Don Knotts had a birthday recently (July 21st), which i failed to properly commemorate on this here blog. i referenced him briefly in a short post below, and now i'm going to tell you what his greatest role was.

While a lot of people swear that The Incredible Mr. Limpet is the best Don Knotts movie, i think people who think that are all wet. Knotts excelled at the physical comedy of facial expressions. Limpet was a cartoon, so it by definition cannot be the best DK movie.

The Ghost and Mr. Chicken is a strong contender. Knotts' character is named Luther Heggs, a perfect name for a DK character. i loved the whole scene where he spends the night in the haunted house. Remember the crazy organ music? Knotts was at his shaky best.

i liked The Reluctant Astronaut just a little bit better, partly because i like space movies. This one came out in 1967, at the height of the space race. The premise is typically DK: he gets a job at NASA, tells his family and his girlfriend that he is in astronaut training, when in fact he's just a janitor, hijinks ensue, his family finds out about the charade, they're terribly disappointed, then even though he's Acrophobic, he blunders onto a spaceflight, actually becoming a reluctant astronaut , more hijinks ensue. It's predictable, but still a must see.

i also liked The Apple Dumpling Gang, where DK teams up with Tim Conway as a pair of stereotypically incompetent but loveable bank robbers.

But the funniest Don Knotts movie, in my opinion, is the often overlooked How to Frame a Figg, from 1971. Here's a couple of comments from the IMDB page:

'How to Frame a Figg is a vintage Don Knotts - frenetic, farcical comedy, and features him at the top of his form as the hysterical, cat-on-hot-tin-roof nervous, persecuted civil servant Hollis Figg.'

'If folks were really this stupid I could be the SRW - Supreme Ruler of the World. In this one Knotts plays a dimwitted bean counter for some little jerk water town run by a group of crooked simpletons only slightly brighter than he is. When things appear a bit shaky for the crooks they go for a frame-up of the patsy Figg. Plenty of laughs as Knotts does his usual bumbling, stumbling act. I especially appreciated the extension cord scene; asininity at it's highest level.'

Best Don Knotts movie: How to Frame a Figg. Go rent it tonight and let me know if you agree or disagree.

Posted by: annika at 09:36 AM | Comments (5) | Add Comment
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. . . The fight scene in Rocky II is perhaps the greatest fight scene in the history of movies - but only if you accept the dubious possibility that two professional heavyweights would, or could, go 15 rounds without ever once protecting themselves, and that any referee would ever allow such a thing. . . .

. . . There's a really good reason why Ralph Macchio's career never caught fire after doing the Karate Kid movies: he is without a doubt the most annoying actor in the history of film. . . .

. . . What is it with you guys and The Blues Brothers movie? It must be some defect in the y chromosome that makes you love it so much because - face it - that movie really sucks. . . .

. . . Amityville II, The Possession shares a distinct honor with Superman III in my book. They are both completely and utterly unwatchable. . . .

Have a great Fourth of July weekend everybody! i'm outta here.

Posted by: annika at 12:11 PM | Comments (9) | Add Comment
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1 My cousin went on a date with Ralph Macchio, and she thought he was annoying in real life. The Blues Brothers is kind of like a dog that is so lovable and so ugly that it's beautiful. It's lovable if you worship Belushi and dig the music- and I do. I love the scene in the sewer when he begs for his life, plants a wet one on Carrie Fischer, then drops her in the muck and says "Let's go." I love the performance scenes in the cowboy bar. Some of my earliest TV memories are of the TV show "Rawhide." It may be a generational thing. I was born in 1960.

Posted by: gcotharn in Texas at July 02, 2004 12:30 PM (AaBEz)

2 The Blues Brothers is just one of those things, like Better Off Dead or the American Pie movies, that captures the humor of a very specific group of people at a very specific point in time. So the people who have an association with it will always love it and nobody else will ever understand why. It was filmed in my home town, so I have a thing for it. Rocky II? You think? That second fight scene in Rocky III is pretty bad-ass.

Posted by: Joshua at July 02, 2004 12:36 PM (vNkaO)

3 I've played in bars with chicken wire around the stage. I've played in bars where the bar tab exceeded what the pay was. I've played in bars where a non-country band had to pull country tunes out of their ass in order to satisfy a potentially unruly crowd. I've talked people into doing gigs with me whil e they were working a service industry job. I haven't had a cute brunette shoot at me with an M16 because she felt spurned. Then again I generally avoid women who like poodle shooters to begin with. However according to my g/f I'm working on knocking that off my list of "things in my life that parellel the Blues Borthers". So for me the film is funny because while some of the antics seem absurd they're believable if you travel in the right (or worng) circles. Course if I ever walk into a greasy spoon & 'Retha is singing I won't say I'll be upset. It's kinda like Spinal Tap - the more you know about the music biz the funnier it is. I can see how someone would think either is a bit boring, but I can also see how ome people would think Python;s :The Holy Grail" isn't funny even though I still find parts of it hysterical. Oh, I'm just wondering about something you said in relation to Rocky II...I thought it was illegal in California to even say "15 rounds" or "protecting yourself" let alone using both in the same sentence? (yes, bad gun puns are not beneath me)

Posted by: Publicola at July 02, 2004 04:24 PM (Aao25)

4 rocky theme music is what will always live on in my mind about the movies.

Posted by: Dave at July 02, 2004 11:40 PM (CmObr)

5 Raging Bull... Happy 4th everyone.

Posted by: Col Steve at July 03, 2004 10:19 AM (g0QcF)

6 It's not a y-chromosome defect, it's a feature. This also applies for the movie Animal House, which all real men love too. And the Three Stooges.

Posted by: Jim at July 03, 2004 12:00 PM (n6xJH)

7 "It must be some defect in the y chromosome that makes you love it so much because - face it - that movie really sucks. . . ." Blasphemer!

Posted by: Matt at July 04, 2004 11:28 PM (cmv3U)

8 It must be some defect in the y chromosome that makes you love it so much... Actually, I think that it is a genetic short circuit caused by having two X chromosomes that causes women to not love The Blues Brothers. It, quite simply, is one of the funniest movies ever filmed. Period.

Posted by: Jerry at July 06, 2004 09:30 AM (C34kV)

9 annika, you are, as usual, absolutely correct. The Blues Brothers sucks donkey dick.

Posted by: Victor at July 06, 2004 09:48 AM (L3qPK)

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It doesn't seem to be widely reported yet, but Drudge links to a story that Marlon Brando has died.

Calling him the greatest actor of all time is a bit of a stretch. Still, Brando did some good work in his day. My favorites are On the Waterfront, Streetcar Named Desire of course, and the Godfather. His part in Apocalypse Now, although brief, was memorable. On the other side of the ledger, i thought he was horribly mis-cast in that musical Guys and Dolls.

And what was up with that strange Oscar non-acceptance episode?

To sum up my opinion: weird guy, decent actor.

Posted by: annika at 08:27 AM | Comments (1) | Add Comment
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