My Favorite Year (1982)

Director:

Richard Benjamin

Writers:

Dennis Palumbo (screenplay)
Dennis Palumbo (story)

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:

Live Television | Movie Star | Television | Star | Womanizer

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

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:

This film was produced by Mel Brooks's production company. The main character was based on him, and he had some input into the script.

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:

K.C.: Do you think there are funny people and not-funny people?
Benjy Stone: Yes. Definitely. On the funny side there are the Marx Brothers, except Zeppo; the Ritz Brothers, no exceptions; both Laurel *and* Hardy; and Woody Woodpecker. On the unfunny side there's anyone who has ever played the accordion professionally.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in "Jeopardy!: (#16.37)" (1999)

Soundtrack:

How High the Moon

A Perfect Film Comedy!

Have you ever watched a film and wished it wouldn't end? Where you loved all the characters, adored each scene, and laughed at every joke, even after you'd seen the film so many times that you could quote the dialog? MY FAVORITE YEAR is that kind of movie!

Directed with gusto by Richard Benjamin, the film is both a loving tribute to Sid Caesar's 'Your Show of Show', and the remarkable talents that brought it together each week, and a sincere homage to Errol Flynn, whose antics and larger-than-life persona, in the waning years of his life, still had a kind of magic that could enthrall a shy young fan, or make a woman swoon.

Three dynamic performances dominate the film. Mark Linn-Baker, as Benjy Stone, based on the young Mel Brooks, is a shy kid who hides his insecurities behind a rapid-fire wit. The dazzling young star in a staff of comedy 'pros', Stone suffers from an unrequited love from fellow staffer K. C. Downing (Jessica Harper), and has an inspiration, inviting legendary swashbuckler Alan Swann (Peter O'Toole) to appear on the show. As King Kaiser, star of the hit series, Joseph Bologna captures much of Sid Caesar's legendary physical 'presence' and irreverence to authority. When threatened by gangsters over a 'too close to home' series of parodies about crime boss Karl Rojeck (portrayed with brute menace by veteran actor Cameron Mitchell), Kaiser 'thumbs his nose' at them, mimicking the gangster mercilessly. "I'll KEEP doing it!" he taunts. "Why? Because it's FUNNY!"

Then there is Peter O'Toole's 'Alan Swann'. With his own career a roller coaster ride of alcoholism, resulting in the near destruction of his health, no actor could have 'channeled' Errol Flynn better. Just as Flynn, by the 1950s, was a nearly burned-out roué, his classic good looks long gone, O'Toole's matinee-idol appearance, after years of self-abuse, had aged into a gaunt mask, making Benji Stone's film montage of 'classic' clips more poignant. What Flynn still had, in abundance, were charm and a ready wit, and O'Toole's 'Swann' is so enchanting a personality that you can't help but love him, and root for him to succeed.

From the opening nostalgic strains of Nat King Cole's rendition of 'Stardust', through Benjy's futile effort to attempt to keep Swann sober (Red Skelton loved to tell how he kept Flynn sober on his program...he emptied all of the actor's bottles of vodka, replacing it with water...and Flynn couldn't tell the difference!), to a riotous Swann dinner with Benjy's family, to the near-disastrous broadcast, with Swann developing stage fright, and Kaiser brawling with mob enforcers...MY FAVORITE YEAR has one glorious scene after another, each unforgettable!

One of the AFI's '100 Greatest Film Comedies', MY FAVORITE YEAR will bring a tear to your eye, even as you laugh. It was a time of legends, and heroes who would live up to boyhood dreams.

Film comedy doesn't get any better than this!