A perfectly cast brings Carl Reiner's autobiographical work about a young Jewish
kid in the Bronx looking to break into the theater. Hard to imagine that Carl
Reiner ever thought of himself as Ronald Colman, but we all have our fantasies
growing up.
Reni Santoni plays our young Reiner type protagonist a high school kid whose parents David Opatoshu and Shelley Winters want him to enter the pharmacy business like his father. But he yearns for a career in the theater.
So he auditions for a ramshackle theater company that Jose Ferrer and his daughter Elaine May run. Not that he shows any great promise but May figures he looks best in the tuxedo he has to perform in.
And Santoni has to provide his own tux. Half the film is his efforts to come up with the cash for the tux, the other half is his struggle with his parents over not going into the pharmacy business. The finale of the epic play they are producing is a scream. Santoni's efforts to make his entrance is funny enough and his stage fright and Jose Ferrer's efforts to mask over the same are just downright hysterical.
This is a film of exaggeration and stereotypes and director Reiner let's his cast just have their head and they go. Jose Ferrer leads the pack in a performance just packed with pork product. But after all he's playing a has been ham actor who has an exaggerated opinion of himself. He and Elaine May are a summer stock version of John and Diana Barrymore.
Besides those mentioned others in the cast that put their own unique stamp on their roles are Janet Margolin, Jack Gilford, Don Rickles and Richard Deacon.
This is a comedy masterpiece and Carl Reiner certainly had a long career in show business once he stopped wanting to be Ronald Colman.
Reni Santoni plays our young Reiner type protagonist a high school kid whose parents David Opatoshu and Shelley Winters want him to enter the pharmacy business like his father. But he yearns for a career in the theater.
So he auditions for a ramshackle theater company that Jose Ferrer and his daughter Elaine May run. Not that he shows any great promise but May figures he looks best in the tuxedo he has to perform in.
And Santoni has to provide his own tux. Half the film is his efforts to come up with the cash for the tux, the other half is his struggle with his parents over not going into the pharmacy business. The finale of the epic play they are producing is a scream. Santoni's efforts to make his entrance is funny enough and his stage fright and Jose Ferrer's efforts to mask over the same are just downright hysterical.
This is a film of exaggeration and stereotypes and director Reiner let's his cast just have their head and they go. Jose Ferrer leads the pack in a performance just packed with pork product. But after all he's playing a has been ham actor who has an exaggerated opinion of himself. He and Elaine May are a summer stock version of John and Diana Barrymore.
Besides those mentioned others in the cast that put their own unique stamp on their roles are Janet Margolin, Jack Gilford, Don Rickles and Richard Deacon.
This is a comedy masterpiece and Carl Reiner certainly had a long career in show business once he stopped wanting to be Ronald Colman.