My Favorite Year - 1982
Cats: Comedy|“I’m not an actor, I’m a movie star” is probably one of the most famous lines in this picture. It is screamed by Peter O’Toole as a declaration of who he is and a his fears – fears of commitment and of live TV.
In the 1950’s Sid Caesar had a variety program on NBC called “Your Show of Shows”. It was live from a very large theatre on
Errol Flynn was the dictionary version of a faded movie star. His days as a swashbuckling hero were far behind him. He also owed the IRS back taxes. Mr. Flynn had to take any work he could get which by the mid 1950’s was TV work. That is the simple plot of this movie. The faded star with a severe drinking problem doing anything for money. As far as I can tell Errol Flynn never appeared on “Your Show of Shows” but this is what would have happened if he had.
Peter O’Toole was the only choice to play Alan Swann, the Flynnesque movie star. He was , in fact, nominated for a Best Actor Oscar. Mark Linn-Baker is frenetic as the young writer (a character supposedly based on Mel Brooks) assigned to watch over Alan Swann whom he also idolizes. Joseph Bologna is excellent as the Sid Caesar like King Kaiser of the King Kaiser Show. Heck, the entire cast is great.
The great Alan Swann takes his role as guest host on Your Show of Shows very seriously as his young writer / babysitter has a bet riding on the sobriety, cooperation and performance of the star. After a bumpy start, things go well for Alan Swann, but after a trip to the “far off
This picture was a big favorite in the store. We watched it several thousand times. The script is full of witty one liners and hysterical situations. The picture is rated PG but there is very little that will need parental guidance for the over 10 year old set.
I know that this is short notice but this picture will be on TCM on Thursday May 24th at
