My Favorite Year (1982)

User Rating:

7.2/10   

Director:

Richard Benjamin

Writers:

Dennis Palumbo (screenplay)
Dennis Palumbo (story)
(more)

Release Date:

1 October 1982 (USA)

Genre:

Comedy

Plot:

A dissolute matinee idol is slated to appear on a live TV variety show.

Plot Keywords:

Womanizer | Live Television | 1950s | Television | Star

Awards:

Nominated for Oscar. Another 2 wins & 4 nominations

Cast

Peter O'Toole	...	Alan Swann
Mark Linn-Baker	...	Benjy Stone
Jessica Harper	...	K. C. Downing
Joseph Bologna	...	King Kaiser
Bill Macy	...	Sy Benson
Lainie Kazan	...	Belle Carroca
Anne De Salvo	...	Alice Miller
Basil Hoffman	...	Herb Lee
Lou Jacobi	...	Uncle Morty
Adolph Green	...	Leo Silver
Tony DiBenedetto	...	Alfi Bambacelli
George Wyner	...	Myron Fein
Selma Diamond	...	Lil
Cameron Mitchell	...	Karl Rojeck
Jenny Neumann	...	Connie
Corinne Bohrer	...	Bonnie
George Marshall Ruge	...	Lord Drummond
Barbara Horan	...	Lady Eleanor
John Welsh	...	Cubby Brown
Richard Brestoff	...	Extra
Jed Mills	...	Extra
Ted Grossman	...	Extra
Teresa Ganzel	...	Extra
Philip Bruns	...	Extra
Archie Hahn	...	Delivery Boy
Karen Haber	...	Extra
Priscilla Kovary	...	Priscilla
Eleanor C. Heutschy	...	Gossip Columnist (as Eleanor Heutschy)
Peter Eastman	...	Maitre d'
Fox Harris	...	Extra
Rieneke	...	Andrea
Howard George	...	Extra
Bob Windsor	...	Extra
Gloria Stuart	...	Mrs. Horn
Clyde McLeod	...	Club Dancer
Harry Bill Roberts	...	Orchestra Leader
Ramon Sison	...	Rookie Carroca
Annette Robyns	...	Sadie
Pearl Shear	...	Mrs. Kessler
Stanley Brock	...	Mr. Berkowitz
Martin Garner	...	Mr. Cantor
John Medici	...	Scalfoni
Robert G. Denison	...	Extra
John Christy Ewing	...	Extra
Vincent Sardi Jr.	...	Policeman
Cady McClain	...	Tess (as Katie McClain)
Norman Steinberg	...	Sandy
Richard Warwick	...	Technical Director
Rex Benson	...	Makeup Man
Denver Mattson	...	Thug #1
George Fisher	...	Thug #2
Bob Terhune	...	Thug #3
Nick Dimitri	...	Thug #4
Phil Adams	...	Stagehand #1
Richard E. Butler	...	Stagehand #2
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Vince Brocato	...	Walla Walla (voice)
Lana Clarkson	...	Girl in Old Gold Cigarette Pack (uncredited)
Ilana Rapp	...	Neighborhood Girl (uncredited)

Directed by
Richard Benjamin

Writing credits (in alphabetical order)
Dennis Palumbo		screenplay
Dennis Palumbo		story
Norman Steinberg		writer

Produced by
Joel Chernoff	....	producer
Michael Gruskoff	....	producer
Art Levinson	....	associate producer
Mel Brooks	....	executive producer (uncredited)

Original Music by
Ralph Burns

Cinematography by
Gerald Hirschfeld

Film Editing by
Richard Chew

Casting by
Ellen Chenoweth

Production Design by
Charles Rosen

Set Decoration by
Donald J. Remacle		(as Don Remacle)

Costume Design by
May Routh

Makeup Department
Ruby Ford	....	hair stylist
Carol A. O'Connell	....	hair stylist (as Carol O'Connell)
Daniel C. Striepeke	....	makeup artist (as Dan Striepeke)

Production Management
A. Kitman Ho	....	unit production manager: New York
Art Levinson	....	unit production manager

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
William S. Beasley	....	first assistant director
Duncan Henderson	....	second assistant director (as Duncan S. Henderson)
Steve Wertimer	....	second assistant director: New York (as Stephen Wertimer)

Art Department
Merle Eckert	....	chief carpenter: New York
Arthur Gelb	....	graphics designer
Mentor Huebner	....	production illustrator
Duff Miller	....	assistant property master
Herbert F. Mulligan	....	set decorator: New York (as Herb Mulligan)
Gregory Pickrell	....	set designer
Michael J. Smith	....	construction coordinator
Sal Sommatino	....	property master
Kandy Stern	....	set designer

Sound Department
John H. Arrufat	....	sound effects editor (as J.H. Arrufat)
David B. Cohn	....	dialogue editor
Mia Goldman	....	assistant sound editor
Robert Grieve	....	supervising sound editor
Jerry Jost	....	production sound mixer
Gregg Landaker	....	sound re-recording mixer
Steve Maslow	....	sound re-recording mixer
Christopher Newman	....	sound mixer: New York (as Chris Newman)
Bill Varney	....	sound re-recording mixer
Bill Voigtlander	....	adr editor
Duncan McEwan	....	sound recordist (uncredited)
Donald C. Rogers	....	technical director of sound (uncredited)

Special Effects by
Charles Schulthies	....	special effects (as Charles R. Schulthies)

Visual Effects by
Matthew Yuricich	....	matte painter (as Matthew J. Yuricich)

Stunts
Norman Howell	....	stunts
John Moio	....	stunts
Victor Paul	....	stunt coordinator
Charlie Picerni	....	stunts (as Charles Picerni)
John Romano	....	stunts
Philip Romano	....	stunts
Tony Santoro	....	stunts
James Winburn	....	stunt double: Peter O'Toole (as James B. Winburn)

Camera and Electrical Department
Enrique Bravo	....	camera operator: New York
Richard J. Edesa	....	camera operator (as Richard Edesa)
Mike Ginsberg	....	still photographer: New York
Len Hekel	....	still photographer
Marc Hirschfeld	....	first assistant camera (as Marc D. Hirschfeld)
Adam Kimmel	....	second assistant camera: New York
James McGrath	....	key grip: New York
Donald E. Thorin Jr.	....	second assistant camera (as Donald Thorin Jr.)
Louis Tobin	....	gaffer (as Lou Tobin)
Bob West	....	key grip (as Robert G. West)

Costume and Wardrobe Department
Bob Mahagay	....	wardrobe supervisor
Gregory B. Peña	....	set costumer
Eric H. Sandberg	....	costumer: men
Dolores Zuniga	....	costumer: women

Editorial Department
Don Dittmar	....	color timer
Howard Heard	....	assistant film editor
Brian Ralph	....	negative cutter
David Solomon	....	assistant film editor

Music Department
Jeff Carson	....	music editor
Harry V. Lojewski	....	music supervisor

Other crew
Carolyn Bauer	....	assistant: Mr. Benjamin
Karen Day	....	production auditor
W. Paul Henley	....	location manager
Vic Heutschy	....	unit publicist
Ingrid Johanson	....	production coordinator: New York
Marie Kenney	....	script supervisor
Kevin King	....	payroll accountant
Debra Leventhal	....	secretary to producer
James McCabe	....	location manager (as Jim McCabe)
Larry Rapaport	....	location manager: New York
Jaimie Raskin	....	production assistant
Dan Roth	....	adr voice
Willie E. Simmons Jr.	....	production assistant (as Willie Simmons)
Juanita Smith	....	assistant: Mr. Steinberg
Armand Speca	....	assistant to producer
Jean Urban	....	production secretary
Lucy Chase Williams	....	secretary: Michael Gruskoff
Randy Auerbach	....	assistant: Mr. Brooks (uncredited)

Production Companies

• Brooksfilms
• Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM)

Distributors

• MGM/UA Entertainment Company (1982) (USA) (theatrical)
• MGM/UA Home Entertainment (1989) (USA) (VHS)
• Warner Home Video (2002) (USA) (DVD)
• Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM) (DVD)
• Vídeo Arte (Brazil) (VHS)

Other Companies

• Turner Entertainment  VHS package design

Also Known As:

My Favourite Year (UK)

Runtime:

92 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color (Metrocolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

Iceland:L | Australia:M | Finland:K-12 | Sweden:11 | UK:PG | USA:PG

Filming Locations:

Brooklyn, New York City, New York, USA

Company:

Brooksfilms

Trivia:

Cameron Mitchell was offered his part after the filmmakers happened to see him in the studio commissary while discussing who to cast as Rojack.

Goofs:

Anachronisms: The cameras in the Comedy Cavalcade studio are RCA TK-14s, which were not introduced until the late 1950s. (NBC would have used RCA TK-30, TK-10 or TK-11 cameras for black-and-white shows at this time.) In another scene a Marconi Mark IV camera is being pushed through a hallway; this camera also was not available until the late 1950s.

Quotes:

Benjy Stone: Doesn't Sy's office take on a whole different feeling at night?
K.C.: Yeah, it gets worse.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in "Saturday Night Live: Joan Rivers/Musical Youth (#8.17)" (1983)

Soundtrack:

Stardust

"I'm Not an Actor...I'm a Movie Star!!"

The 1982 comedy MY FAVORITE COMEDY was a lovingly made period piece that takes place during a wonderful time in entertainment history...the infancy of live television in the 1950's (or more specifically, YOUR SHOW OF SHOWS). This laugh-filled comic romp follows the adventures of Benji (Mark Linn-Baker), a gopher for COMEDY CALVACADE (this film's version of YOUR SHOW OF SHOWS), who is excited when a swashbuckling actor of the period named Alan Swann (Peter O'Toole) has been booked as a guest on the show turns out to be a skirt-chasing alcoholic who Benji is put in charge of keeping under control until showtime. This movie is a lovely valentine to the 1950's with exquisite period detail and an intelligent screenplay that invokes the period so beautifully. O'Toole gives the performance of a lifetime as Swann, an alternately laugh out loud funny and heartbreakingly warm performance that earned him an Oscar nomination, yet somehow Linn-Baker somehow manages to hold his own and never allows O'Toole to blow him off the screen. O' Toole and Linn-Baker get solid support from Lainie Kazan as Benji's mother, Joseph Bologna as King Kaiser, the star of Comedy Calvacade, Cameron Mitchell as a not-too bright gangster, and Adolph Green as the manic producer of the show. A good looking, smartly-written superbly written comedy that documents a long gone era in entertainment history and tells a warm and amusing story as well.