Paris, France, 1789. Thirty years later, under the reign of Louis XVI, longstanding grievances between aristocrat and peasant were about to boil over. The pot in which these troubles boiled was kindled with the firewood of oppression and injustice and heated by the flames that sucked the air from gasping peasants. Would the pot cool off, would it merely simmer, or would it boil over in the kitchen of France - to stain the floor of history forever?
Full disclosure, this was my dad's favorite movie. I think everybody who grew up during the 1980s had a couple of VHS tapes that got watched over and over and over again. This was one of ours. I've memorized this film, and that knowledge was very useful to me as a teenager in getting along with my dad.
Of course, none of my friends had any idea this movie even existed. Their loss.
Start the Revolution Without Me is a 1970 parody of swashbuckling historical fiction's like The Man in the Iron Mask (who shows up), A Tale of Two Cities and The Corsican Brothers (not the Cheech and Chong version.)
It stars the great Gene Wilder and Donald Sutherland as the "Corsican Brothers" and the "DiSisi Brothers", a pair of mismatched twins switched at birth. It's silly and nonsensical. It's in equal parts clever and foolish. There are clever wordplay and simple sight gags.
It's also got Hugh Griffith as King Louis XVI. Griffith is most famous for his role as the Sheik Ilderim in Ben Hur opposite Charlton Heston.
And here is Griffith, playing King Louis the 16th, dressed as a chicken after Marie Antoinette told him that it was a costume ball.
Also worth noting is Victor Spinetti. He's best known for working opposite the Beatles as the TV Director in A Hard Day's Night, as Foot in Help!, and he even shows up as the Army Sergeant in Magical Mystery Tour.
But to me, he'll always be the slimy Duke d'Escargot
It was produced by Bud Yorkin, who would later go on to produce All in the Family, Sanford and Son, and What's Happening.
And if that's not enough, it's got a great use of stuffy Orson Welles as stuffy Orson Welles.
Enjoy.
Comments
Post a Comment