connections
Last night, I needed a Turner Classic Movies fix. After a nearly a week's vacation sans television of any kind, I was jonesing for a little of the good stuff. As I switched it on, the opening credits of the original 1942 version of To Be or Not to Be were running. I was both delighted and disappointed; a comedic gem with which to re-immerse myself in classic Hollywood accompanied by traveler's exhaustion that wasn't going to allow for a full viewing.
As To Be or Not to Be begins, the viewer believes they are watching a scene set in a Gestapo office. After "Heil Hitler's" are generously bandied about the fuhrer himself enters - whereupon he says, "Heil myself." At that moment, the camera pulls back to reveal a cast of ham actors arrayed on a stage, while the director rushes up to "Hitler" demanding to know why he ad-libbed the line. It's funny for a number of reasons, not least of which is the hilarious exchange between the actor and director as they argue about the actor's questionably creative addition to the script.
"Heil myself." It immediately echoed in my brain. I scanned my memory of Mel Brooks' 1983 version of To Be or Not to Be, but I couldn't immediately remember if the line was used (the remake featured much of the original script). Then it dawned on me - Brooks did use "Heil myself" years earlier, in The Producers. As uttered by the incomparable Dick Shawn as Lorenzo St. DuBois, playing Hitler, it seemed an inspired moment of lunacy. Now I knew, in an instant, that it was an inspiration of a different order.
With two words, Mel Brooks paid homage not only to Ernst Lubitsch, the German expatriate director of the 1942 To Be or Not to Be but also to screenwriter Edwin Justus Mayer, and star Jack Benny. They were the first to satirize Hitler and The Third Reich on film; Brooks' The Producers takes that satire to untested heights. What should be both bad and patently offensive - a musical about the Third Reich starring a hippie Hitler - is, instead, a huge hit.
"Heil myself." Two words that sum up one man's evil ego yet leave a smile on your face. Two words that symbolize for me the labrynth of connections that are a continual source of fascination. Two words that justify the repeated viewings that eventually reveal such insights.
As To Be or Not to Be begins, the viewer believes they are watching a scene set in a Gestapo office. After "Heil Hitler's" are generously bandied about the fuhrer himself enters - whereupon he says, "Heil myself." At that moment, the camera pulls back to reveal a cast of ham actors arrayed on a stage, while the director rushes up to "Hitler" demanding to know why he ad-libbed the line. It's funny for a number of reasons, not least of which is the hilarious exchange between the actor and director as they argue about the actor's questionably creative addition to the script.
"Heil myself." It immediately echoed in my brain. I scanned my memory of Mel Brooks' 1983 version of To Be or Not to Be, but I couldn't immediately remember if the line was used (the remake featured much of the original script). Then it dawned on me - Brooks did use "Heil myself" years earlier, in The Producers. As uttered by the incomparable Dick Shawn as Lorenzo St. DuBois, playing Hitler, it seemed an inspired moment of lunacy. Now I knew, in an instant, that it was an inspiration of a different order.
With two words, Mel Brooks paid homage not only to Ernst Lubitsch, the German expatriate director of the 1942 To Be or Not to Be but also to screenwriter Edwin Justus Mayer, and star Jack Benny. They were the first to satirize Hitler and The Third Reich on film; Brooks' The Producers takes that satire to untested heights. What should be both bad and patently offensive - a musical about the Third Reich starring a hippie Hitler - is, instead, a huge hit.
"Heil myself." Two words that sum up one man's evil ego yet leave a smile on your face. Two words that symbolize for me the labrynth of connections that are a continual source of fascination. Two words that justify the repeated viewings that eventually reveal such insights.
posted by Margo Channing @ 2:39 PM
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