Rhinoceros (Zero Mostel & Gene Wilder) - Undiscovered Great?

[Alfie Noakes]

Just got Ionescu's Rhinoceros from amazon (rented)
It's got Zero Mostel & Gene Wilder at their best - and (not suprisingly) it's superb! (a bit off the wall but what would you expect from an Avante Garde fella like Ionescu).

Never heard of it before coming across it on Amazon - has anyone else seen/heard-of this - it's genius!

Is it a case that everyone knows about it and I'd just missed the boat?

Anyways, worth having a look at IMHO - however, why would you trust the word of a pathetic sub-20 posts bloke like myself? - Anyone else want to second this recommendation - or is it just me that likes the thing?

[slim]

I've no idea what the film's like, but I love Gene Wilder so I've added it to my DVD rental queue and will let you know if your sub-20 post count seems to have a negative impact on your faculties. Thanks for the recommendation.

[Bert Thung]

Tony Hancock was meant to be in a version of that, but he was sacked by Disney because of his drinking.

[ApexJazz]

Ionescu fanatics can quibble with the rearranging pf some of the text, but this was a solid production (Mostel, as always, is still a little 'too much' for the camera). The Orson Welles directed theater production with an insubordinate Laurence Olivier always intrigued me. There's been rumours of an audio recording of one of the performances (anyone hep?).

[Barney Sloane]

Saw it about eight years ago (it was one of only two films that I've ever watched on Channel 5, along with The King of Marvin Gardens), and it was hugely disappointing - not that I was expecting another 'Producers', but it could have been a bit more in tune with the gallows-farce tone of the play.


ApexJazz, there's a rather good Mercury Theatre MP3 archive here: http://www.mercurytheatre.info (although beware, I think the bandwidth only allows one download per day) - in the FAQ, the moderator mentions a DVD-R containing many non-Mercury Welles bits and bobs, that might be your best bet.

[slim]

Blimey, this is a good film. I've found it so fascinating and unsettling, I felt compelled to come on here and say thanks for the recommendation half way through.

[Ignatius_S]

Tony Hancock was meant to be in a version of that, but he was sacked by Disney because of his drinking.

Wasn't there a radio version that Hancock did?

Pretty sure Babs Windsor says she was cast in the cancelled Hancock film version and when that fell through landed her part in Carry on Spying.

I know Disney sacked TH from The Adventures of Bullwhip Griffin - rather suprised that it would have considered filming a surrealist play, not its usual fare!