PETER SELLERS IN THE CLASSIC MYSTERY SPOOF 'MURDER BY DEATH'

<p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEikNz9c-2NPf_-AvpFmBGpC5FVd6nXRm_uBZ1hgUWFRYOVVVuh75CZDgZZumbYcHFllvAtMeqxX1aXSweK-kW0xYR5R8_o-cpRCdlDncb0fwteYLvoLAwJQzIMbqWj8-fzPPxLcYGsr5r2shmyqVocoCuz7jYTgow0Oq8coi2m1gAq1UhOKVWBjjriacsOj/s1744/Screen%20Shot%202025-06-25%20at%2010.49.17%20PM.jpeg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="920" data-original-width="1744" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEikNz9c-2NPf_-AvpFmBGpC5FVd6nXRm_uBZ1hgUWFRYOVVVuh75CZDgZZumbYcHFllvAtMeqxX1aXSweK-kW0xYR5R8_o-cpRCdlDncb0fwteYLvoLAwJQzIMbqWj8-fzPPxLcYGsr5r2shmyqVocoCuz7jYTgow0Oq8coi2m1gAq1UhOKVWBjjriacsOj/s16000/Screen%20Shot%202025-06-25%20at%2010.49.17%20PM.jpeg"></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Peter Sellers & Richard Narita in MURDER BY DEATH Year: 1976 Rating: ****</u></td></tr></tbody></table><p>In the final season of COLUMBO, when MURDER BY DEATH was filming, Peter Falk almost sounded like he was doing a Humphrey Bogart imitation... so obviously his role as Sam Spade-like Sam Diamond was infectious, and he had plenty of dialogue here to get that character in his head...<br><br>Meanwhile Peter Sellers, in the midst of the latter PINK PANTHER films, speaks very little, and practically steals the movie... especially when his Charlie Chan-esque Sidney Wang responds smugly to naive adopted Japanese son Richard Narita: their scenes driving to the central mansion, where an eccentric millionaire has gathered all the iconic mystery sleuths to solve a million dollar crime, are some of the funniest... <br></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p><span></span></p>

alec guinness, comedy, david niven, elsa lanchaster, estelle winwood, james cromwell, mystery, nancy walker, neil simon, peter falk, seventies, spoof

PETER SELLERS IN THE CLASSIC MYSTERY SPOOF 'MURDER BY DEATH'

Peter Sellers & Richard Narita in MURDER BY DEATH Year: 1976 Rating: **** In the final season of COLUMBO, when MURDER BY DEATH was filmi...

HAWN AND GRODIN CHASE NEIL SIMON'S 'SEEMS LIKE OLD TIMES'

<p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj7CUDjwKBJ6ea_Ku2hsHg8SsiQ_r3AVmnCusQx8zFQdKwraYXJZLhlthYKpLVqKx--b80h115kTj_CX9mVKqNfwNTI1kRNwuM7l2RkWfsD342HzATYXBCnsu6gXtMW4092p3Gb35Sv2gc1x4uslcJqjETnN1jQG_-E0MyuZyYjf1u8mbOHMGE45rwrXVzr/s1868/z.jpeg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="846" data-original-width="1868" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj7CUDjwKBJ6ea_Ku2hsHg8SsiQ_r3AVmnCusQx8zFQdKwraYXJZLhlthYKpLVqKx--b80h115kTj_CX9mVKqNfwNTI1kRNwuM7l2RkWfsD342HzATYXBCnsu6gXtMW4092p3Gb35Sv2gc1x4uslcJqjETnN1jQG_-E0MyuZyYjf1u8mbOHMGE45rwrXVzr/s16000/z.jpeg"></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>SEEMS LIKE OLD TIMES Year Released; 1980 Rates: ****</u></td></tr></tbody></table><p>While the Hitchcock-style Goldie Hawn romp FOUL PLAY got the critical accolades, with Chevy Chase as her personal Cary Grant, SEEMS LIKE OLD TIMES is not only a funnier pairing but better suits Chase's physical comedy...</p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p>Even though Hawn, as the wife of a prominent D.A., is the central character, we begin with her flaky ex-husband Chase, an ex-con journalist kidnapped to rob a bank, becoming the Wrong Man and sent into hiding... into Hawn's busy house housing not only her important husband but a nagging maid, a crooked chauffeur and a bevy of orphaned dogs... <br></p><p><span></span></p>

charles grodin, chevy chase, comedy, eighties, ensemble, goldie hawn, neil simon, robert guillaume, slapstick, t.k. carter, wrong man

HAWN AND GRODIN CHASE NEIL SIMON'S 'SEEMS LIKE OLD TIMES'

SEEMS LIKE OLD TIMES Year Released; 1980 Rates: **** While the Hitchcock-style Goldie Hawn romp FOUL PLAY got the critical accolades, with C...

BILOXI BLUES

<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjORRFFGKArNNPXGx58HzUHun_WWgPnG1hWlQr7yF3hv96UaJvuELFWNdvJtNICtAfYlD5Nfl4t9L6_sPXPmFhK37Y2ZJKj0aR2yi6XOHf1mocj5sxqcDASFUwTqZT3pkykotmTUfkaLf8tzn5w-j3wh5sXM-tlpKh17KbZXCf6C5oaPVHrtbJwco9DdShj/s1422/Screen%20Shot%202025-04-01%20at%2012.47.00%20AM.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="582" data-original-width="1422" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjORRFFGKArNNPXGx58HzUHun_WWgPnG1hWlQr7yF3hv96UaJvuELFWNdvJtNICtAfYlD5Nfl4t9L6_sPXPmFhK37Y2ZJKj0aR2yi6XOHf1mocj5sxqcDASFUwTqZT3pkykotmTUfkaLf8tzn5w-j3wh5sXM-tlpKh17KbZXCf6C5oaPVHrtbJwco9DdShj/s16000/Screen%20Shot%202025-04-01%20at%2012.47.00%20AM.png" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">year: 1988 cast: Matthew Broderick, Christopher Walken, Matt Mulhurn, Corey Parker rating: ***1/2</td></tr></tbody></table>Perhaps Matthew Broderick’s Pvt. Eugene Morris Jerome has too many one-liners, seeming delivered at a Friar's Club lunch, to make us believe he’s really in a hardnosed boot camp.<br /> <br /> Set in 1945, this biopic written by Neil Simon and directed by Mike Nichols works despite jumping awkwardly from comedy to drama. The ensemble cast within the barracks includes Matt Mulhurn as the bullying Pvt. Wykowski, his lughead motormouth cheerleader Selridge (Markus Flanagan) and mild-mannered nice guy Carney (Casey Siemaszko).<br /> <table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody> <tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh2fKFecbUXkiJsV7HFa8zGKHkxmQgWu_AqvXBv6xkPe3uRrVhXPoE7FYA4LnXmbAjd7Yf-r7RVBJGzj-M0MtwviJ7cAuQt5RtMnxZg3e_oF8YoYcybyWIzQ00UDQiFYe-OYbKcNr3EqM8/s1600/d.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh2fKFecbUXkiJsV7HFa8zGKHkxmQgWu_AqvXBv6xkPe3uRrVhXPoE7FYA4LnXmbAjd7Yf-r7RVBJGzj-M0MtwviJ7cAuQt5RtMnxZg3e_oF8YoYcybyWIzQ00UDQiFYe-OYbKcNr3EqM8/s16000/d.jpg" /></a></td></tr> <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Matthew Broderick loses it to Park Overall</td></tr> </tbody></table> Then there’s Arnold (Corey Parker), a prissy/futzy geek who doesn’t back down to the constant taunts, mostly brought on by scene-stealing monolog-laden Christopher Walken as Sgt. Toomey. With a metal plate in his head, Toomey has a kneejerk reaction to all of Eugene’s smartass remarks, and the tension builds onto a suspenseful climax involving both stars at gunpoint. But in-between the tough times harbor the most involving scenes: the boys sitting around the barracks discussing everything from death to the opposite sex. These conversations are not only interesting but bring out the true colors of each eclectic character.<br /> <br /> One scene set in a Biloxi brothel during a weekend pass is a standout: Park Overall’s experienced gin-soaked chemistry with the virginal Eugene is funny and endearing. And the taboo (at that time) subject of homosexuality lends quite a shock. Penelope Ann Miller's good girl love interest adds completely nothing to the tale that’s really about Eugene and his pals surviving boot camp whist facing an unknown, and downright scary, future of <strike>possibly</strike> battling Germans overseas.  <br /> <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"> </div> <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"> </div>

casey siemaszko, christopher walken, comedy, eighties, matt mulhurn, matthew broderick, mike nichols, neil simon, war

BILOXI BLUES

year: 1988 cast: Matthew Broderick, Christopher Walken, Matt Mulhurn, Corey Parker rating: ***1/2 Perhaps Matthew Broderick’s Pvt. Eugene M...