Volume 7 Next Issue I’i i f'WE FDUM BV M. T BCHMITZ BY DAN TURNER Mel Brooks has some pertinent things "Comedy, " observes Brooks, "is a red to say about comedy, a subject he rubber ball. You have to throw it aga­ & JORDAN LEAL knows as well as anyone and hetter inst the hard wall of ultimate reality tc than m ost, make it bounce back and he lively." "Comedy >s about reality, " says With " HIGH ANXIETY", Brooks in­ Brooks. "The more terrible the real­ vades the Hitchcockian domain of the ity, the bigger the laugh. In tragedy suspense thriller portraying Dr. Richard the writer weeps at the monstrous thing: Thonidyke, described by journalist that happen to people. In comedy he Gene Lees as "a character who aspires laughs. But crying and 'aughing are to be a romantic figure and is impedec very much alike. You happen to look in his aspirations to derring-do by his at somebody from behind whose head preposterous and pathetic acroijhobia.' is bobbing up and down and whose In an article pvib'ished in the October shoulders are shaking. He turns around '77 issue of American Film, Gene Lee and he may be either laughing or cry­ speaks of the "High Anxiety" loca­ ing. tio n . Let My People Come fa ! Fourteen, eager, energet'c young people, nudity is just plain dull. I most of whom have fairly good voices The final, and title, numbar is a plea vainly attempt to make a "shosv" out of for an end to restrain.sts on everyone In 1: miserable material. Valiantly, they individua' pursuit of sexua' pleastire and attack nineteen tuneless songs, reciting fulfillment, a cry for liberation. We in adolescent lyrics, dressing and undressing, the a.i.dience weren't the ones who need­ a ll in w hat is .s>apiwsed to be an effo rt to ed it. show that sex is clean, fun, wholesome, and enjoyable for all of ns. Ultimately, High Anxiety HKL BPOOMB »A3 WADCt INC HA»IN it is only boring. The show is the dirtiest joke of all. It promises to move sex from the gutter to "I saw no sign of the madcap Mel had those sparkling, shining Lubitsch the pelertal, but tries to do so us'ig •laye P. Morgan Brooks on the set, " says Lees. "I comedies of the late Thirties. every cocktail mapks ioke you've ever r saw professionalism and craftsman­ "These days movie comedy is danger encountered. How this shovr cou'd mn )• ship, The improvised qua'ity that in­ ous, considering the state of the in­ for years in New York and c>)mmand the ■ vorget the Jaye P. Morgan of the mid fuses his pictures is carefully achieved dustry. When 3 comedy doesn't work, raves a-id piib'icity it did is beyond fifties easy listening fame, the woman I had thought that a'l wou'd be panic fails to get its quota of laughs, it's a comprehen.s!oi. On the road, it has appcnrlng .at The City last week wasn'i and chaos, but the set was calm . " failure, and word gets out very quick - been warmly receives! by critics ani an.d- the same one. There is little doubt )i "As a humorist, " says Brooks, "I ly ." ienc-:.. Recently 1 have spoken with that Morgan has strong stage pre.sence, invite the audience to look at some­ Brooks jays that ‘n good comedy, people who have seen the Los Angeles great musical ability, and total comm­ thing from the side instead of straight there's always a scintilla of reason. aud Seattle pri>luc';lons aid thoroughly and of 'ler material and all the music­ enjoyed them. on. You're on your own and must "In my films 1 suppose you can say ians on stage. Alas, she lacks any !! hope that what strikes you as funny that behind the laughs there's an ex­ Smugly, I have bee i co.t /inced that San sense of focus. The show seesaws will also strike a lot of others in the amination of good and bad, of g-eed, Francisco simp’./ does not need "Let My from disco to rehashes of old stamlards i! same way. " rottenness, pettiness. It's important People Come; can offer less sexually (done in very s>aggestive, almost lewd, ii Brooks is more than a comic film- for me to have a philosophical base, liberated and sophisticated areas of the seventies fashion). Her bante- with the makerj he is perhaps the perfect em ­ even though I may disguise it. count •/. audience shows a quick, bright, and bodiment of the term auteur. With "I'd like to say a lot, but I don't The lyrics looth in om tent and expression, funny mind, espec'ally in that she is a stellar cast that includes Madeline want to sacrifice one 'augh. 1 never have been heard sro many times before obv’ous'y catering to a gay audience. Kahn, C loris Leachman and Harvey want to leave the Me! Brooks business, in other shows, most notably 'H air.'' With Morgan were the Originals, four Korman, Brooks -égards "High Anxie­ and that business is to make noises Some clever ideas simply do not come o( men who can blend sounds almost ty" as an affectionare tribute to the that make sense and 'hat make poop’e off as intended. One number, "Dirty flawlessly with a ridi, full soun.l ihat filns of Alfred Hitchcock. laugh. Enjoy! Revel! Live! Have Words, " compares society's knee jerk f could never ti-e of, if it weren't Brooks talks about the state of film yourselves one sweetheart of a gcKod reactions to good old Anglo- Saxo-iism for some of the solors which were just comedy, past and present. "TTiere time. That's what my films are say­ versus thei.' Latinata and accepted coun­ a touch flat and c’ashing with the har are various blocks of American film ing. That's what they’re all abou". " ter parts. "Fellatio 101" is reminiscent mony, Morgan returned to stage and comedy, " he says. "TTie first of It is interesting to note again Gene of a zany 'GrouchM arx musical number, performed with them, along with a them was maybe the greatest and I'm Lees comments about Brooks in Ihe with all its attendant: word p'ay. They three woman back -up group of her trying to get back to that; the golden forementioned article. just .1.0 not .vork, in spite of a cast giving own. The eight did mire love'/ its all. age of comedy with Laurel and Hardy, "As for Me! Brook: the actor, Mel music together, the musicians were with Chaplin, with Buster Keaton, Broolts the director treats him as a The nake.l hcrly in itself is no* dirty, superb, an.I for the last ten minutes of just flat-out smash belly-comedy. tool, a puppet. I noticed he tj far on'y the attitude that presents it. There the show, everything worked together Eternal verities,, you know. more concerned with how Harvey Kor­ is nothing dirty, or for that matter. beautifully. Too bad 't couldn't for "After that, we went into a kind of man is getting onto film th an with ho«\ stimulating, about the naked bo-lia; on­ the entire seventy minutes. nothing comedy then a couple of Mel Brooks, actor, is making out. stage i.i "C O M E ." But w ith uninspired Europeans c a m e o v er and rescued us. choreography and some not very fluid x,on'f. on pa^ 2'1 Ernst Lubitsch and Billy Wilder. We C on't on page 20 bo<ly m o v em en ts by c a st m em b er, the January 13, 1978 KALINDAR »»age 2 January 13, 1978 KAUNDAR Page 3 but it has long been rumored that they are today part of the pope's private collection of fifteenth century literature. Literature Indeed! It's nothing I'll cut this short for this Isaue. Thanks '"me that they were planning a very B o b H e n d ry more than J. O. material for the Siqireme Pontiff. Even popes have to beat for reading Kalendar and "TMS IS sexual 7 8 '.... oh God, lo ok out all off sooner or later. MECCA". See you all around the you folks a t Russian River. Those canqxit (thank you Marcus), have a JUMPPING two wil 1 b e in top form (but not Segtj28jlS36_ grand new Year, watch your attitudes, with each other., . they're sisters) The first shipment of cocaine arrives In Europe from Spanish America. Julian your health and your outlook. Bless Tony DiSette is woriring h ard o n h is Franco’is De 'Medici, the outrageoasly gay brother of Cadierine, invents the MECCA you all. campaign for Mr. G ay San Fran­ coke spoon along with the pause that does more than Just refresh. Catherine cisco. His "hom^' bar is the Star­ refuses to have anything to do with her brother but Julian couldn't care less; Mark Calhoun light Room. He is so very h andsomc he throws the best parties in Europe. You should check out the bill of faire and I think that he would be a t that's always offered at the EMBASSY great representative In th e gay Mayay _________30.^1573 THEATRE. The "TH4-0-W1N game community towards t he s trai^ht w played each night about 8:00 or » At nls ancestral home in Parsley-on-Thyme, England, Sir Mortimer Corday, community.