Short: (1947) Young Johnny wanders around the 1947 Canadian National Exhibition after his negligent parents lose track of him.
Movie: (1959) A coffeehouse owner wants to knock off an armored car, and gets three losers to help him.
First shown: 12/12/92
Opening: Joel has something really scary to read to the bots at bedtime
Invention exchange: The Mads demonstrate their “quick primp kit,” while J&tB present their paint-by-number Mark Rothko
Host segment 1: Crow tries record album acting lessons with Scott Baio
Host segment 2: J&tB discuss what to do during a four-hour layover in Chicago
Host segment 3: J&tB have a writing workshop, with Merritt Stone in mind
End: Tom “Hercule” Servo tries to ferret out the mystery of Merritt Stone (and his head explodes. In Deep 13, Frank is equally confused
Stinger: “I am bugged!”
(191 votes, average: 4.27 out of 5)
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• This is the beginning of a stretch of good to really excellent episodes, with everybody on the staff firing on all cylinders. The riffing of the short is classic, and it carries over into the movie. The movie itself is pretty static and dull in the first half, but finally gets going once the robbery starts, giving them plenty to riff on. The segments aren’t all classics, but there are no real clunkers either.
• This was included in Rhino’s “The Mystery Science Theater 3000 Collection, Vol. 12.”
• Clearly the Brains’ don’t like “Life’s Little Instruction Book,” (which I had never heard of when I initially saw this show). Two decades later, it is still available.
• The quick primp kit is a favorite invention exchange of mine, especially Frank’s Fonzie-esque “ayyyy!”
• What a great short and despite Joel’s admonition, they get plenty dark … you know, the way we like it.
• I’ve exchanged emails Charles Pachter, who at the age of 4 played little Johnny (he has only vague memories of the whole thing) and who now is a fairly prominent Toronto artist. Find out more about him at his web site. Those were his real parents playing his parents, by the way.
• I love the little record player they use in segment 1; and that’s Mike’s voice, of course, as Scott Baio.
• What would YOU do with a four-hour layover in Chicago? (Although if it’s a plane layover, it would take you two hours to get into town from O’Hare and two to get back, so…) Me, I think I’d take the architecture boat tour of the Chicago River and note how the structures of so many of the buildings tend to draw my eyes upward … oh, okay, I’d go Navy Pier and get hammered. By the way, I believe what Tom refers to as the Continental Bank building is now the Bank of America building, unless it’s been sold again.
• I was glad to see they kept the “Get Smart” jokes to a minimum, though that’s fairly typical. They don’t like to beat one reference to death … usually.
• Obscure reference: “Bizarre” with John Byner.
• The “chasing Ed Platt dressed as a priest” scene features every hymn and church song the guys could think of, as well as plenty of religious patter, i.e.: “I. am. in. a. state. of. GRACE!”
• Alright, let’s settle this once and for all. Tom’s right, he’s not Merritt Stone. In fact, Merritt Stone is not IN this movie. He’s Gene Roth. Merritt Stone played the spider-eaten dad at the very beginning of “Earth Vs. The Spider,” the clergyman in “Tormented,” and the King Grady in “The Magic Sword.”
• Can anybody tell me what that’s a picture of on the Rhino DVD face? It looks like a pizza to me … how that relates to the movie I have no idea.
• Cast and crew roundup: director Gene Fowler Jr. also directed “I Was A Teenage Werewolf.” Cinematographer Karl Struss also worked on “Rocketship X-M” (and later in his career won an Oscar). Special effects guy Augie Lohman also worked on “Lost Continent.” Art director David Milton also worked on “The Corpse Vanishes.” Set builder Joseph Kish also worked on “Phantom Planet.” Score composer Paul Dunlap also worked on “Lost Continent” and “I Was a Teenage Werewolf.”
In front of the camera, In addition to Gene Roth, Don Sullivan, as Tom notes during the episode, was in “The Giant Gila Monster.” Robert Shayne was in “Teenage Caveman” and “The Indestructible Man.” I. Stanford Jolley is also in “The Violent Years.” Byron Foulger is also in “High School Big Shot.” Gloria Moreland was also in “Phantom Planet.” Smoki Whitfield was also in “Jungle Goddess.” Carey Loftin was also in “Radar Men from the Moon.”
• CreditsWatch: Host segments directed by Trace Beaulieu.
• Fave riff from the short: “Jiminy, thinks Johnny, if only could get a ride in one of those.” Honorable mention: “Johnny feels dark hands pressing him onward. The voices in his head start to get meaner.”
• Fave riff from the movie: “And be sure you have your tickets ready. They’re really strict about that.” Honorable mention: “It’s Officer Not Appearing In This Film!”
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@Nightmare (#48):
The details you describe are all pretty much the highlights of the second half of the film, although I’m surprised you forgot all the godawful “beatnik” stuff at the beginning–the bad poetry, the even worse interpretive dance, and the blowhard square who’s been dragged to the cafe by his wife for some inexplicable reason. It’s the Hollywood vision of cafe culture, and I hope Allen Ginsberg never saw this picture (except maybe the MST version).
On the other hand, it’s easy to confuse these movies. When I went to watch this episode again prior to this week’s discussion, I hunted around for my DVD copy, only to realise that I actually don’t have a DVD copy–I’ve got Beatniks and Violent Years, but I had to scroll through the DVD lists on this site to be convinced that Shout! hasn’t released this one (yet), and therefore I don’t own it (I don’t own any Rhinos, and they’re all O/P). How’s that for forgettable?
Stressfactor:
Just curious: did you start with the KTMAs? I tried doing that, but couldn’t get very far. I think it might be that the KTMAs that I have are in such bad shape that they were hard to watch even as movies. I’ll get to them all, eventually. But I know exactly what you mean about needing to watch them in order–I did the same thing after I’d had about a dozen or so random episodes under my belt (from Season One onward at least), and noticed that understanding the callbacks and standard catchphrases added an important dimension to my overall enjoyment.
Fantastic episode! Classic short (though now that I have an almost 3 year old little boy, it kind of freaks me out), great riffing, good host segments. Love the opening, especially when Tom and Crow are in the same bed. :laugh:
This is the classic “disguise” episode. Who knew a priest collar and a shave could be so effective?
Love Don Sullivan and most of the cast, except for the writer. He is a drag. I wanted to throw him off the train too.
I like how the coffeehouse’s bouncers wear cardigans.
Favorite lines, so many good ones…
She just put her brain in
Garage sale, hole, hole, garage sale, hole
A coxcomb, a coxcomb…
Kazan wants me for On the Waterfront II: Electric Bugaloo
Saul Houston…big Jew from Texas
It’s the SAT caper!
She’s Danielle Quayle
N’est-ce pas? Who’s that? Another creep
…Butt Biters and Newsweek
Chief, that’s sick!
I am in a state of grace. Leave me alone!
@ #50 — No, the Goldie Hawn/Mel Gibson movie’s you’re thinking of is “Bird on a Wire”. “Out on a Limb” was Shirley MacLaine’s autobiography. It was, IIRC, later filmed as a TV miniseries. The book became notorious joke fodder for MacLaine’s claims that she experienced a number of ‘paranormal’ or ‘supernatural’ events — like learning she had been reincarnated and seeing some of her past lives, and seeing UFO’s and the like.
And something about this episode I had forgotten to mention… I love it when the ‘sharpshooter’ character appears on sceen and Servo asks if he seems familiar and when Joel and Crow say “no” Servo says “I’ll give you a little hint: ‘I sing whenever I sing, whenever I sing…'”
And that reminds me, unless they cut something from the movie for time the guy they hire to be their rifleman for the heist does absolutely *nothing*!
@ Blast Hardcheese:
Yeah, I did start with the KTMA’s — and I rather liked them despite the low riff rate. In fact, for me I think they actually *helped* me contextualize the show.
Thanks to someone I know I’d gotten into some internet-based reviewers/critics — notably guys like Linkara of “Atop the Fourth Wall”, Noah Antwiler of “The Spoony Experiment” and Doug Walker “The Nostalgia Critic”. Those guys were always making tips of the hat to MST3K — which had inspired them and that reminded me that I’d always meant to check the show out.
So when I started watching the KTMA’s I could see that same spirit of internet reviewers today — it was rough and tumble and learn-as-you-go and basically Joel and the gang were doing what modern people are doing now it’s just that Joel and them had a lot less technology to work with and were lucky enough to have access to a UHF station in the days before YouTube.
So that’s why I actually have kind of a fondness for the KTMA stuff — it’s like the late teens and early twenty-something young people of today who are bashing out videos in their rooms with digital video cameras and basic green screen work. I applaud them for having the guts to put themselves out there like that. Same way, I applaud Joel and the gang for trying something new, having the guts to throw this out there and use the KTMA era as a kind of ‘comedy lab’ in which to learn and grow and shape this thing they had created.
Stressfactor #55> Extremely well said! I too am a fan of the KTMA years. Not because they are comedy gold (they’re not) but because the allow us to watch the birth and early evolution of the show.
#37 Oh, absolutely not. I, for one, am glad to be well past the era where kids have to watch some guy’s idea of the perfect white society dressed up as an “educational” film. Probably why I love seeing them ripped apart on MST so much. For anyone looking down on “kids these days,” just remember, we’re the ones who either brought ’em into this world and/or shaped the society they live in.
Without cynicism, shows like MST wouldn’t exist, so let the kids be cynical!
Re: Out on a Limb:
It’s neither a Mel Gibson vehicle nor Shirley Maclaine’s goofy book: but it is a forgotten 1992 comedy with Matthew Broderick and Jeffrey Jones (both from “Ferris Bueller,” which was probably why it got made). See the IMDb page: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0105078/
I hadn’t heard of it, either, and I suspect almost no one saw it in 1992–which is why Dr F. and Frank wouldn’t have to worry about a line-up to see it.
#57 oh, don’t get me wrong, you’re absolutly correct. cynical kids who run around commiting random acts of violence and vandalism are definitly more desirable than kids who are respectful, considerate and have some sense of community and self esteem. (insert sarcasm here.)
It was good to see that Chicago was completely recovered two years after the locust invasion.
I have to admit it, almost every time I watch the short I get a little teary-eyed when Johnny is reunited with his parents. Can’t really explain it, but I’m the type to get emotional at sappy commercials, too.
This is hardly “the beginning of a stretch of good to really excellent episodes”. It’s kinda the end. Episodes 411-418 were really a great stretch where everything seemed to just flow beautifully. This is really the first semi-clunker of the 4th season to me. The short is great, but the movie is very dreary and dull, and the Get Smart guy is so condescending it just makes the movie irritating. Still, overall a decent ep, but not one I watch very often.
Also, you can usually get from O’Hare to downtown Chicago in about an hour.
I’m nitpicky today.
Holy crap, swh1939! Thanks for noticing! I didn’t have any shorts screen grabs for the entire season!! Now fixed and I will be adding the remaining ones as we update.
@54 and @58: Thanks for the info, apparently senility is starting to set in on me. At least my mixed up brain allowed me to enjoy the joke in its original spirit.
Canada still loves Barbara Ann Scott. In fact, during the Olympic torch relay for the Vancouver games, she was the one who carried the flame into Parliament in Ottawa.
http://www.thestar.com/news/canada/article/737103–olympic-torch-comes-to-parliament-hill
Many of the actors in the movie were good (although why the
planner in chief didn’t have a gun to get Rock Hudson’s
standin (sorry about that, Chief), but Merritt Stone
just stole every scene he was in. What an actor! Why couldn’t
there have been more train action (ala Silver Streak)!
MORE LIKE THE BEATNIKS, AM I RIGHT FOLKS? HA HA HA HA Oh it’s been covered.
“The pantingly hot Barbara Ann Scott”, truer words have never been written.
“Johnny at the Fair” is one of my favourite shorts, even if a part of that comes from having visited the Canadian National Exhibition myself (if four decades after “Johnny”) well before I knew about Mystery Science Theater. The information about Charles Pachter was interesting, too; I have heard he appeared in a film called “Charlie at the Fair” just a few years ago, but haven’t seen it myself. I suppose the train travel in “The Rebel Set” makes for a double dose of nostalgia.
Actually, I have a question:
What the heck was the spilled milk for? What did it have to do with the sharpshooter?
One of the middle of the road episodes for me. I love Don Sullivan in it, have quite a crush on him.
I love the image of a pre-IMDB TV’s Frank sitting by himself, leafing through several film guides at once trying to figure out who Merritt Stone and Gene Roth are. One of my favorite images of the series.
I like this episode, although I rarely find myself watching it. I find the feature itself to be a somewhat passable B-movie. Yeah, a lot of the plot points don’t make sense. But I like B-movie films like that that have decent pacing and some excitement.
The first time I heard the “I’d like to get a ride in one of those” joke, I think I nearly choked to death laughing…
[M&TB riff]: “Chief, that’s sick!” [#32 replies]: “Don’t call me Chief!” [I reply to #32]: “Sorry about that, Chief.” ;) Mwahaha.
This is a really good episode. I love the Scott Baio skit. Any reference to Zapped, my favorite guilty pleasure, is always appreciated. And when I think of this episode, I always hear that record skipping! And “Guess who that is? I sing whenever I sing! No!”
I haven’t seen this one in awhile. But I gotta say, Johnny at the fair is one of the best shorts made.
@ #68 — I thought the “spilled milk” (or was it supposed to be white paint?) was to mark where the spot the armored car was supposed to be at when the other guy would then speed out to hit it.
Kind of like the other guy was to wait until the armored car got to the ‘spilled milk’ spot before he gunned it.
The sharpshooter though? Not a clue. Unless the Best Brains cut a scene the rifleman did *nothing*. I suppose he might have been ‘backup’ — you know if the whole thing had started to go south he was supposed to then shoot the armored car guards.
Funny that the people who don’t like it, don’t care for the movie because “they can’t get into it”.
The people who like it are into it because they love the riffing and humor.
Proves there are two types of people watching mst – those in it for the kicks (the riffing and comedy writing), the type that I am, and the those in it to have a movie to get into.
For me, if I do actually get into any of the movies, I consider that to be a huge unexpected bonus.
I like this episode a lot because it made me laugh, with all the bits they did and the good riffing. The movie sucks though.
Dagnabbit! now I’m going to have to watch it again. I thought the Don Sullivan character was supposed to shoot the white stuff, which was flammable (or inflammable), and cause the truck to swerve or at least simulate a crash with smoke and flame so the guards believe the car was really wrecked. And, he was the lookout as the heist really depended most on the timing of when car (A) drifted into the road to hit truck (B).
For a heist movie, the heist itself didn’t make a lot of sense; although the Chief did a good job hoodwinking the hirelings, what with his ‘disguise’ and all. I did have to watch the movie a few times and read the ACEG before I realized he was supposed to be in disguise at all.
This film uncut is super dull that I couldnt get past it, the scenes at the night club just went on and on and on.
Edward Platt was in North by Northwest which is a favorite film of mine.
Johnny at the fair is highly entertaining as was this episode. I loved the master plan, the plot twist, the priest disguise. It actually had something going for it in the later half, but the first half is snoozeville.
“Hes not Merrit Stone !!” Hes Gene Roth from Tormented, Giant Leeches, Earth vs the Spider
Not much to add that hasnt already been covered. Hard to believe Don Sullivan was in just as many episodes that John Carradine was in, even though Carradine was in by far more movies, (both good and schlock)
And with that
Joels Hair
Joels Knees
“Hes NOT Merrit Stone”
Scott Baio wasnt such a bad Chaci ..ayyyyyyyy
Time for some Rebel Therapy !!
I think that the Merritt Stone thing likely came out of a discussion in the writer’s room. It sounds like the sort of argument they would have had. And in pre-IMDb days, they would have probably consulted Leonard Maltin’s book and found conflicting information. Maybe I’m wrong, but the segment just sounds like a transcription of a discussion among the Brains (with the added Belgian accent).
“Life’s Little Instruction Book.” Gosh, there were at least 3 volumes. They were full of little tidbits, usually 1-2 sentences each (with 1-3 tidbits per page) giving you tips in life. Each little book had HUNDREDS. If you were to adopt all of them in your life, you would become the most annoying person on earth and lose your friends. You would also probably spend your entire time writing thank you notes, baking cookies for the neighbors, etc. The whole premise is a little cheesy, and I couldn’t imagine anyone wanting to read the books more than once.
I’m glad that Joel warns the bots against getting too dark in this short and “Here Comes the Circus.” I probably never would have noticed the darkness of the riffs otherwise. His comment clues me in.
@45 Ang
Yeah, but “It’s a hap-hap-happy day” was a lot more familiar at the time the show aired. I remember it being used in commercials sometime between the ’70s and ’90s, maybe for a mattress company.
Really specific, huh?
Loved the short, the movie feature, not as much. I had never seen this episode until about a week ago and while I thought it had some hilarious riffs, overall, it did not stand out as a great episode. The short, saves it, as it is one the better ones they have done. I love the reference to “another band from Seattle.” It does sound like a grunge band name. “I’m gonna get Joe Lewis,” gets me laughing every time as well. “Adolf Hitler, looking relaxed on vibes,” had me double over in laughter, it just struck a chord with me as so funny, and I never got the actual reference, but Trace’s delivery was spot on. The hole scene was a gem as well.
Next week, duplicators.
@62 Sampo – Always glad to help out a fellow Pennsylvanian.
It’s a small shame that the Internet has rendered the Merritt Stone segment obsolete.
Technically this episode is not pre-IMDB, as IMDB has existed since 1990. Of course back then it was a far cry from the resource it is today and internet access wasn’t so readily available.
Sitting Duck:
And now you’ve just raised the question: would Deep 13 ever have had Internet access? And even if it did, would Frank have been allowed access to it? (My answers: Probably, and probably not).
This is one of my favorite Joel episodes!
I knew it was Gene Roth the whole time. When you’ve watched as many 3 Stooges as I have, there’s no mistaking Gene Roth.
While I don’t like this one as much as THE BEATNIKS, this is another solid Season 4 episode, with lots to like and laugh at. Most notably, the short, JOHNNY AT THE FAIR, is great stuff, not one of my all time faves, but one I can always watch and laugh at. Joel’s remark “I don’t want us getting too dark,” is foreshadowing the upcoming HERE COMES THE CIRCUS, where things get totally dark, and Joel has to get on their case about it. Watching the series in order for the first time, it’s fun noticing the running jokes and their origins.
During the Mads’ Invention Exchange, Dr F. says “Clive Barker has seen the future of horror. . .,” which is funny because it’s a variation on the Stephen King quote “I have seen the future of horror and his name is Clive Barker.” Also, Frank gives a spirited “DO WHAT I DO,” before presenting their quick primp kit (which kinda sucks, in my opinion). I really like Joel’s invention; the paint by numbers Rothko is clever humor to me; also there is a Rothko exhibition here at the Portland Art Museum (he’s Portland’s native son, don’tyouknow?) that I’m going to go see, so it hits extra close to home at this time.
I like all the Host Segments, especially the WHO IS MERRIT STONE? skit, but I particularly like the what to do in Chicago skit in HS#2, as I’m originally from Southern Illinois and spent a lot of time in Chi-town; regional name dropping is fun. . . The final image of the episode, of Frank sifting through VideoWatchdogs and Leonard Maltin film guides looking for Merrit Stone and Gene Roth credits is one of my favorite images of Frank, both the character and the man. Classic and very “of it’s time.”
My least favorite thing about this one is the movie. It stinks. Someone above said that it picks up after the heist, and I agree. Things are must more interesting when Action Priest is around.. The riffing is solid, they keep up a good pace, and make the most out of this drab, dull turkey.
–
RIFFS AND THINGS:
–
short-
(little horse tries to feed off a bigger one)
Crow: “Oops. Sorry Dad.”
Crow: “A whispery man hands him a small package. “First one’s free,” he says.”
Joel: “Johnny must have everything for himself.”
–
–
movie-
Servo: “Hey, there’s a Mingus among us.”
Crow: “Oh great, another oily unlikeable character.”
Joel: “What’s his deal? Oh…it’s a woman.”
Joel: “Traveling along, footloose and fancy free..” ——a misquote from the MUPPET MOVIE song “Movin’ Right Along.”
Joel: “Umph. Just burped up a little egg salad.”
Joel: “Tonight’s episode: MILK: IT DOES A BODY DEAD.”
Servo: “Ooops. I accidentally tied up one of our gang.”
Crow: “This is just like Treasure of the Sierra Madre, but not good.”
Servo: “He’s a mess. A chocolate mess.”
Crow: “I am in a state of GRACE, leave me alone!”
–
also, my copy ends with Penn talks over the credits (HEATHERS! NEXT. …….ON COMEDY CENTRAL!!) which is the first one of my DAP copies to have such a thing. My God…how annoying…….I had forgotten how grating that was. Who’s idea was it to have him do voice work intros for the network? BAD IDEA!
–
Well, despite not figuring out who Merrit Stone is, i gotta give this one a 4/5.
–
—
Next week is episode #420.
I’ll get the rolled up towel, you get the bong!
I have just finished watching this weeks experiment THE REBEL SET. I will begin by saying when this ep debuted I just did not like it. The short is great but I thought the movie was too plodding, slow, and pretty darn dumb. I avoided reruns, just turned it off after the short. I’ve had JOHNNY AT THE FAIR on one of the RHINO Shorts tapes for years so when I bought Vol. 12 back in 2007 I just never pulled out and watched this disc.
So I watched the RHINO disc for the first time today and did I ever have a good time. The movie and the riffing hit this nail right on the head. Everything in this episode works great and what a difference 20 years makes in one’s critical opinions.
I’m giving this 4 1/2 stars!
Tom’s plan for a four hour stop in Chicago really made me laugh, totally unexplainable why he’d take hostages & then start shooting them; and then , oops, time to get back to the train station!
I really like this episode, although my least favorite part is the “What i would do in Chicago during a four-hour layover” segment, which most people seems to love. Takes all kinds, I guess.
I think the police in this movie should get an award for “most homicidal law enforcement outside of a Coleman Francis film”.
A favorite movie that I got confused with The Beatniks. It brings me back to the early 90’s in my first apartment with my former best friend before he went off his nut. Good days.
#65 ck, He’s not Merritt Stone.
#71 Rocketnumbernine, thanks for responding to my ancient post (hardly anyone ever comments on what I write), however I would like to make a correction. In comment #32, I was referencing the wrong show. That was from the 50s Superman TV show.
Sorry for the confusion folks, now back to the rest of your posts.
‘Johnny At The Fair’
“I know, it’s another band from Seattle.”
It was a great time to be around in my opinion.
Hey, Joanie
The Rebel Set fails the Bechdel Test. The only conversation between two females involves Karen and Mrs. Leland and is about Mr. Tucker.
Junior Mints on popcorn? Gross!
So why did they bother with the sniper rifle? From what I could tell, he only used it for the scope. A pair of binoculars would have been more compact and get the same job done.
The riff, “It’s for my student loans,” has aged maybe a bit too well.
So in other words, it’s like Treasure of the Sierra Madre. Did I mention I don’t like that film?
If he’s not Merritt Stone, perhaps he’s Sinbad.
On a loosely related note, I can’t ever recall seeing This Day in MSTory mention when the New York Times ran a front page obituary for Hercule Poirot (8/6/1975), nor the birth date (9/15/1890) or death date (1/12/1976) of Agatha Christie. Other people have been mentioned there for even more tenuous connections to MST3K.
Favorite riffs
“It had been a busy morning, but Johnny’s adventure really began just before lunchtime.”
A shot rang out!
“No Johnny, we’re going to the art gallery.”
And you’ll like it!
Johnny’s parents decide to move on and start their lives anew.
They’re sure tough on drunk drivers in Canada.
The drugs from the Chemical Wonderland start to kick in.
Visions of the Mekong Delta flash before Johnny’s eyes.
Johnny realizes what a lie his life has been.
Looking very relaxed, Adolf Hitler on vibes
My Three Sons goes Beat.
“You know what the trouble with you Beat guys is?”
You’re so Fifties.
Get your paws off me, you damn dirty Beat!
“Money enough for you to forget that you can’t act.”
Hey, you’re in this film, too.
There are no small laws, just small criminals.
“It has no content.”
Much like this film.
No wonder it’s been 8:10 for three days.
Empire State Building on Nutrisystem.
So, just behind this grassy knoll, boss?
I’m Ed Bradley, and this is Sixty Murders.
Joe Doakes, not a very good driver.
Phil never uses the closets in our house.
Hey, turn it up. This is my heist.
“He’s tried committing suicide before.”
Did it work?
“You put that very beautifully, Reverend.”
But shut up.
Murder on the Disoriented Express.
“He’s a disgrace to the uniform!”
I love a disgrace to a uniform.
It’s Officer Not Appearing in This Scene.
“But the both of us were involved in the Chicago armored car robbery.”
I’m not interested. Try the next car.
Please ma’am. I’m just trying to mow down your husband in cold blood.
Go in peace. Sin no more. I’m out of here!
The heist has ended. Go in peace.
Gangs of Chain Wielding Priests, next on Geraldo.
Well he helped pad out the film, so he might get off.
We’ve secretly taken her live son and replaced him with this dead one. Let’s watch.
I hope this will put some minds at ease. The spilled milked was to emphasize just how meticulous Mr Tucker is. The one bottle was placed at the exact spot the car should start to hit the intersection at the precise moment that the armored car also would. The other bottle would show the sniper where the accident would be and that he would need to maintain a clear shot at the security guards. who being professionals, might pull their guns out on the robbers. Notice how amazed the Don Sullivan character was when he spotted the milk puddle on the road exactly from where Tucker showed him to set up.
What I don’t understand is how quickly the real police show up when this happens in the middle of nowhere in the Chicago “mountains”.
“I Accuse My Parents” kind of qualify as a gangster film. “Racket Girls” much more so.
Wikipedia classifies both “The Rebel Set” and “Racket Girls” as “1950s crime drama films.” “Daddy-O,” “The Girl in Lovers Lane,” “High School Big Shot,” and “The Violent Years.” As are over a hundred other titles which probably mean absolutely nothing to anyone here. And there’s always more sometimes MUCH more to a film category than what Wikipedia includes…
Well, regrettable but true, at the time that some of those films that were set in elementary school classrooms were made, there were plenty of classrooms that were in fact just…all-white, so in those instances, an all-white cast was nothing more than accuracy, regrettable but true. Judging the works of earlier eras by the standards of our can only go so far. Random example: Few would deny that a LOT of Robert A. Heinlein’s work was racist and sexist, but BY THE STANDARDS OF HIS TIME, his work wasn’t all THAT racist and it wasn’t all THAT sexist, and sometimes that’s really the best one that can hope for.
Fantastic short, meh everything else. Not bad at all, but nothing that really stood out to me.
If I was in Chicago I’d head over to Mitsuwa for a real bowl of ramen (it’s also not too far from the airport!). Heck, I’ve been tempted on occasion to drive to Chicago just for that. Living in Kansas really sucks (for a LOT of reasons….).
I have a real love for the crime flicks they riffed (I’ve watched a lot of their ilk even without the help of J&M&tb), and this one actually clips along at a watchable pace — until the third act, anyway, with the Priest Chase that drags on and ooooonnnn.
I’m surprised there aren’t more Strangers on a Train riffs (although it’s possible I missed them). Especially with the rather unnecessarily-lengthy train-station shots and the(admittedly largely-unseen) smothering rich mother figure of one of the robbers. We have to applaud them for not going for the obvious jokes, I guess.
And did I miss the beatnik jive riffs, too? Maybe they thought they’d covered all the slang jokes when they did ‘The Beatniks’ a few episodes ago — but you’d think they might’ve saved a few back for the absurd cafe sequences. I’m not sure how far ahead they knew their schedule, though.
The end segment is mind-bogglingly brilliant, one of my all-time favourites, and a perfect unexpected twist to the ‘doesn’t he look like -?’ riffs they’ve been doing for years. I sense a rather hysterical writer’s room debate involving a lot of tossing around the Leonard Maltin guide. Hercule Poirot would be proud, c’est vrai!
Pure 90’s, and pure Joel delivery. Classic for its day. :)
It’s only a hardy select few who CAN make Supertrain references. But yes.
(Granted that almost every episode was an 80’s-TV attempt to do Strangers on a Train, that would have saved both riffs.)