first go at this kind of comedy was a bit too much.