Tuning in…
Tuning in…
Castaway
1 appearance
American film director, producer, writer, actor and comedian, best known for his comedic films and television work.
On the island
Eight records
One of my favorite swing recordings… the most perfect example of a swing record.
the best example of thrilling symphony for me… and if I had my way, conducted by Arturo Toscanini
Can't We Talk It Over?Favourite
I heard the Crosby of the late twenties and the early thirties… a song called Can't We Talk It Over?
Prelude in E minor, Op. 28 No. 4
the saddest and most beautiful song ever written… I could not live without this sound in my life
In the Wee Small Hours of the Morning
perhaps the best living singer… at the peak of his career
my favorite record in the whole world… my two favorite people of that period were Helen Forrest and Dick Haymes
a compendium, a collage… of all the Mel Brooks greatest hits… I would really like to hear it on a desert island
In conversation
Presenter asks
13:12How did the success of 'The Critic' open the way for your first full-length film?
The critic didn't mean a thing. … I starved for a year or two and I wrote this script called Springtime for Hitler, which later became The Producers. And I took it to everybody, and everybody said, 'No, you can't direct it. It's in shocking bad taste.' … I finally met this fellow, Sidney Glazer … and we went to Joseph E. Levine … and Joe said to me, 'Listen, kid, from the bottom of your heart, and don't lie to me, do you think you can direct a real movie?' I said, 'I think I can.' We shook hands, and he gave me the job.
Presenter asks
14:41Is it true that the producer played by Zero Mostel was based on a man you'd wept for when you were fifteen?
Zero Mostel was one of the world's great grotesque comics. … Zero liked the script. As a matter of fact, his wife liked it better. And she urged him to do it.
Presenter asks
21:49Did you show Alfred Hitchcock the picture [High Anxiety]?
He said, 'Don't at any costs do anything that I've done that's funny. Do the things that I have done that are super dramatic.' … He saw the film and sent me a little note saying, 'Splendid, I wish I had done it.' And he also sent along a case of Château Haut-Brion, 1961.
The keepsakes
The luxury
a case of Château Lafite Rothschild 1945
If I could take only one luxury, I would take a case of wine, and the wine would probably be Chateau Lafitte Rothschild, nineteen forty five.
Presenter asks
24:35How do you think you'd manage on a desert island? Could you look after yourself? Are you a practical man?
I could put up a shelter. If there were fruit on the island I could survive. If there were fish that were near the shore, I'm sure I could catch them. Yes, I'm quite a good surf caster.
Presenter asks
27:59If you could take just one disc out of the eight you've played us, which would it be?
Can't We Talk It Over, Bing Crosby.
“I thought it was sensational to me to notice that they were all in the wrong key. And I saved many Jewish lives by simply instructing them to start in a lower key.”
“The writing staff consisted mostly of Mel Brooks, Woody Allen, and Neil Simon.”
“Birthing Blazing Saddles was perhaps the acme of bad taste in modern American filmmaking, and I'm very proud of that. … I say it's restoration comedy.”
“I've sold the wine. I've got a wonderful price for it. … To make another picture.”
“I would just like to apologize for that. … Springtime for Hitler from the soundtrack of The Producers.”