I'm recommending a good one, this time. Early Tuesday morning, Turner Classic Movies is running A Thousand Clowns, starring Jason Robards and Barbara Harris in the film version of Herb Gardner's play of the same name.
The movie, about an out o' work comedy writer trying to pull his life together, is pretty faithful to the play. It was directed by Fred Coe and according to legend, the producers and Mr. Gardner were not all that thrilled with what Coe considered a finished product. They turned the whole magilla over to Gardner and film editor Ralph Rosenblum, who proceeded to recut the entire thing and even shoot some additional scenes. It took several long months but they managed to improve the movie so much that United Artists, which was distributing the film, began to sense a hit. U.A. agreed to kick in the extra bucks for a more ambitious score and the complete replacement of one actor.
The key role of Chuckles the Chipmunk, a rather disturbing clown, had been originated and performed on Broadway by Gene Saks. Everyone wanted him for the film but at the time it was to begin shooting, Saks was unavailable so another actor played the part. Gardner felt the movie needed the original and by the time he and Rosenblum had completed most of their transformation, Saks was available. He was hired, the Chuckles scenes were reshot with him, and the performance of the other actor was consigned to the scrap bin.
What they wound up with as a film is irresistible and it was even nominated for the Oscar for Best Picture that year. (It lost to The Sound of Music. If it hadn't, it would have lost to Dr. Zhivago, which also came out that year.) Perhaps more important is that in the pantheon of motion picture versions of plays, it's a stellar example of one that totally reflects the vision and sensibilities of the playwright and not the director. Its message about being a non-conformist and maintaining your individuality is pretty obvious — at least half the movies made in 1965 were about being a non-conformist and maintaining your individuality — but it holds up better than most. Give it a peek. It's better than a lot of stuff I've coerced you into watching.
In the latest CNN poll, an amazing 68% of the American people say they oppose the idea of the U.S. taking military action in Iran. That's stunning for two reasons.
One is that in the past, we as a people were usually supportive of any war and of the need to fight it. We usually had to get into a war and have it devolve into an unwinnable quagmire before the opposition reached anywhere near 68%.
But the second is that I don't think anyone has made much of a case for that war yet, not even those who are gung ho for us to start shelling over there. People know very little about why Iran is a problem and what a U.S. military action against the country might seek to accomplish. At this point, the poll ought to have an overwhelming "Don't Know" response, rather than the 6% it does. I'd love to see that 68% group broken down into its reasons. How many are just so sick of Iraq that they don't want another war anywhere for a while? How many simply don't trust the Bush administration to lead us into any war?
In the last CNN poll on the matter, which was a few weeks ago, Bush's disapproval rating was 63% Maybe the 68% is just the 63% plus a few more people who soured on the guy after the State of the Union address.
Just to remind you: It's not all that long until the 2007 Wondercon in San Francisco, traditionally one of the best comic and media conventions in the country. I'm a guest again and I'll be moderating a whole batch of panels with people like Gene Colan, Nick Cardy, Al Feldstein and Sergio Aragonés. That is, unless I wind up in the hospital again like I did during last year's Wondercon...but that won't happen. I'll be there and we'll have a great time. Click here or on the banner above for more details, and watch for the programming schedule which will be available soon.
Got another goodie for you today. A man named A. Robins started doing his odd act in the days of vaudeville, occasionally venturing into circuses. It was an act that basically consisted of him taking things out of his pockets and using his voice, sometimes with the aid of a kazoo-like device, to provide the sounds of musical props. In most appearances, he'd drop the items he produced into a large chest which would eventually turn into a train — sometimes with many cars — and he'd ride it off stage at the end.
Originally, the act was called "The Walking Music Shop" but he spent so much of his on-stage time finding stalks of bananas in his pockets that he came to be known as "The Banana Man."
Mr. Robins, who was also a toy and propmaker, performed his unnatural act until around the end of World War II. In the fifties, The Banana Man was a frequent guest on all the live kids' shows of that era (Howdy Doody, Mickey Mouse Club, Captain Kangaroo, etc.) and even on variety shows for adults, including Ed Sullivan's. By this time, the act and its unique props were in the hands of a man named Sam Levine, though he was never billed as anything but The Banana Man. Once in a while, he was even billed as "A. Robins, The Banana Man," even though the first A. Robins — whose real name was Adolph Proper — passed away around 1950.
Among folks who study such matters, there is some argument as to whether someone else (or maybe even several someone elses) performed as The Banana Man after the act's originator sold it off and before Levine assumed the role. In any case, Levine was the guy I saw on all those shows and he was mesmerizing. I couldn't take my eyes off this odd man when he was on TV. Neither could most of my friends, and we all tried to mimic his bizarre, high-pitched humming, sometimes merging it with impressions of Curly Howard. He seems to have retired in the mid-sixties but his haunting song lingers on.
The following clip is introduced by a youthful Red Skelton. It's from a 1939 short film called Seeing Red, and it's one of the few times Robins performed on film...and as I said, it's a very short version of what he did on stage. In fact, he doesn't even get around to producing any bananas. Oddly enough, although Sam Levine did the act on hundreds of TV shows, clips of him are equally hard to come by. I'll link to one tomorrow but for now, here's A. Robins...
February 5, 2007
