Jew Ought to be in Pictures: Choice Comedy Rarities from the Chosen People - Thur. May 2nd - 8PM

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Oddball Films and Jewish curator Kat Shuchter bring you Jew Ought to be in Pictures: Choice Comedy Rarities from the Chosen People.  This program of comedy masters features rare films with Woody Allen, Mel Brooks, Carl Reiner, Sid Caesar, The Marx Brothers, Lenny Bruce, Jack Benny, Andy Kaufman, Tom Lehrer and more.  All four Marx Brothers bring us ridiculous warfare that includes dozens of costume changes, parliament breaking into song and Harpo Revere in This is War? (1933, excerpts from Duck Soup).  From Mel Brooks, we have his Oscar-winning animated short The Critic (1963) and a live performance with Carl Reiner of the 2,000 Year Old Man (1961).  Sid Caesar stars as the lord of the underworld trying to lure Ronald Reagan's wife away in GE Theater's The Devil You Say (1961), based on a story by Rosemary's Baby author Ira Levin. Bobby Rydell flusters Jack by impersonating him in a segment of the Jack Benny Program (1961). Song satirist Tom Lehrer's Pollution (1969) gets the montage treatment for one hysterical political statement. Woody Allen's early career and process are revealed in the documentary Woody Allen: An American Comedy (1977). Madeline Kahn stars in her first speaking role in the Bergman spoof De Duva (1968) Plus! Lane Truesdale sings Who's Yehoodi? to a lecherous painting of a hassid, Lenny Bruce's Thank You Mask Man (1968), Rodney Dangerfield peddles Miller Lite, Sammy Davis Jr. sells Alka-Seltzer, film trailers with Peter Sellers and Jerry Lewis, a super-rare interview with Andy Kaufman as Tony Clifton and much much more! So, grab your yarmulke, your tallit and your torah and get ready to laugh your tuchus off!

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Date: Thursday, May 2nd, 2013 at 8:00PM.

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The Critic (Color, 1963)
Another animated Oscar winner from the great Ernie Pintoff- the “Critic is Mel Brooks, sitting in a movie theater. Loudly describing/deriding what he seeds on the screen (a spoof of a Norman McLaren-styled animation). Brooks' old man character relentlessly rags on the experimental animation he's shown to hilarious effect.

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Pollution (Color, 1969)
Brilliant song-satirist Tom Lehrer touches upon one of the city's largest environmental problems; Pollution.  His hilarious song is used over a disturbing montage of archival footage, for one jazzy political statement! 

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The Jack Benny Program (B+W, 1963)

A segment of what may be the Jack Benny television program in which Benny does an opening routine of jokes, then introduces Bobby Rydell, who sings "I'm Sitting on Top of the World."  Rydell then criticizes Benny's style, and Benny walks off in a huff.

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The Devil You Say (B+W, 1961)

G.E. Theater's nod to a deal with the devil, this rare episode features Sid Caesar as Satan trying to lure Ronald Reagan's wife away from him with promises of fur and jewels.  Based on a story by Rosemary's Baby author, Ira Levin (yet another Jew!)

The 2,000 Year Old Man (B+W, 1961)

Mel Brooks and Carl Reiner's improvised comedy record performed live, bringing us and endless stream of hilarity from the world's oldest man.

De Düva (Dir. George Coe/Antony Lover, B+W, 1968)
Nominated for an Oscar (Best Short Subject – Live Action) in 1969, this short parodies three of Ingmar Bergman’s films – Wild Strawberries, The Seventh Seal, and The Silence. It also marked the first film role of Madeline Kahn. Speaking in mock Swedish, with English subtitles, a retired physicist with a hernia recalls, while sitting in an outhouse, a garden party he attended as a youth. In a game of badminton rather than chess, Death loses his intended victim because of a hilarious obstacle – a dirty pigeon. Director George Coe was one of the original cast members on the first three episodes of Saturday Night Live. And scriptwriter Sid Davis, who also plays the role of Death, is perhaps best known as a director/producer of educational safety films; he was also a long-time body double for John Wayne. (Tom Warner)

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Woody Allen: An American Comedy (B+W, 1977)

A filmmaker who requires no introduction, Woody Allen has directed nearly 50 films, popping them out at an astonishing rate, with stubborn consistency, and somehow continuing to remain relevant.  Since Woody’s next film celebrates our city, we’ll return the favor by screening this absorbing interview and overview of his early career.  Woody walks us through his days as a fledgling comedic writer, whose frustrations working on What’s New Pussycat spurred him on to producing his own films.  The writer/actor/director discusses his writing process, comic influences, interest in jazz and athletics, his self-proclaimed “anti-intellectual” ethos, and his work on beloved films such as Take the Money and Run, Sleepers, Annie Hall, and Love and Death.

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Thank You Mask Man (Color, 1968)

Before George Carlin, Richard Pryor and Redd Fox there was Lenny Bruce. This legendary animated short by the infamous comedian and satirist Lenny Bruce is a vivid send up on race, class and sexuality. Watch as Tonto and the Lone Ranger’s let it all hang out. 

Educational Shorts For the Early Birds!

The Day Grandpa Died (Color, 1970) 

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Come along as a little Jewish boy learns about death and remembrance when his beloved grandfather takes his final breaths. As his family mourns and sits shiva, he remembers all the great yarmulked times they had together in his long and contented life.

Hot Dog - How Do They Make Dollar Bills? (Color, 1971) 

As Dolly Parton once said, “You can never have too much money”. Filmed at Bureau of Printing and Engraving in Washington, D.C. this is one film in a series featuring comedians Jonathan Winters, Jo Anne Worley, and Woody Allen showcasing the various processes that go into the production of dollar bills, from the initial checking of the plates all the way through the extremely detailed counting of the finished bills. Watch it and wish that money was yours!