The American Cinematheque is a group that screens great movies of the past in several theaters in Los Angeles. Recently, they persuaded Mel Brooks to make up a list of his twenty favorite films and they'll be showing them on the dates indicated. Here is Mel's list…
Sept. 3 — City Lights (1931), Aero Theatre
Sept. 4 — When Harry Met Sally… (1989), Aero Theatre
Sept. 5 — I Vitelloni (1953), Aero Theatre
Sept. 6 — The Grapes of Wrath (1940), Aero Theatre
Sept. 9 — The Elephant Man (1980), Aero Theatre
Sept. 19 — This Is Spinal Tap (1984), Los Feliz 3
Sept. 20 — Shane (1953), Los Feliz 3
Sept. 23 — The Miracle Worker (1962), Los Feliz 3
Oct. 6 — Down and Out in Beverly Hills (1986), Los Feliz 3
Oct. 10 — Top Hat (1935), Aero Theatre
Oct. 11 — Dances With Wolves (1990), Egyptian Theatre
Oct. 16 — Jojo Rabbit (2019), Los Feliz 3
Oct. 17 — Double Indemnity (1944), Egyptian Theatre
Oct. 18 — Schindler's List (1993), Egyptian Theatre
Oct. 20 — A Night at the Opera (1935), Los Feliz 3
Oct. 22 — Dolemite Is My Name (2019), Los Feliz 3
Oct. 24 — Broadway Melody of 1940 (1940), Los Feliz 3
Oct. 25 — Ed Wood (1994), Egyptian Theatre
Oct. 31 — Psycho (1960), Egyptian Theatre
Nov. 12 — The Twelve Chairs (1970), Egyptian Theatre
A friend of mine who heard they were doing this said to me, "Watch…they'll mostly be Mel Brooks movies interspersed with a few like Citizen Kane and Gone With the Wind so Mel could say, "Look! My movies are in the same league as Citizen Kane and Gone With the Wind!" As you've just seen, Mel did not do this. He only put one of his films on the list…the one most of his admirers rarely mention. There are two Rob Reiner movies on there…and no Citizen Kane or Gone With the Wind.
It's not a bad list but the only one I might go see is A Night at the Opera. I, of course, own a copy of the film. In fact, I think I may own it on Beta, VHS, Laserdisc, one or more DVD releases and Blu-ray. But my lovely friend Amber has never seen a Marx Brothers movie and I didn't want to show her one until we could see it in a theater with an audience. It'll be a lot funnier at the Aero than it would be in my den with just the two of us watching it there. Same deal with It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World. You've gotta see it, at least for your first time, with a big, demonstrative audience.
UPDATE, A BIT LATER: Shelly Goldstein reminds me that The Elephant Man was produced by Mel and that it and The Miracle Worker featured Mrs. Mel Brooks, aka Anne Bancroft. Of course.