If it was funny forty years ago, why shouldn't it be funny now. I can imagine that there's an entire sector of social space that has never seen Jack Benny and Carol Lombard in the original. ("I don't watch black-and-white movies.") And if the same sector doesn't have much of a grasp of affairs in Poland in 1940, so much the more informative.
Mel Brooks leads a theatrical troupe in Warsaw in 1940 after it was occupied by the Nazis. The plot is too complex to describe in detail but involves a great deal of impersonation, switching uniforms, lambasting the Nazi hierarchy, and poking fun at egotistic actors.
The plot and dialog borrow heavily from 1940 but some of the jokes have been brought up to date. I'll mention just two.
The troupe is desperately seeking safety from bombs and when they enter the shelter, one actor makes the sign of the cross. The next in line, presumably Jewish, goes through some contortions over his thorax with his fingers. Now, I may be mistaken but I think this is an allusion to an old joke. An airplane in jeopardy finally makes a safe landing. A minister gets off and makes the sign of the cross, as does the priest who follows him. The Rabbi makes a sign too and when asked about it by a reporter, replies, "What sign of the cross? I was just checking -- spectacles, testicles, wallet and watch." The troupe's dresser is openly gay and he explains to Anne Bancroft that he hates having to wear a pink triangle. "It CLASHES with EVERYTHING." The acting was suitably hammy in Ernst Lubitsch's movie. Here, the performances out-Herod Herod. If you want subtlety, see the original. Charles Durning is a fine actor but may be miscast here. Anne Bancroft is beguiling, a splendid and under-rated actress with a skull and a frame sufficiently gracile to die for. I speak to you as your anthropologist. My services come with a fee -- ten cents.
You should probably watch this. It's still funny after all these years.
Mel Brooks leads a theatrical troupe in Warsaw in 1940 after it was occupied by the Nazis. The plot is too complex to describe in detail but involves a great deal of impersonation, switching uniforms, lambasting the Nazi hierarchy, and poking fun at egotistic actors.
The plot and dialog borrow heavily from 1940 but some of the jokes have been brought up to date. I'll mention just two.
The troupe is desperately seeking safety from bombs and when they enter the shelter, one actor makes the sign of the cross. The next in line, presumably Jewish, goes through some contortions over his thorax with his fingers. Now, I may be mistaken but I think this is an allusion to an old joke. An airplane in jeopardy finally makes a safe landing. A minister gets off and makes the sign of the cross, as does the priest who follows him. The Rabbi makes a sign too and when asked about it by a reporter, replies, "What sign of the cross? I was just checking -- spectacles, testicles, wallet and watch." The troupe's dresser is openly gay and he explains to Anne Bancroft that he hates having to wear a pink triangle. "It CLASHES with EVERYTHING." The acting was suitably hammy in Ernst Lubitsch's movie. Here, the performances out-Herod Herod. If you want subtlety, see the original. Charles Durning is a fine actor but may be miscast here. Anne Bancroft is beguiling, a splendid and under-rated actress with a skull and a frame sufficiently gracile to die for. I speak to you as your anthropologist. My services come with a fee -- ten cents.
You should probably watch this. It's still funny after all these years.