A Story About Johnny Carson & Charles Nelson Reilly
The new American Masters documentary on Johnny Carson debuted last night and it reminded me of a story that I was told by the late, great Charles Nelson Reilly. It was 2004, and Johnny was still alive. We were filming a documentary on CNR and some of us who were working on the film were hanging out at CNR’s house in Beverly Hills, discussing the film.
Charles liked to tell Johnny Carson stories. He loved the man. In fact, a significant scene in the film, The Life of Reilly, revolved around Charles appearing on the Tonight Show doing the “To be or not to be” scene from Hamlet:
When Charles told stories, you have to realize that he always put the story first… even if it involved a bit of a… let’s just say, evolution of the truth. One time he would say he had been on the show 103 times. The next time he would say 105 times. We settled on 104 times for the movie, but as best we could tell, it was actually 99 times. I guess he thought 100-plus something had a better ring to it.
Charles lived near the NBC studio, he told us, and he had a tux hanging in his closet standing by just in case Johnny called. When a guest was a no-show, Johnny called Charles and he came right over. The conversation was genuine and funny. Johnny would always ask about Charles mother. The clips are a riot. The loose, rambling, improvisational comedy seems very different than today’s late night world.
But the story Charles told us that night in his house came to mind when I was reading about the American Master film — the complication that was Johnny Carson. We asked Charles why he hadn’t appeared on the show for the last couple of years that Johnny was on the air. Johnny, Charles explained, had banned him from the show.
The reason? Charles had gotten a call from his good friend Joan Rivers, asking him to appear on her new show. He did so. And that was it for Charles on The Tonight Show.
I asked Charles if he ever saw or heard from Carson again? He had not. It was the late night death penalty. Charles didn’t seem upset about it. It was just show biz. Charles mixed us up another Manhattan and went on to tell some pretty good Joan Rivers stories. “My Joanie” he called her.
But when it came to making the film, we contacted Carson Productions to ask for clips to use in the movie. Their reply was swift and gracious. “We love Charles. Anything we can do to help.”
They sent over several great clips, free for us to use, although the one Charles talks about in the movie was gone… part of an NBC snafu where they bulk erased video copies of several years worth of material.
In the end we barely used the clips in the film, but several can be found on YouTube. They remind me of good times with Charles Nelson Reilly — a great and complicated talent himself. And his friend, the great and complicated Johnny Carson.
We miss them both.
-bap
Chris James Thompson’s New Film Premiering At SXSW
Jeff, a truly unique take on Jeffrey Dahmer, will be making its premiere at the prestigious and fun SXSW Film Festival this March in Austin, Texas. If you’re down there, come out and see director Chris James Thompson’s fearless Dahmer film.
We braved the worst snow storm in recorded history to film this music video for our fearless leader of post-production Dan Didier’s band, Maritime. The result — the official music video for “Paraphernalia” from Maritime’s fourth album “Human Hearts.”
Things get sinister when they arrive at the mansion, which looks like it was designed by Stanley Kubrick. The only inhabitants are the sickly mother, who keeps sucking on oxygen, a strange Filipino maid named Cupid, and an exotic white chicken who roams the premises freely. Oh yeah, there’s also an unseen sister who lives in a cottage out back. Apparently, she’s “a little touched.” At this point, I’d probably call a cab and head back home, especially after seeing a painting of an aswang, a Filipino vampire who drinks the blood of newborns, given prominent place in the study. Fortunately, our heroine sticks around, ensuring our enjoyment of a fucked-up, unusual vampire movie.
Mark P. Lands a Role on “The Office”
HAHAH!!! Our own Mark Proksch just got a part on NBC’s The Office.
Last May Mark – posing as an eco-loving yo-yo master – EASILY got onto morning TV news broadcasts around Wisconsin (and beyond), making a minor mockery of mid-market news mongers. Remember Kenny Strasser?
In the hugely massively successful show’s Oct. 14 episode, Dwight (played by Rainn Wilson) selects Nate (played by Mark) as the only non-immigrant from a group of workers. His first task as a handyman: removing a hornet’s nest. We hear that Mark will appear in at least a few more episodes, so I guess we won’t be seeing him at the front desk any more. Good luck and god speed, K-Strass.
Tina Fey’s First Commercial
A couple of years ago we posted a spot on our vimeo page from the DEEEP archives. It was a spot we did (through Purple Onion) for Mutual Savings Bank in 1995 with Tina Fey. It was apparently her ONLY spot before joining SNL. She sees it for the first time on The Jimmy Fallon Show.
A Marriage Proposal, September Club Style
Last weekend Manny Marquez proposed to his long time girlfriend Leigh Wilson by making a short documentary called HWY 9: A Story About Love.
He then convinced his local theater in Hood River, OR to show it right before a screening on The A-Team.
This is the story behind it, as told by Manny to Barry Poltermann in an i-Chat last evening.
HWY 9: A Story About Love can also be watched below…
———————————
AIM IM with Manny Marquez <gastlycrumb>6/17/10 11:22 PM
Manny Marquez:
barry, you there
Barry Poltermann:
yeah man
glad you liked my blog post!
Manny Marquez:
Loved it man
Love Trek
Star Trek that is
Barry Poltermann:
me 2
Manny Marquez:
did you see that engagement film I made?
Barry Poltermann:
that was so fucking awesome man
i loved it
i saw it on sunday
Manny Marquez:
well, I thank you for that man
Barry Poltermann:
i nearly cried
seriously
Manny Marquez:
I took your advice
Barry Poltermann:
i teared up
Manny Marquez:
a couple a days later Leigh was like “you are so fucking about face”
I was cracking up
Barry Poltermann:
HAH!
Manny Marquez:
She loved it
Barry Poltermann:
i bet
Manny Marquez:
played to an audience in the theater man, she had ZERO idea it was coming
Barry Poltermann:
i loved that you told the story about wanting to make a western with robert duvall
Manny Marquez:
well, if you can’t shoot it, get someone saying it!
Barry Poltermann:
Good call
Manny Marquez:
funniest part is when it was about to start
the blu ray player fired up
and it said “tray open”
Leigh said “Oh man, they are playing the movie on Blu ray? How Lame!”
and I was like “yeah, that is so lame. I was expecting a print”
then it said “play”
and the film started
and from the first frame she looked at me and said “what is this!!!”
Barry Poltermann:
when did she figure out is was you?
Manny Marquez:
and I said “Oh, I forgot to tell you. i made you something.”
from the first shot she knew
she know my work
she knew immediatly
she knows how I frame
the things I choose to shoot
she knows me man
Barry Poltermann:
Yeah, it had Manny written all over it from the first frame
I was only surprised your dog didn’t show up.
Manny Marquez:
well, I was going to take him
but I had no idea where I was going
so at the last minute left him home
Barry Poltermann:
Poor Bandit…
Manny Marquez:
the thought of making him wait in the car while i ended up in a helicopter, a cave or some kind of bullet train made me sad
Barry Poltermann:
Good call.
what was the audience reactioin?
did they stop the movie?
Manny Marquez:
I was just going to go with it man
and that band played that dylan song, the actual song that is her ringtone and one of her favorites..without me asking them to play it
it was amazing
And I sing that Townes Van Zandt song
Barry Poltermann:
i liked that
Manny Marquez:
Dan Didier was telling me how much he loved that song
and i had it stuck in my head for weeks
so thanks to Dan, thats the song i used
Barry Poltermann:
did you get down on your knees?
did she say “yes” right there?
Manny Marquez:
I did, at the part that it says “the Proposal”
everyone in the theater turned around and was looking for us
Barry Poltermann:
awesome
she must have been floored
Manny Marquez:
leigh was crying and she said yes
Barry Poltermann:
of course, I WAS FREAKING CRYING!
i can’t imagine
Manny Marquez:
i put the ring on her and everyone was clapping and crying
magic man.
one guy said “I can leave now. after that, A-team will suck
Barry Poltermann:
so cool.
Manny Marquez:
the theater owner had told people in the other screen next door to come over
Barry Poltermann:
love it… i love that it was a-team!
Manny Marquez:
so the theater was packed
Barry Poltermann:
oh wow
Manny Marquez:
and all the employees came in too
it was magic man
i can’t believe i did it
and my crazy trip
i had zero plan
just got on the road and stopped and shot people
it really worked
that bar is a bar i lived behind for 4 months when i was a camera assisitent
I really do thank you man
you make me a better filmmaker
i know I say that all the time
Barry Poltermann:
dude, that was a nice movie
Manny Marquez:
but I mean
it
Barry Poltermann:
it was really pretty
and told a great little story
very warm.
very aboutface! Leigh is right!
Manny Marquez:
people really liked it
that felt good as a filmmaker
like no one questioned why A Team was not on
i found that odd
when it was all down I stood up and said “I know this isn’t what you all came to see, so I’d like to thank you for sitting through our film!”
Barry Poltermann:
ha!
well, it had them interested/curious… unexpected.
genuine
Manny Marquez:
ha
well, I just wanted to make sure you saw the film
since you were the inspiration for it!
Barry Poltermann:
thanks man… i don’t know about inspiration.
it wasn’t a very hard idea to come up with…. “hmmm… maybe manny should make a documentary!”
Manny Marquez:
brilliant
Barry Poltermann:
mind if i blog about it?
the proposal, aboutface style?
Manny Marquez:
do it man
Barry Poltermann:
gonna go to sleep now
cya
Manny Marquez:
later
thanks for chatting
talk to you soon
Barry Poltermann:
always a pleasure
night
Manny Marquez:
later
‘Yo-Yo Guy’ Kenny Strasser’s Real Identity Revealed?
It appears that there is suspicion that yo-yo man Kenny Strasser’s real name is Mark Proksch — our own social media assistant. Strasser’s the yo-yo guy that strung along T.V. stations, and has been successfully hiding his true identity since his prank began about a month ago. We officially deny any knowledge of this.
Strasser made several memorable appearances on local TV stations in the last couple of months, in which it quickly became clear he was not a yo-yo champion, as he claimed. He appeared on at least 7 stations so far.
Just last week, video and stories about Kenny’s conquests exploded, appearing on comedy websites, blogs, and news reports all over the nation. You can read more about Kenny’s appearances and the coverage that followed in Mikel Lauber’s Friday blog.
Maritime covers Depeche Mode – The AV Club
The AV Club just posted this new video from our friends from the band Maritime (including our own head of post-productin, Dan Didier). As the AV Club says —
Maritime was born from the ashes of The Promise Ring in 2003–and has some big news to announce: They just signed to Dangerbird Records, home of Silversun Pickups, The Dears, Minus The Bear, and others. Their debut disc for the label (and fourth overall) will be released later this year. But first: the band’s mellow cover of Depeche Mode’s “Enjoy The Silence,” complete with keytar from drummer Dan Didier. Oh, and they’d like you to know that they’re playing at UW-Madison this Friday, April 30.
THE POOL’s UK Theatrical Release
Barry Poltermann and Chris Smith editing THE POOL.
The Pool received the Special Jury Prize at the Sundance Film Festival and was selected by the Museum of Modern Art in New York as one of the Best Films of the Year alongside The Dark Knight, Slumdog Millionaire, Milk, Iron Man and Wall-E.
“We shot the film for the big screen – shooting on 35mm and choosing to use many wide shots that allow you to take in the rich environment,” elaborates Smith. “I’m thrilled that The Pool is releasing theatrically in the UK. It connects with audiences and I am delighted that they will be able to see it on the big screen. We’ve had extended runs in the US and Canada theatrically and it has been great working with Mara Pictures to bring it to a new theatrical home.”
“When I saw the first raw footage that Chris was shooting in Los Angeles I knew it would be a polarizing film. If we did our jobs well the reception would be wildly unpredictable, from both the left and the right. And the reviews would be either great or awful or, more likely, both.
Well, it seems we got our wish.
A’s and four or five star reviews on the one hand… and terrible lambastings on the other. The weirdest one is the NYTimes, which seems to dislike the film, but then has it as a “Critic’s Pick”. Hmmmm.
Check out the polarized reaction on this awesome site Chris just sent me a link to: MovieReviewIntelligence. Eat your heart out, Metacritic and Rotten Tomatoes. Yikes. Looks like we won’t be winning the NY Film Critics Award this year.”
I guess “Collapse” is destined to be one of those “you decide for yourself” type of films… which, after all, is exactly what we hoped it would be.
Weird Al Gives CNR Some Love
Weird Al’s new video tribute to Charles Nelson Reilly dropped recently.
We recently had the chance to meet him and give him a copy of “The Life of Reilly”. Looks like he enjoyed it — see this recent interview from Bullz-Eye:
BE: With “CNR,” your tribute to Charles Nelson Reilly, was there no way to work in a reference to “Lidsville”?
Al: Well, that was on my list! There are so many aspects to Charles’s life that are based in fact that it was tough to work in more than a passing reference to his “Match Game” career. (Writer’s note: Giddy up, Gene.) But, you know, I watched his one-man stage show…or, rather, the feature based on his one-stage show…after having written the song, and I don’t know if you’ve ever seen “The Life of Reilly,” but I highly recommend it. It’s an amazing story of the man and the things that he went through in his life, for real, which deserve a song on their own.
Collapse / 2012 Trailer Mashup
Too good not to post.
Jack Daniel’s Birthday Shave
This year is Jack Daniel’s 159th birthday. Manny Marquez made this tribute (shot by his girlfriend, the lovely Leigh Wilson).
The Making of The Pool
Thanks to Chris Thompson for creating the featurette “The Making of The Pool”, which is premiering this week at the Milwaukee International Film Festival.
The 55-minute film chronicles the team making, you guessed it, “The Pool”, Chris Smith‘s latest. It documents pretty nicely the editing process — in a nail biting sequence — featuring our own Barry Poltermann, who spent five months in India editing the film on location.
COLLAPSE Premiere at TIFF
The reviews are in from the premier of our latest editorial effort, COLLAPSE, which just premiered at the Toronto Film Festival.
Acclaimed filmmaker Chris Smith (AMERICAN MOVIE, THE YES MEN) returns to nonfiction (after a brief dalliance with narrative THE POOL) to tell the story of Michael Ruppert, a former LAPD officer who predicted the world economic freefall on his self-published newsletter. In COLLAPSE, Smith allows Ruppert to hold forth on what’s coming next. (Spoiler alert: we’re fucked.)
In a short review, IONCINEMA’s Eric Lavallee predicts COLLAPSE will be the doc that people remember from TIFF ’09:
“(I)n my estimation this might be the doc film that comes out of TIFF with the best of chances for a theatrical release. COLLAPSE will not only find a distributor to back the gloomy, Errol Morris’ FOG OF WAR-like portrait, but will be a contender for major kudos whatever year it gets submitted to Oscar.”
“COLLAPSE takes the nerve-racking theories of Michael Ruppert, a doom theorist, and places the chain smoker front and center to deliver them personally for 82 riveting minutes. Ruppert predicted the economic meltdown with great specificity; he also sees the end of police forces, road systems, air-traffic control and capitalism—within the next 20 to 50 years.You can’t take your eyes off him, even if he does seem a little crazy. (He’s not crazy, just seriously impassioned and probably right.)”
Scott Tobias at the Onion’s A/V Club grades the film an “A”:
“Smith has enough respect for his audience to allow them to sort out whether he’s a soothsayer or a crackpot. It’s possible to come out of the film thinking, “Oh my God, we’re all doomed,” but there’s also a strong suggestion that Ruppert has walled himself into his own point-of-view by accepting only the information that supports his sweeping theories. And in several immensely poignant moments, we can also see an angry, lonely, vulnerable man whose life epitomizes the title as much as the globe does. There are many layers to the man and the movie, and I for one left the theater shaken.”
At Row Three, Mike Rot gives the film 4 1/2 stars (out of 5):
“Despite its focus on the now commonplace concerns for modern society’s unsustainable growth, the film ignites the imagination in a way so few talking head documentaries ever achieve. At its core is Michael C Ruppert, CIA whistleblower and activist reporter, who, like a modern day Morpheus, pulls back the veil of reality to show in a stark light the underpinning make-believe that sustains our hope in a sustainable status quo. According to him, any perception of stability at present exists solely because those in power see no political advantage to alert the public of how dire the situation has become. Not even Obama can get you out of this one, he warns; this collapse runs deep and is inevitable, and it is happening right now. The effect is assaultive, in rapid-fire succession Ruppert unloads his thesis on the audience who are left to recoil as the gravity of the situation deepens. Lacking any familiarity with the issues of ‘peak oil’ prior to seeing this film, my alarm watching the movie was at an optimal high.”
Phil Brown at martiniboys.com calls COLLAPSE “easily the finest movie” Smith has made since AMERICAN MOVIE:
“What’s fascinating about the movie is this tension between Ruppert’s brilliant proclamations and occasionally wacky comments. By the end it’s difficult to decide how to feel about Ruppert. The man is either a genius or a lunatic, but he’s an incredible character regardless. Collapse is a fascinating documentary that examines both the world’s current problem with consumption and an incredible fringe intellectual. It’s hard to imagine a better documentary being released this year.”
Matt just won a contest sponsored by WNYC’s Leonard Lopate for his “STOP THE WAR” T-shirt designed for the highly acclaimed feature doc “The Life of Reilly” (starring the late, great Charles Nelson Reilly, and directed by our very own Barry Poltermann and Frank Anderson).
Jeff
HAHAH!!! Our own Mark Proksch just got a part on NBC’s The Office.
