The King of Comedy (1982)

My wife Hollie and I talk about Martin Scorsese's 1982 cult classic, The King of Comedy, and discuss her thoughts on the first time seeing it as well as how I interpret certain aspects now as opposed to when I originally saw it.

Thanks to Hollie's magnificent suggestion, we also instituted the rewatchability scale of: 

1) Glued to the set

2) Doomscrolling and peeking at the screen

3) I'm done, change the channel

Podcast may include minimal profanity.

Music by Moodmode on Pixabay
https://pixabay.com/users/moodmode-33139253/
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https://www.tiktok.com/@mood.mode - TikTok

Transcript

Sean 0:02

Hello and welcome to Scenes from the Screen, the film-focused show for all ages, where we cover movies that flicker to life on screens both big and small. You'll find everything from comedy to horror, cult classics to major studio franchises, big budget to independent, theater releases, streaming premieres-- and everything in between. Stick around and you might discover a new gem or be reintroduced to an old forgotten favorite. My name is Sean, and I'll be your host. Well, today I am joined by a very extra special guest. It's my wife, Hollie. Say hi, Hollie.

Hollie 0:35

Hello, everybody.

Sean 0:36

And why don't you tell the masses, which is probably what, about this at this point, 12 people? Tell the masses a little bit about yourself and maybe how your love of movies. So whatever, whatever um you want to go into, by all means.

Hollie 0:48

My name is Holly, and I am Sean's wife. I am the mama two, three, four. Sorry, four fur babies. And movies are part of our hobby that we like to do together. I also grew up watching movies. Our family was very-- a little bit strange. Movies were what connected us sometimes. I even would watch movies with my grandmother. It was just something, it was our pastime. You know, we weren't that active go get it, play sports kind of family. We were the watch movie kind of family.

Sean 1:21

Well, it's funny because the movie we're gonna do today, which is 1982's The King of Comedy, that was from our era because you and I have seen a lot of movies from around that time, especially that year. I was just thinking the other day that you know what else is in 1982 that we both love, and we'll probably do it at some point in the future, is Evil Under the Sun.

Hollie 1:38

Great movie.

Sean 1:39

So there are a lot of great movies from '82, but again, today we're gonna focus on The King of Comedy, which is like I said, I'm surprised you didn't see back then because it was on HBO a lot, and that's how I saw it. It was on heavy rotation.

Hollie 1:52

I've been thinking about why I didn't watch this movie because my grandmother, who I was very close to, was the biggest Robert De Niro fan in the universe. I read the Godfather book, I knew every Godfather movie, I knew every Mafia movie that Robert De Niro ever did. He was just my grandmother's favorite human being ever, and we were very close. So I was thinking, why didn't I ever watch this movie? So then it hit me. I know why. And I know why my parents didn't watch it either. We don't want to see Robert De Niro as a comedian because it just back then.

Sean 2:25

Right. Back then it was very awkward.

Hollie 2:27

Yeah.

Sean 2:27

I I I will admit that we're coming off you know, movies like Mean Street's Raging Bull, New York, New York, things like that. You know, in a way, it was way ahead of its time, you know, and we'll get a little bit more into that later. But yeah, I and I think I I enjoyed it just because it was on. I mean, I would watch, as I mentioned, in an earlier podcast, I I would, I would, I would just watch everything. So that's how I got to to really know and love the film.

Hollie 2:51

Right. And and I was like, there's no absolutely no reason why I didn't watch this movie, maybe not in 1982, but since then, because as I've grown to be an adult, Martin Scorsese or Scorsese, depending who you are to say his name, has been one of my... who doesn't love him if you like anything mob-related.

Sean 3:09

Absolutely, or anything. I mean, he's...

Hollie 3:11

He's amazing.

Sean 3:12

Fantastic.

Hollie 3:12

And Robert De Niro is one of my all-time idols. Like, you know, he's he's just Robert De Niro. So I was surprised. I'm thinking it was the whole stand-up comedian thing. I'm like, I just don't want to see him do that. But then when you watch the movie, you realize it's so not about that. So it just changed. I wish I would have known prior to watching the movie that it wasn't really about Robert De Niro being a stand-up comedian.

Sean 3:37

Right. And you know, I mean, uh, she can attest to that uh, you know, I make her watch a lot of different things. So no, I mean, not that I make you, but yeah, I mean, come on, but right. So we're actually gonna do a whole separate thing on "they can't all be winners". So, probably the movies that I will make you watch or have made you watch, and I know we have a couple in mind that we do want to do as like a special bonus feature. You know, they're there's some in the past, but yeah, I mean, at least this one had name people in it. Sometimes that doesn't really happen, or the names are people from the 70s that she has no idea who they are, and I'm pointing them out..." Oh, well that's this guy was in an episode of the Rockford Files", or you know, "they were on I Love Lucy back in the 50s, now they're older", and you know, so so I do make her watch a lot of weird films, and again, some hit or miss. So it's what do you think the the percentage at this point? Was it 50-50 for the movies that made you watch?

Hollie 4:26

No, I think well, it depends on what how I'm rating them. Are am I rating them then by how much fun we had making fun of the movie, or am I rating it by actually a good movie?

Sean 4:36

Right.

Hollie 4:37

Because if it was actually a good movie, we're gonna go like you're ahead 25%.

Sean 4:41

Okay, so yeah, I mean, like I said...

Hollie 4:43

...fun watching them or close to 90 because there's only been a few movies that I just felt bored to death ever, and it wasn't a good time, and that usually doesn't happen.

Sean 4:50

Right. Right, and and it doesn't, like I said, even there's and there's one I know we want to do, and I think we're gonna have to revisit it sometime, maybe around Halloween. But I won't even mention the name because it was just absolute hysterical. I think about it daily, like boy did... anyway...so, but The King of Comedy, the basic premise is if you don't know...

Hollie 5:07

Are we gonna are we gonna do spoilers?

Sean 5:10

Uh well, yeah. I mean, it's it's over 40 years old. We will do we will do spoilers.

Hollie 5:13

Spoiler alert for anyone like me who didn't see it until it was 40 years old.

Sean 5:16

Right. I mean, it's not like it's oh, there's a massive twist in it, there's this. The basic premise is Robert De Niro plays Rupert Pupkin and his name is massacred throughout the entire film, which is kind of a running joke. They call him Popkin Pumpkin. I mean, it actually does get hilarious, but he's he's kind of a narcissistic celebrity wannabe, a stalker, absolutely. In fact, the beginning, he is in he's waiting for Jerry Lewis, who plays Jerry Langford, a talk show, a very popular talk show host. I would imagine, almost based on back at that time like a Carson.

Hollie 5:51

Yeah, I would say Johnny Carson.

Sean 5:53

Yeah, Johnny Carson. And uh he's waiting to get his autograph, as are many people, and he finagles himself into the limo ride. So he's in a limo with Jerry Lewis, and basically Jerry Lewis is kind of not really being nice to him, but kind of talking to him just to really get him out of the cab. Or get I'm sorry, get him out of the limo. So he creates this kind of fantasy world where he he believes he he now is friends with Jerry Lewis's character, Jerry Langford...again, I'm just gonna call him Jerry Lewis because it's Jerry Lewis. And that's what basically the entire film is, until again, not really a spoiler, because it's he kidnaps him, and in exchange for releasing him, he wants to appear on on the show. So that's where we are with the whole story. And uh so I guess first of all, we're gonna get to the question you asked me after we watched the movie later, because I think that's you know, when I I I have a different perspective now than I did when I was so when it came out in '82, I was 13. I probably saw it when I was 14. So I probably did see it about 83 with the time it took to go on HBO. So I have a little bit different perspective now as to how it ended. But one, just so did you like the movie?

Hollie 7:16

I absolutely loved it. And it's one of those movies though I keep thinking about, like it's weird because the person who the actor, actress who's my favorite character, is not the Robert De Niro person. I absolutely loved Sandra Bernhard in this movie.

Sean 7:34

Wow, yeah. And I mean, back then she was irritating to me. I mean, but that's back then. Again, I again I have a different perspective.

Hollie 7:40

She was amazing.

Sean 7:41

She was Masha, not Marsha, Masha.

Hollie 7:43

She was hysterically funny, and just like I mean, it says it's a black comedy...

Sean 7:49

And it is.

Hollie 7:50

But it is, it's true, it's very funny. She is the character that you keep thinking about and laughing about. Like I know you talked about the opening scene before Robert De Niro finangles his way into the limo with Jerry Lewis. He's talking to all these people outside of the stage door. And that to me was the best scene because that's what I want to see. I want to see a documentary about these psychotic assholes standing outside of stage doors, waiting for famous people to come out because he knew their names, like they had conversations. So, you know, there's like a little community of these wackos that think they're friends with these people now. And Sandra Bernhard was one of them, obviously, Robert De Niro. But that's what I took away from that. I really would like to see a a...

Sean 8:33

Not necessarily a documentary, but like a fake documentary.

Hollie 8:35

No I want to see a real documentary.

Sean 8:35

But right a real, because people do. Well, you were one of those people. You stood outside.

Hollie 8:38

That's what I wanted to say...

Sean 8:39

When you went to New York, right?

Hollie 8:40

I actually did that. And and I stood outside the stage door to get out to just to see people when I was in New York City. And every time I go there, I still do that because it's very cool when you get to see celebrities up close, but I'm not insane to think I'm friends with them or in love with them.

Sean 8:56

Right, right. And I mean, I even collected autographs, as you know, back in high school, and but I would write to them for the most part. I mean, I only met maybe a few people in my life, but they were all very cool, and I just approached them like they were normal people. And the ones we wrote to were we were very... my friend and I from high school, he'll he'll probably be in a future show... but we were very respectful and you know, we knew their history because we knew the people from the 50s, 60s, 70s, and you know, and that was the 80s when we started writing for autographs. I would have loved to have met these people, absolutely, but I don't want to go to shows to meet them. I mean, I would just like to bump into them and start talking, which is how I met some of the celebrities I did, and they were very cool with that.

Hollie 9:33

Right. Well, the some of the ones I met were not from the show I went to. Like I didn't meet Alan Tudyk...

Sean 9:41

Tudyk right

Hollie 9:42

...outside of Spama lot, but I also met Jeff Goldblum, who was in another play, and we just walked over there, and he was very polite. And he's a local boy.

Sean 9:52

Well, he's from Pittsburgh, so I mean...

Hollie 9:53

No, he's from West Homestead.

Sean 9:54

Well, right, but I mean he's from he's from the area. You're right.

Hollie 9:57

So I got to meet him, and I I met Christian Slater and Jessica Lange and the they were on the

Sean 10:05

Didn't you meet Antonio Banderas, too?

Hollie 10:06

I met Antonio Banderas when he was in Nine, and it was it was weird because I just just like he shook my mother. Antonio Banderas did did touch my mother's hand and talk to my mom for a minute, and Alan Tudyk Tudyk did actually sign her her program, but I just wanted to see them. Like I saw Jennifer Garner when she was in Cyrano de Bergerac. So it was really cool to see those people, but the community in this movie, the way they they were so involved and they were like knew each other's names, and they were like all talking like they like like it was just weird and so cool. Like I do want to know more about those people.

Sean 10:42

Well, and that I mean that leads into an into an interesting perspective because now you see it, that's on that's the online culture.

Hollie 10:48

Right.

Sean 10:49

I mean, so it's it's kind of expanded in a way, and kind of sometimes in an unhealthy way, you know, over the years.

Hollie 10:57

They're getting stalked online instead of stalking in real life.

Sean 10:57

Right, right, you know, which is you know, and I was when I was when Twitter was around and not X, but Twitter was around, I was you know, friends with a couple celebrities, but it never bothered them. They just they made a mention. I mentioned something back. That was that was it, you know. And hey, that was just very cool for me because they were people that I I liked and looked up to, and and still I still do because I never had a negative you know involvement with it. But yeah, I I really I I really enjoyed this film. Like I said, I watched it over and over and over again back in when it was on HBO, which is very odd for someone of my age to have really enjoyed that...

Hollie 11:34

Not that odd for you.

Sean 11:35

Not well, not odd for me, right. Because I did grow up with a lot of things, but I'm glad I got a lot of different perspectives. There were you know, one of the things that that I think was again way ahead of its time, and we kind of touched on that was the price of celebrity, because it this film really blurs the line between psychosis and reality.

Hollie 11:53

Yes.

Sean 11:54

Scorsese was way ahead of his time in seeing how celebrity would affect other people because there's a lot of you think like, oh, you know, when when Pupkin, you know, after he sees Jerry Lewis in the in the limo, you know, he immediately they cut to something where he's speaking with him and you know he's friends with Jerry Lewis, and and that's ...first you think like, okay, well, is that real? Did that happen? But it does not. I mean, it's it's start it's all in his head, but it starts to unravel a little bit too. Because there's one, I mean, he's very self-assured in his in his first couple fantasies, and then a little bit later on when he's speaking with Jerry Lewis and he records a tape for them to listen to. He... he in his fantasy, he's a little bit less self-assured, which I was I was kind of I thought that was a little bit of an odd choice.

Hollie 12:47

I did too. I did think that his his confidence was weird because it felt like he would go up and down, like it was because at the end he was like super confident and super like proud of himself and like showing his...

Speaker 1 12:59

And at the beginning it was too.

Hollie 13:00

In the beginning it was, but in the middle he he did lose a little bit. So maybe that was like Scorsese's arc for the character. I just think yeah, I I agree that he he he was very like very full of himself at the beginning, and he he was like the savior like I saved Jerry from this crazy fan...

Sean 13:17

Right. Right.

Hollie 13:18

And then he he was weird in the middle, and then at the end, he was like, I'm the greatest star ever.

Sean 13:23

Right, right.

Hollie 13:24

So yeah.

Sean 13:25

And you know, see again, I I think I one of the things I noticed again after watching it all these years, because I have seen it since HBO was, but it was probably it's been like 20 or 30 years since I've seen it. When Pupkin says that he lives in a hovel and can't pay his rent, but it seems like he lives with his mom in her basement because he's always recording things. His mom, which is who's actually Scorsese's mom, that's her voice. She's yelling down to him and interrupting him while he's trying to record his stuff. So again, uh, what is true and what's not.

Hollie 13:55

I think he said, I live in a hovel and can't pay my rent as a as a fake background to make his story more interesting.

Sean 14:03

Right, and that's how he tells uh Sandra Bernhard's character that . I do remember.

Hollie 14:06

He actually lived with his mom. And to me, when I saw that scene when he was recording and he yelled up as his mom, and he's like, I'm recording, don't yell or something. He says something to her.

Sean 14:16

Right.

Hollie 14:16

And all you hear is her voice off in the distance. It totally brought me to Wedding Crashers when "Mom, meatloaf."

Sean 14:24

Yeah, right. At the very end of that, yes.

Hollie 14:28

Did they steal that from Scorsese in this movie, because...

Sean 14:29

That's a tough one to ... I mean...

Hollie 14:30

I just I thought it was the same thing.

Sean 14:32

Yeah, right. I it it is it's very similar.

Hollie 14:34

Yeah.

Sean 14:34

Yeah.

Hollie 14:34

Yeah.

Sean 14:35

Like I said, Scorsese really did a lot of stuff way ahead of his time.

Hollie 14:38

And he was like the crazy guy in the basement because he actually, Robert De Niro's character actually, like when she's yelling, he looks up. So you know he's down below.

Sean 14:46

Right?

Hollie 14:47

Like he's not upstairs in the bedroom or something, he's in the basement. He's a grown, grown man in his 30s, right? 30s-ish.

Sean 14:54

I would probably say about 30s at that point, yeah.

Hollie 14:56

30s ish. And he's yelling up to his mommy to not bother him while he's doing something. So you could see where that was like so like um the words not stereotypical, but it's like that characterization of the guy who doesn't have any friends, doesn't have any women in his life that still lives in the basement.

Sean 15:14

Right.

Hollie 15:14

That's what he does.

Sean 15:15

Right, but he's a little bit beyond that too, which because he does he doesn't really have close friends, but he has... I mean, again, Sandra Bernhardt's character, which again they have a really a strong familiarity with one another because you know he brings up, oh, this time I did this for you, this time I did that for you, and she does the same thing.

Hollie 15:30

I almost want to see a prequel to see what their relationship was because I'm wondering, did they kind of like date?

Sean 15:35

Yeah.

Hollie 15:35

Because you kind of got the feeling that they knew a lot about intimate details about each other, but didn't, and then they were friends, but it wasn't like were they only friends because they met at the backstage door?

Sean 15:46

Right. And that's that's that's a possibility too.

Hollie 15:49

Or were they friends before they went insane? 

Sean 15:49

And just decided, like, oh, we can get you know, we could do certain things to you know, team up to be able to get autographs or meet celebrities, things like that. There are a lot of you know, again, I think for when I saw it for my age, weird things that I found hysterical about this film, and I still do, and lines that will pop into my head when yeah, after De Niro's Pupkin gives Jerry Lewis that tape, and you know, he's asking how it is, you know...again, he's that's the part where he's unsure about himself, but Lewis kind of taps him in the face, slaps him almost like in uh Cannonball Run, when Dean Martin slapped Sammy Davis Jr. He slaps him in the face and he goes, "That's marvelous, you daffy bastard". I still think about that to this day. And when he Jerry's walking down the street, and back then, you you know, I mean, they could walk down the street, they even make a mention of it as to like, well, why doesn't he take the backways and why did because he wants to feel safe, he wants to feel in a crowd of people, he he wants to he wants to make sure that nothing happens. And there's a woman on a payphone, and he's signed something for her, and she wants to put him on with her nephew. You know, she's so nice to that point. He goes, I'm sorry, I have to be somewhere. And she just yells, "Cancer, you should only get cancer". Yeah. And it's that, you know, it's the fragile relationship between celebrities and the audience. And that line seems a lot thinner now than it used to since the advent of social media.

Hollie 17:16

Yeah, I did, I did, she was hysterical because she was in love with him. And I mean, when you're in a city like New York, LA, because when I was, you know, the world traveler that I am, when I was in Los Angeles, I did see people on the street that were famous. But I'm not like someone who's gonna walk up and talk to anyone, like that's just not me, but I did see them. And you wonder, like, if they're walking in public now, would that be to get that almost the um what movie was it where they they would purposely go out in oh, Soap dish. Was it like a Soap dish thing where they're trying to get feel good about themselves again? Or was he really like like the Jerry Lewis character? Was he really afraid of stalkers because he had so many people that being in a crowd was safer than being off by himself? Because if someone steals them off by himself, nobody would know, but being in the crowd, he would have witnesses.

Sean 18:08

Right. And it turns out that they literally like they didn't take him off a crowded street, but there were people around...

Hollie 18:13

Yeah.

Sean 18:14

...when they when they kind of you know kidnapped him, and it was very farcical at that point, too, because he gets out of the car, Pupkin drops the gun. I mean, it's just it's amazing how they pulled this off, but so and another great line, too, which I I really didn't remember until I saw it again. So at one point in his fantasy, Pupkin uh goes to Jerry's house out in on the country. It was it. I don't know if it was the Hamptons or not, but...

Hollie 18:40

I would say Hamptons.

Sean 18:41

Yeah, wherever it was. So he goes out with this girl that he knew, and and a lot of that... right...and a lot of that scene I didn't realize till recently was improvised. So the the guy that ran the house...

Hollie 18:52

The butler guy?

Sean 18:52

...the Asian guy, he right, he improvised those lines.

Hollie 18:55

That was a cool scene. He was hysterical.

Sean 18:56

He was he could he actually couldn't get the door unlocked, that's so they left that in, which I think I mean is is fantastic. If that's true, I mean that's great. Yeah, but De Niro's Pupkin thinks that Jerry owes him something. And the great line was when Pupkin says "I have a life too" and Langford says, "That's not my responsibility" which he's he's absolutely correct about that. And so, and I'll tell you what, I love Jerry Lewis in this movie. And I mean, I he was always a comedian, always that, but he plays, he is so great in this as a dramatic actor, it's unbelievable because I'd never seen him do drama. I think as far back as I can remember, I never saw him do drama before this film.

Hollie 19:34

He he came off more like what I would imagine his real personality was, because in real life you kind of get the feeling that Jerry Lewis is kind of a dick.

Sean 19:41

Yeah, you do. Yeah, I mean, I don't yeah, but that's kind of...

Hollie 19:44

His movies , he was always like goofy and funny and cute and just like...

Sean 19:47

"Hey lady!"

Hollie 19:47

...so much fun, and he comes off like a kind of like a narcissistic dick in this. But that's fine. Do you think but before do you think that was imagine in his dream or like his delusion, or didn't he really go there?

Sean 20:00

I think I think he really went there.

Hollie 20:01

Okay, yeah, I thought he really went there too with...

Sean 20:03

Right.

Hollie 20:03

...and I like the scene where he picks up his high school crush, and you could tell that this woman who she works in a bar, and for those of you who who don't know us, my dog, our dog is snoring in the microphone. So if you hear this background noise, that would be Miss Hannah. She has joined us. But my favorite podcaster always has her dog too. Anyway, they're at this he's in this bar and he purposely goes there after he meets Jerry Lewis to kind of brag about himself.

Sean 20:31

Right.

Hollie 20:31

And he's bragging to this girl who, in my opinion, the way I envisioned it, she was the popular girl in high school, and he was the little dork who sat in the corner that never talked to anyone. And now he's like, Hey, I'm this big star, I know Jerry, and don't you want to go out with me now? Like, do is that what you got from them?

Sean 20:46

Yeah, I mean, kind of, yeah.

Hollie 20:47

Cracked me up because he's got to be 30 years old, and he's still like in that delusionary world that he's going back to his high school girl.

Sean 20:53

There are a lot of people that still are though, which is so that's not far-fetched...

Hollie 20:56

It's a Pittsburgh thing.

Sean 20:56

...in any stretch, right? Well, it is, it kind of is, right? But it's I mean, it is now it's worldwide. I mean, you you not world, I'm sorry, not worldwide. I mean, at least the US. That's I can say it's I lived in a lot of places in the US, so that is...

Hollie 21:08

Right.

Sean 21:08

...that's kind of yeah, uh, yeah, you know, yeah, related to that but...

Hollie 21:12

She was good too. And that the scene with the butler or the house man or whatever his job title was, he was hysterical.

Sean 21:17

Oh, he was.

Hollie 21:18

So funny.

Sean 21:19

Yeah.

Hollie 21:19

Like alone, just watching the movie just for that scene alone when these two crazy people come in the house.

Sean 21:24

Because he didn't know. You think, like, well, who are they? Maybe he did invite them. I don't know. He wasn't he didn't tell me, but...

Hollie 21:28

Yeah, he was funny.

Sean 21:30

I didn't really another another thing I I noticed that being a celebrity seems really lonely and bothersome to Jerry Lewis's character...

Hollie 21:37

Yes.

Sean 21:37

...like we never see him in front of the camera, we just know that he's successful thanks to the world around him, thanks to the inhabitants, because you know, he's mobbed when he comes out of the stage door, he's talked about. We see, you know, he's he's a presence, but we never we never actually see him do his stuff. So and he doesn't it doesn't seem like he relishes it, almost seems like he shun he shuns it. And uh it kind of reminds me now of like the only person I could think of again at the time I I don't remember that being um Carson but it probably was but now um Jerry Seinfeld is I I see him as is almost that.

Hollie 22:11

Yeah I mean I see that I see but see with Jerry Seinfeld different than this character like to me Jerry Seinfeld had his and and maybe because I'm not as old I don't remember Johnny Carson doing anything but Johnny Carson.

Sean 22:24

Right right.

Hollie 22:25

So to me like he got his fame just from being a talk show host and that's what I got from this Jerry character.

Sean 22:30

He was on an episode of Get Smart by the way which is fantastic. See I'll bring that stuff up because he was he was phenomenal anyway...

Hollie 22:37

But I got that from the character that all he was famous for was doing this talk show. And and not that that's not something that everyone can do because not everyone can do a talk show but that seems to that was his limit on his skill. Like Johnny Carson I think was really funny but I never saw Johnny Carson do stand up or do anything other than the Carson show..

Sean 22:57

Right

Hollie 22:57

The Tonight Show.

Sean 22:58

And back then I think that was like he inherited from Jack Paar you know he might have yeah I mean again I don't know...

Hollie 23:03

What was he before that?

Sean 23:04

Right I don't know a lot about I mean that guy was super talented like...

Hollie 23:08

Right.

Sean 23:08

You would laugh Carson had that special thing where even if it something bombed you laughed because he went with it he knew it bombed so he just rolled with it...

Hollie 23:17

Right, yeah.

Sean 23:17

And you know a lot of a lot of that's why talk show I think since pretty much since Letterman they they just don't have it as much. I mean they're they're okay and they're entertaining but...

Hollie 23:27

It's not the, it's not the same.

Sean 23:27

...maybe Conan did a little bit.

Hollie 23:29

Yeah

Sean 23:29

Conan was but he had that weird sense of humor which I don't think a lot of people got I I think Conan was hilarious... but...

Hollie 23:35

But I think this character was definitely Johnny Carson because he had the arrogance...

Sean 23:38

Yeah I agree about that time and that and he was the biggest talk show host at that time really the only one I mean it was I I don't think I could name anybody at that there was the tonight show and what else was there?

Hollie 23:46

Right. So he to me he was like just famous for being the talk show host and not famous for himself for any of his own personal skills.

Sean 23:55

Right. All right so here's the question I wanted that you well you asked me at the end of the movie because the final scene so he again spoiler alert but you know and you should see it no matter what so he he does he does finagle his way onto TV and he insists he's very intelligent because he insists that he sees it live at a bar and it's the same bar that his crush works in after the fact and he's accompanied by obviously the police but then it goes in it spins into this he's on Time magazine's cover he's he's this he's that and you hear a narrator saying you know oh the Rupert Pupkin is the newest star and you know you know he he's on different shows he I mean he's mentioned as this huge rising star and so you what question did you ask me?

Hollie 24:46

Was the end real or his delusion?

Sean 24:48

Right now back then I thought maybe it was kind of a delusion.

Hollie 24:54

Well your 10 year old 13 year old brain...

Sean 24:56

Right.

Hollie 24:56

Yeah.

Sean 24:56

But well that's not only that because society has changed so much...

Hollie 25:00

Right.

Sean 25:00

...that now you if you do something idiotic I mean you're immediately a a celebrity.

Hollie 25:04

Well now if you did that what he did you'd be super famous.

Sean 25:07

Oh exactly you'd you could be given a Bravo show and immediately and yeah a talk show whatever you know they would right but back then that was almost that was unheard of so you really didn't know if it was in his imagination or if it was real and I've never looked that up because I really I don't want to know I think that's almost like but I didn't think about it all that time because it's been so it has been so long and I think the last time I saw it was really before again social media came about and and that all these reality shows so yeah uh the world has changed so much the fact that it now it could be true. I mean what do you think?

Hollie 25:46

I I think it was delusional of course I mean if you watch when you watch the movie it's definitely a delusion, however the whole idea of them kidnapping Jerry Lewis or the Jerry character to just for him to get on the show is like so ridiculous. I mean of course it's ridiculous anyway but it's so ridiculous that I kept this is the movie that I kept thinking about because and did they really even let him on the show?

Sean 26:11

Right, right.

Hollie 26:12

Because and he's like oh they won't...

Sean 26:14

I think they did.

Hollie 26:14

...say anything...

Sean 26:14

Right.

Hollie 26:15

...he won't say anything bad he won't do anything but he's not funny like he's he he doesn't have...

Sean 26:22

Back then back then I think it's it it was stupid funny he was he was kind of like a...

Hollie 26:25

...but I don't like...

Sean 26:26

..a goofball stand-up comedian.

Hollie 26:28

...but when he's standing up there they have the canned laughter and and you're like I'm going back is the laughter a delusion because he was...

Sean 26:36

Well right well I mean I see what you mean yeah I do uh but I I do think he was I do think he was allowed to be on I do think they aired it because the police were with him so I mean unless then then everything then you have to question everything before that like how much of the whole movie is his fantasy and reality.

Hollie 26:54

Right and do we know the timeline between between when Jerry gets away from Sandra Bernhard who apparently is very wealthy again...

Sean 27:02

Right.

Hollie 27:03

...I want to know more about her life...

Sean 27:04

Exactly that...

Hollie 27:05

...because this broad is loaded.

Sean 27:06

She had to have inherited that she had to have.

Hollie 27:08

That's what I'm saying I want to know her character I want a movie about her it doesn't have to be Sandra Bernhard but anyway I want to know like what was the timeline did Jerry get away before he aired it?

Sean 27:20

Yeah I don't think so...

Hollie 27:21

You know what I mean so...

Sean 27:22

...because he was running by that TV and he saw it on TV. So anyway all right so we're gonna wrap it up so it rewatchability so are you to do this are you glued to the set are you kind of doom scrolling this is what you came up with are you doom scrolling and kind of peeking at the screen or are would you be like a rewatchable like yeah I'm done we can change the channel?

Hollie 27:44

I actually want to see it again so I think it has very high rewatchability just so I can kind of catch the subtleties of the movie and I highly recommend it. So my recommending is to put your phone down and watch the movie even if you're not a huge Robert De Niro Martin Scorsese Sandra Bernhardt fan.

Sean 28:02

And who wouldn't be...

Hollie 28:03

Or Jerry Lewis.

Sean 28:04

...right who wouldn't be at this point?

Hollie 28:05

Right.

Sean 28:05

All right well I appreciate that's about all the time we have I appreciate you being the on the show we're definitely gonna you're definitely gonna be back because you have no other choice on me honestly we had fun did you have fun?

Hollie 28:16

I always have fun with you.

Sean 28:17

See that's awesome. She... she's the best. Okay so we will come back with another movie soon. Don't know what it is but hopefully we're gonna do this weekly if you know all prevails and um things work out so keep listening and we'll just have to find a movie for us to watch soon. I mean well we watch tons of movies but...

Hollie 28:37

Right but maybe something more recent.

Sean 28:39

Yeah oh yeah we're gonna bounce around quite a bit so. That's all I have for today. So as always thank you for listening. If you liked it make sure you hit that subscribe button so you're the first to know when new episodes become available on your favorite podcast platform. For Scenes From the Screen, I'm Sean, and, until next time, don't let your screen go dark