Transcript
Speaker: Hello, hello, hello, and welcome to your favorite bad movie podcast. The only podcast that's brave enough to ask the question, if this movie's so bad, why do you like it so much? We're your hosts. My name is Chris Anderson. With me, as always, I have my wonderful wife, Anna Anderson. Hello!
Speaker: so And I have my fantastic friend, Greg Bossi. Hello. And we have a very special guest. You might know her as a child educator. You might know her as a sports commentator, but I know her as the one for whom there is none greater. Shelly Shaka, it's Shelly Walston. Howdy, howdy, howdy.
Speaker: Welcome aboard. Hello. Thank you for coming this week, Shelley. It's great to have you. And you chose this week's movie. And after a little waffling, a little bit of hemming and hawing, you eventually honed in on what you felt was the right answer, the woman in red.
Speaker: I just want you to know it was more than a little hemming and hawing. It was lists and lists. And I think maybe we exchanged approximately 31 text message chains where I tired. Wow. Whether this was good or too good or maybe bad, I'm not sure. um But yeah, i knew I knew the vein I wanted to go with. i just But you really wanted to make sure that you understood the assignment, I feel like.
Speaker: I mean, maybe it's the child educator in me. It's true. So ah for any listeners at home who are not familiar with the movie, The Woman in Red, let me give you just our brief ah short summary of the picture to hold in your mind.
Speaker: So you got Teddy, played by Gene Wilder, and he's a happily married man who spies the stunningly beautiful Charlotte, played by Kelly Labrock. He instantly becomes obsessed with the idea of having an affair with her. Fair enough? Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. yeah nu So, Shelley, I had never heard of this movie before. what's how do Tell me about your history with The Woman in Red and why you think it's your favorite man.
Speaker: Okay, so I actually, when i when I was going through the best bad movies that I just love so much, I really wanted to like tag onto the nostalgia I had with older movies, specifically the nostalgia I had with older movies and my grandmother.
Speaker: My grandmother on my mom's side. ah Yes, Phyllis is her name, or PJ. PJ, I like that. Yeah, she was pretty great. um And she has, or she had rather, the most inappropriate humor of all time. I mean, and full on cackling, just screaming loud cackling. She loves body humor. She loves like inappropriate jokes. She loves close -up tight shots of boobs. um She was hilarious to be with and um I watched so many inappropriate movies with her.
Speaker: um, in the basement of their home of my grandparents' home um while like helping wrap Christmas presents. She would pay me $20 to help her wrap Christmas presents for my 31 cousins. It sounds like you're both making out as winners in that deal. Oh my God. Yes. So I actually chose the least misogynist.
Speaker: la Wow. of the movies that I watched with Grandma. And while doing a little research on the movie, I actually came to find out that the other two that were really big contenders for my pick also came out in 1984.
Speaker: Wow, big year for Phyllis. Big year for Phyllis. And I would like to point out that all of these movies that we watched in grandma's basement were um on VHS that she had recorded from like HBO or Cinemax.
Speaker: and up yeah Yeah. Now, was this the the house that you and Mallory used to live in that had that great wallpaper, that basement? I love that basement. What a fantastic wood panel basement to watch this movie in.
Speaker: And you know, I think maybe that's what is part of this nostalgia for me is that this movie just takes me 100 % back to that wood panel basement with the console area where that giant tube TV sat in surrounded by either board games or those home movies that were just taped from HBO. And yeah, just like that that basement room is like a a really important part of my childhood, I think. And I feel like listeners at home, though they cannot see this basement, I bet in their minds they can smell it. the basement smell And that sounds like a fantastic memory. Yeah. And so, and you chose this one because it was the least misogynist. Yeah, I'm curious. I'm curious about what some of the other ones were.
Speaker: Okay, so the other two that were possibilities from 1984 include Up the Creek um and Revenge of the Nerds, which has like lacking consent, which has just so much like doesn't hold up at all ever, even then. um Yeah. It would have been interesting to watch in relationship to last week's movie, Ghoulies Go to College. they would you know Interesting to compare and contrast the two. ah could see I could see that. Now, ah Greg, had you ever seen this one before? So I had an interesting experience ah as far as
Speaker: So red, we're watching woman in red. I'm like, oh right I don't know what that is. So I Google it and I see the poster and it was like, when you smell something that reminds you of something, but you can't remember what it is, but it reminds you of it really hard. it just You're like, I was like, I know that I remember this for a reason. I don't remember why it may have just been that I was a boy and it's Kelly Labrock and a sexual thing. You know what I mean? Uh,
Speaker: I think maybe my family rented it, but I don't think, because in my head I was like, I think maybe I've seen this. So this is the thing, this is the weird thing about my family. Sometimes some of these things would squeak through somehow. I think it was like my dad just being like, I just kind of want like a sexual thing and kind of being able to get away with it. But I don't think we really watch them. We might have seen bits of them.
Speaker: And this would probably be like as risque as it would. Yeah, exactly. This is a hot night on the town. Exactly. This is the top of the pyramid. Like this is the top of the mountain. You know what I mean? Like we are at the pinnacle. This is pure eroticism. Exactly. ah So I thought maybe I had seen it and after about 10 minutes, I was like, I've definitely never seen this movie, but I remember it very specifically after seeing the poster, like it just like lit up a portion of my brain. The poster is very memorable.
Speaker: Oh, yeah. So memorable. That red that red satin dress. Oh, shut up. Those red satin paintings. Anna, had you seen this one? No, i had I hadn't heard of it either. No, me neither. I was i was genuinely surprised. I had heard of some of Wilder's other directorial efforts. Gene Wilder also directed this one, Whiskers. He wrote it too, right? Yeah. Yeah.
Speaker: ah Well, well, it sounds like we're getting into context. I might as well just play the old context bumper. Am I right? Oh, yeah yeah yeah
Speaker: So the woman in red came out in June 1984. I don't know why I was about to assume June, but I was. I like it. ah It was written and directed and starring Gene Wilder.
Speaker: I was a remake of a 1976 French film, which is either called pardon mon affair, or an elephant sa trompe en normement, which is a play on words, trompe, meaning both an elephant's trunk and an affair. Ooh. You need both to have an affair, apparently.
Speaker: Yes, but apparently, but it was also apparently known as partone monafair. And I'm not quite sure how that worked out. It had a budget of about $9 million in a box office of $25 .3 million. So a success, a solid success for Gene Wellman.
Speaker: ah Gene Wilder was already a comedy icon at this point in his career, having already starred in classics like The Producers, Willy Wonka and The Chocolate Factory, Blazing Saddles, Young Frankenstein, and Stir Crazy. And the producers also garnered him an Academy Award ah nomination, and I believe he won the Academy Award for Best Adapted Screenplay for Young Frankenstein. Yeah, and he actually won Best Supporting Actor actor for um the producers
Speaker: okay one nominated no ha he won well god bless
Speaker: Hey everybody, Chris here. Just wanted to issue a quick correction. Shelley and I are both wrong. Gene Wilder was only nominated for both Young Frankenstein and the producers. But ultimately, isn't that what's really wrong? Anyway, enjoy the rest of the show.
Speaker: So a fantastic comedic actor, an icon, I think. I'm going to I know I love Gene Wilder. I never met anyone who doesn't have a soft spot for Gene. Yeah. Mm hmm. It's the curly hair. Yeah. And they did just these sort of soft eyes. he He looks like a drawing of someone in love. He has a face of someone. who was The real Chris Anderson type. Oh, I think.
Speaker: And I will say, I'm just going to get in front of it right now. This movie does talk a lot about extramarital affairs, and as the only ah and specifically from a married man point of view, and as the only married man on the panel today, I'm going to try and be frank and be honest.
Speaker: But I can't I don't want to be like I really identified with Gene Wilder's character the way he wanted to fuck other women, you know, ah not know ah for and the way he wanted to fuck other women. I mean, it happens even to the best of us. I think for me, like the crux of this movie is it's about sort of the idea of like, you know, we have anyone who's been in a long term relationship has had the experience of like,
Speaker: walking through like a target or something and seeing someone attractive and having a moment where they're so attractive that you're like, whoa, and you stop for a second. And this movie is like, if you didn't stop for a second, if you just live the rest of your life in that whoa, and ah that's a bad idea.
Speaker: but Here's the deal. like i and We'll probably get on to this later on, but like the fact that he says he'd never been drawn to anyone before, this one moment in the garage where the woman in red dances over the you know the great in her very Marilyn Monroe kind of sexy way, I mean, yeah, you get the i you get the impression that, nope, this guy is a real family man.
Speaker: who would never do this, never. right yeah And yeah, and this is the story of it, just one day, what if he did? Now, Wilder, ah his directorial efforts were never as celebrated as his acting work, but he also at this point had directed The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes' Smarter Brother and The World's Greatest Lover.
Speaker: ah ah He was born in Milwaukee in 1933. He died in my hometown of Stanford, Connecticut in 2016. He got his BA from the University of Iowa before studying briefly at the Bristol Old Vic Theatre School, where he was a championship fencer.
Speaker: okay oh neat ah He was at the moment. That's interesting. I would never have guessed that about him. No, he apparently, uh, later in his life, uh, he would make ends meet occasionally by teaching fencing lessons. And, and I really wanted to watch the adventures of Sherlock Holmes' smarter brother. Cause I would, you he would have to do some fencing in that. They would have to come up and I'd be really interested to see how we did it. I saw a couple clips of that of the Sherlock Holmes and he is just the most adorable doofus in it. Um, like he plays like a real,
Speaker: Chaplin kind of character who, or like a Lucille Ball character, like shoving chocolates in his mouth to like make sure that nobody else sees that he mishandled the chocolates kind of way. It's yeah ridiculous. But fencing? I will say that I believe that my father said that was one of the worst movies he'd ever seen. Possibly so interesting. He did not have the things to say about the adventures of Sherlock Holmes' partner.
Speaker: But your father's also, and shout out to our OG listener, Chris Pearlberg. Your father is also the kind of guy who dislikes a movie if it has the wrong type of planes in it. Well, yeah. I mean, that just takes a degree of attention at that point. I would be upset too. That's fair. I'm still curious, but I didn't see it streaming anywhere. Maybe I'll try and illegally download it. Don't you dare.
Speaker: Now, i wouldn't do that no, I wouldn't download a car. He was drafted in 1956. And he served as a paramedic in the Department of Psychiatry and Neurology at the Valley Forge Army Hospital, an experience that would almost doubtlessly help him out in his a later role as Billy Bibb in the initial Broadway production of One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest.
Speaker: um and okay What an interesting man, an interesting life. What an interesting podcast.
Speaker: He did love, like he did love doing, he said, so I watched his documentary, the one that's on whatever streaming service. And he didn't say that he loved learning about people and he thinks that came from his time in the military, um, working at that hospital later on when he goes to do, um,
Speaker: See no evil hear no evil with Richard Pryor he actually went to school of the deaf and school for the blind and got really deep into the education that goes into um Those two different schools and used it to help him Do that work for that movie um and then his last wife was actually the teacher from the school of the deaf. Yeah. Yeah. Well, and you can tell like in his performances that he's not just a skilled comedian, but also an actor who is putting in work. Like he's, yeah he's not one of those guys that just sort of, uh, naturally does his thing and relies on that to be the core of his performance. He's, he's, he's also an actor. Um,
Speaker: So he also ah appeared in a production of Mother Courage and Her Children with Anne Bancroft, who introduced her to her then boyfriend and eventual husband, Mel Brooks. Oh, okay. Yeah. This led to Wilder being cast in The Producers, which garnered him the best supporting. And from there he was sort of off to the races.
Speaker: Uh, now the woman in red also marks the film debut of supermodel Kelly LeBrock as the titular woman in red. And, uh, LeBrock, uh, came into the national consciousness in this time in the early eighties. Uh, she was the face of the Pantene shampoo commercial with her famous line, don't hate me because I'm beautiful. Okay. That's what that's such a good line.
Speaker: It is a really good line. The company came up with that, got a little pat on the back. And like, you know, coming from like, could you imagine just being like a 1980s housewife? Can you imagine being Phyllis Leach in your basement, mother of five, like, you know, hair up in rollers mending kids Pants and then just seeing kelly labrock on the screen Saying don't hate me because i'm beautiful. Oh Well, I mean I do what I want Yeah, I could just hear grandma saying like well you haven't squeezed five kids out of my memory, you know, like I could just so Just tear it
Speaker: She was also a stunt cast more or less in the movie, Weird Science as Lisa, the woman brought to life by computers. ah ah So and once again, cast as this sort of ideal, this sort of men's fantasy made physical. um And then in 1990, she co -starred in Hard to Kill opposite her then husband, Steven Seagal. Oh, wow. no So, you know, if you hated her because she was beautiful, so it's true. She does have three children with Steven Seagal, which I don't envy anyone. ah No. Yeah. ma The poster for Women in Red, which we we're talking about earlier, features LeBrock and her red dress blown up. A reference to the same thing happening to Marilyn Monroe in the seven year itch, though this is not the oldest known example of this trope.
Speaker: This is exciting. oh The first hot, great upskirt movie but was filmed in 1901 and was titled, What Happened on 23rd Street, New York City? Where actress Florence Georgie strolls over her great and it blows her skirt hem halfway up her shins before she strolls on giggling.
Speaker: you can see i We'll post a link on some of our socials. Oh, thank God. Yeah, yeah. It's it's really charming. Yeah, and you can see why this is an image that is held imagination, because it is that sort of, like, I've heard people condemn this as a form of like,
Speaker: voyeurism, but this is truly the most harmless form of voyeurism one could have, you know what I mean? Like that this might be so considered a violation of consent to do not look away or something, or rude, but... Well, yeah, no, I would, I would, and I would say, as having experienced it, like,
Speaker: like it's it is a little fun it does make you giggle it's like picking on a roller coaster or something and it's unexpected well i guess roller coasters aren't and unexpected but you know it's just this kind of like oh you know and it's a little bit scandalous but not so scandalous Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. It's like being on the kiss cam at of the ball. Yeah. And it was like, Oh, no, that's too obligatory. That's too obligatory. ah Too much social pressure. Yeah. Too much social pressure. I want to walk over a grate and get surprised with the way blowing up my skirt. Okay. That's what I want. I want the surprise.
Speaker: All right. Yeah, so there's that. And I'm not planning anything.
Speaker: Just make sure that you tell me so I can wear a skirt that day because I don't wear a skirt. We have to figure out what to do for the overalls, but I'll figure it out. Yeah. Magnets. but Filming that scene ah helped end Marilyn Monroe's marriage to Jodie Maggio. He was so, he was incandescently angry about it. Wow. He was an angry, angry man. Really? Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. That seems in keeping with his character. Yeah. Yeah. Just about a bit of thing in its place. Other comedies of 1984. You've got the original Police Academy.
Speaker: ah Okay, it also fit perfectly well into that frat movie theme You've got 16 candles Yep, top secret starring a young Val Kilmer. Oh, yeah. Yep. That's a great one Oh God you devil starring an old George Burns. Oh That's what I thought with my grandmother That has the exact same basement vibes Yeah yeah As opposed to something like Beverly Hills Cop, which is much more living room. All of me, I'm going to say back down in the basement. Ghostbusters, living room. Muppets take Manhattan, obviously living room. Hey, yeah.
Speaker: So with that. Can I also point out this is also the year that Purple Rain came out. Oh, wow. so Shut your mouth. That's amazing. Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom came out this year. And another movie that was on my hot list for favorite bad films, Rhinestone, starring Dolly Parton and Sylvester Stallone. Oh, I don't know if I've heard of that.
Speaker: way i'm gonna write it i'm going to write Please invite me back on so we can talk about that movie. Please invite you back on to talk about Ryan Stone. Oh my god. I can't stop hearing the songs from it now. And it's interesting hearing those titles to say ah that this was our ultimate winner for an Academy Award for ah Best Original Song.
Speaker: Oh, yeah. Did you look at the the songs up that year? I did. Yeah, I have a whole little spiel on the soundtrack later. Yeah. OK, thank you. Yeah. there there Stick around for that. But just interesting and to hear those other titles and hear that competition. Let's get into the plot, you guys. Yes. I'm transitioning by playing the plot bumper.
Speaker: We open on the city of San Francisco. Practically another character in the film. I mean. You know, you're actually not wrong. No, and and I think this is ah ah a film where you can make a solid argument for that being the case for sure. I'd also like to find out that in the credits is someone named Jack Frost Sanders. ah Yes, so I feel like that's important to make note of just we can also another great name for the credits. Joseph Bologna, aka Joey Bologna.
Speaker: ah Joey Bologna. Yeah, for sure, for sure. We zoom in on Teddy Pierce played by Gene Wilder, and he's standing on ah the ledge of an apartment building, giving the old, you're probably wondering how I got here. okay He's wearing a bathrobe, so it seems like, boy, this guy's in a bit of a pickle. He's not out there working on those windows, I'll tell you.
Speaker: It would be funny. I bet you're wondering how it got here. It all started when I applied for a job as a window washer. it But because of some weird kink, you know what? Let me take that back. Because of some kink, I wear oversized slippers and a velvet robe. He looks great. He tells us it all started when he was pulling into work a little while ago and they saw a beautiful woman in a red dress.
Speaker: She stops, she steps up onto an air grate, and it blows up her skirt, revealing matching red silk panties. And he is instantly gobsmacked, as are we in the audience. Amen. You know what? i Okay, I have two things I want to point out here. First of all, this movie's a frame story, and they just don't make enough movies that are frame stories anymore. I love a movie that starts at its end and then gets you there. Like, you just can't beat it.
Speaker: You should check out Brotherhood of the Wolf. Uh, yeah. Yeah. you shouldn't do that No, it's not that great. I've got two and a half hours. It's fine.
Speaker: um But, so I love that. I love that it starts with a frame story. And then secondly, what I love about this great situation is that Kelly LeBrock is like going through her matching red purse. Like, and it's a little clutch and she's like scrambling some papers or whatever in that little red clutch. And she steps over the grate. Like nine in the morning. Yeah. Like super early and goes over the grate. It blows up her skirt. She walks off.
Speaker: And then she stuffs those papers back in her purse and walks back to the grate where she does, possibly, one of the best, what I'm assuming is improvised dances in all of cinemagraphic history.
Speaker: That little tush twirl. That little tush twirl that she does. Just shaking that thing just a little bit. Just enough. She's not like doing the tic -tac. She's not out there twerking. She's not twerking at all. It's just no no touch just a little Just a little. Just a little. Just a little. Just so you see. It is believable as the kind of sexy dance you do when you're alone.
Speaker: Yeah. Yeah. It's like, oh my Not one where you're showing off for some reason. Yeah. And I love that it's got the music too in it. I know, Anna, you said you've got the soundtrack notes, but like the fact that it's like, uh, the woman in red, the woman in red, like just yes, please.
Speaker: Yeah, it's not subtle at all. It's saying, this woman is R. McGuffin. This is what the movie is about. And this is why. It's because she's this hot. Even the sound, even Stevie Wonder can't even see, and he's like, damn, that lady's hot.
Speaker: Yes. wow So it turns out she's going up to a meeting with somebody else in his very office. And that someone else is Ms. Milner, played by the incomparable Gilda Radner, who steals every single scene she is in. she should Yeah. Amen. and mean She doesn't say a lot either. She's still stealing those scenes with just the acting.
Speaker: Just those eyes. yeah Just the taking the sunglasses off. Or just her nonchalance about anything. Or a complete fluster. Either one. I mean, I think, well, yeah, she she steals the show. At this point, she and Wilder were not yet married. They got married after this film. ah But you could see like how much He was probably like in her by how much he gave this character that could have been much less. He spent a lot of, she's like, God, she's great. We should put more of Gilda in there, you know? And he was right. She crushes in this. He calls Ms. Milner's extension for some reason, assuming the woman in red will answer. I'm hoping, looking through a hole in a newspaper that disguises nothing also.
Speaker: yeah through clear plate glass windows. I mean, like, just obvious as obvious can get. But I feel like at this point, like everything up to this point before he calls is all very relatable Gene Wilder to me. To just be like, um like, I know that if someone saw me right now, I would look crazy. And I need to stop doing this, but I can't. And ah you know But then he picks up the phone and that's when he like falls into his own fantasy.
Speaker: that's That's when he's Alice going down the rabbit hole. Can we also just take a moment to talk about like what ah like a goofball of a guy he is? I mean, Aiden the one, he has like the most milk toast outfit. It's like a baby blue sweater vest with a collared shirt and a tie and like a a corduroy jacket. And his office is kind of you know, a little bit of a mess and it has a bedroom lamp on the desk in the back. Like I was watching this with my wife and I was like, what the hell is that lamp doing there? And his wife come in and say like, oh honey, this is what you need. And then above his desk, and this is so 1980s, above his desk is a teddy, it's a it's a framed picture.
Speaker: of a teddy bear wearing like a sweatband in like ah so a white sweater vest and shorts with a tennis racket. Yeah. What adult man? Well, you gotta remember he is Teddy and he likes tennis. But he's like supposed to be this like business deal making marketing information specialist.
Speaker: I thought it was like an example. His job is very vague. Yeah. No, it says on his door, like on, it's like information specialist. Okay. Yeah. I think he like runs the numbers for an ad firm. Okay. i think But that ad firm might be contractually working for the city because the only ad campaign they're doing for is for the cable cars. She's up and running. Yeah, she is up and running. Yeah. um So anyway, he calls Miss Milner's extension and Miss Milner picks up and he sets up a dinner date for them that night thinking that he's going to be going out with the woman in red. And Miss Milner is very blustered.
Speaker: Someone has blocked the view from him right at that moment. Yeah. Yes. See, for one instant, he cannot see into this office. And that's when Miss Milner picks up. As opposed, I wonder if he had seen, he would have been like, can you please put on the woman in the red dress?
Speaker: No, he would have gotten so flustered, which is his MO. Like, yeah yeah um I was just calling because I, ah you know, like, No excuse ready at the ready. But he's he's very smooth when he calls on the line. he's The way that he asks her is very confident. And you can tell that that's part of how he's like entered this sort of fantasy realm. And he's also like, um or Gilda at this point, that her flustered acting in this is so good. is Incredible. She lights the filter on her cigarette. And my dad did once in a live production of The Glass Menagerie.
Speaker: ah And then yeah she starts accidentally speaking in German. It's just a really great. Oh, yeah. And I also love that she like he's like, blah, blah, blah, this place at nine. And she says,
Speaker: Nine doesn't work for me. How about nine, 10, like 10 minutes is really like the the cut off. it's like She's going to get there as soon as she possible. It's like her other thing ended at nine. She's not going to say nine 30, nine, 10.
Speaker: you right well and I also wondered if it was like you know like some kind of mother's rule that you know that like her character had been passed down. like You never accept the date under his terms kind of thing. oh yeah It seems like it could have been that weird vibe. Like, oh, 9 doesn't work for me, but 902 might. you know That kind of thing.
Speaker: yeah yeah Okay. Okay. Okay. We gotta to get there's aar actually a lot of plot in this movie. considering Only the last eighty eight minutes. but Yeah. Every scene is filled with, it's it's more like a series of vignettes. And so like every scene has sort of equal importance. And so you have to describe it all anyway. Anyway.
Speaker: Uh, he then has his wife drive him over to the country club where he has a standing game of doubles with his boys, buddy, Joey, and Mikey. I love the boys. so Great. They are great. I love Grodin. Are they? Oh, they're so great because they're all just asshole turds. Oh yeah. Asshole turds is a good way to describe them. Asshole turds.
Speaker: Yeah, they are all in some way or another involved in some form of affair. They they really have a problem with fidelity and they all sort of support each other in cheating. They're like a cheaters club. Except for except for Gene Wilder. He supports, he supports, but he like doesn't participate. No, he's looking to get on board once again on that cheat train. Very French coded.
Speaker: Yes, this is where you can tell this is an adaptation of a French film, where everybody has affairs. Joey is bragging about his affairs, so Teddy asked him for some details, trying to figure out some tips, but trying to act like he isn't.
Speaker: It turns out Joey might not be the best one to go to if we're advice though, because his wife found out and left with the kids and all the furniture. And Joey instantly starts freaking out and like wrecks their house in a surprisingly frightening. Oh, yeah. but Joey is terrifying. Oh, you're absolutely going to kill his wife someday.
Speaker: Well, and also like just the fact that, uh, okay. So a number one, I don't know what job he has, but it's a good enough job that he can take hours off during the working day to go play tennis with his asshole turd friends. And then ride over to his house with those friends and rip his kitchen to shreds. Like he takes how many cabinet doors come off? Yeah. He really goes go on it.
Speaker: And then he destroys the window. Yeah, yeah. And then he looks them dead in the eyes and says, this isn't happening. Yeah, in a way that's very frightening and intense. It was ah a very weird tonal shift in the movie that came kind of out of nowhere. And I don't know if I'm supposed to sympathize with him or something at this point, because it's just like you just I mean, you cheated on your wife and she found out so she left you. Like, that's all I know about you. ah Right. Yeah. Teddy at this point is undeterred and he.
Speaker: works out an elaborate scheme to get out of the house based on taking his children to the movies, an annoying book club that his wife has at their house, and getting into call to work and getting called into work by Mikey posing as his assistant Richard.
Speaker: Can we pause a moment and talk about the fact that Gene Wilder's daughter is dating this punk rock dude named shell Shelley. yes yeah Yes. And he, Shelley, just got tickets to see David Bowie.
Speaker: and Gene Wilder's character mispronounces it as David Bowie, which I think is just like peak dad joke era. But I was looking it up. That would have been for the Serious Moonlight tour that hit San Francisco in 84 for Let's Dance. Oh my God. What a show that was. Oh my God. Shelly was on to something.
Speaker: Yeah. Shelly was a strange character. He was a strange character, i but I liked a bit of Gene Wilder asking asking him if he was Jewish. You're Jewish, right? No, a guy with a Moloch and everything. My mother and my father are Jewish.
Speaker: Yeah. A deadpan too. Just like, ugh. Yeah. And his like echolalia that he had, he was a very strange character when he was later on was feeling up the mom. But we'll get to that. That was very strange. I have to talk about that scene, but yes. Now, while he's talking to his wife, Dee Dee, who's great. Total babe. But Teddy learns that she's got a real jealous streak.
Speaker: And a gun. And she has a gun. And she knew that Joey was having an affair because he would always get called into work late at night. Oh, you mean that old trick still works? Oh yeah. Not anymore.
Speaker: Uh, at that point, uh, Mikey calls to try and call Teddy into work. Uh, and Dee Dee sits next to him on the bed, still holding the gun and resting it gently on his thigh.
Speaker: ball I thought was the best gag of the movie if I'm being honest. That was really fucking funny. It's pretty solid. She really sells it. yeah Maybe slightly anxious even.
Speaker: And you know what? Here's the deal. I love that Gene Wilder goes into their bedroom and has a total full -on toddler tantrum meltdown, like a pillow over his face, freaking out, like slamming his legs over the bed. And she just like gets on the bed and goes up to him and says, honey, do you just need a Campari and soda? And he's like, yeah.
Speaker: Yeah i do like ison yeah what a great wife oh i also don't want to drag ah i don't want to drag this out but they've already done the one of them pretends to be blind and destroy everything in a bar right.
Speaker: No, not yet. at At some point in the next, I didn't put it down on my notes. I left out some of the boys' plot lines. I'm pretty sure that it happened. I'm pretty sure it happened before this because I remember like they left and then it like, for some reason, like he's in the phone booth. He's like, I don't know why he just yelled at me and hangs it up. And then there's like a big fight out by the car for some reason. then voice What is your f what's going on? The boys like to wild out.
Speaker: Yeah, no boys they they played a prank where Charles Grodin pretended to be blind and smashed up a restaurant ah to cheer up Joey because his wife left him. And then they got into a fist fight with a bunch of randos out on the street. That's under their good friends. ah timeina And literal menaces to their hometown of San Francisco.
Speaker: Now, unfortunately, uh, caught in the crossfire of all these shenanigans. This poor Ms. Milner. Teddy ends up not going to the restaurant. He stays home because he literally has a gun pressed to his cock. And so Ms. Milner is, uh, left alone, stood up in the bar. She looks so sad. She was so excited. The next day, much to his confusion, she keys his car and mangles his area.
Speaker: What a great scene. Very good. I love that it mirrors the opening of the film too, because she's walking into the shadow with the same almost silhouette in the parking garage that the woman in red has. And so Teddy like perks up like, could it happen again? Does lightning strike twice? And then it's Mrs. then She's coming back for more. She's a perv. I mean, she is wearing red, but it's like this long red pea coat.
Speaker: Gorgeous peacoat. Yes. Well, ah let's see. It's not all bad news, though, because at a meeting that day, Teddy finds out that the woman in red is the face of their new cable car campaign. She's up and running. He's unable to get her contact info or name, even though a guy says, ask our boss, he knows her name.
Speaker: which is a weird line of dialogue to include for him to not do. But he does learn that she likes to go horseback riding in some park, some sort of San Francisco park where you can check out Golden Gate Park. Yeah. Never heard of it. Never been.
Speaker: ah I'm back at the office. He gets a phone call from Miss Milner, who he thinks is the woman in red, because she's like, I didn't see you last night. And he's like, oh, it's the woman in red, even though ah no English accent this time. No. ah But he says they make an arrangement to meet at the club but at five o 'clock.
Speaker: But when he gets to Le Club and sees Ms. Milner there, this time wearing like a denim jumpsuit that's cinched at the waist with a big goofy side pony. That side pony. Yeah. Very good. That side pony. So good.
Speaker: i I feel like this was her worst look. I'm going to be honest. I don't think she was pulling up. I love the jumpsuit. I'm going to go with Anna. a Chris, you are so wrong. I think if the jumpsuit was a different color, it would work. This to me, it was reading like maybe two ski bunny to me.
Speaker: But it it was did you notice though? She had like a fur shawl with it the white fur like shawl jacket Bolero situation and also the pockets on it were way too large So they were kind of saggy but like right over her boobs. Oh, so great. It was very dramatic ah So great very striking Maybe I misread the vibe to each their own, you know Yeah. Anyway, he sees her there in this very controversial outfit and instantly bolts me like, Oh, I can't see, have her see me meeting the woman in red. So he runs out. She follows him. He fakes a heart attack in his car.
Speaker: heart and it goes on for he extends it really well. It's almost orgasmic. That is the heart attack that sounds like an orgasm. Like a fake orgasm. ah Ms. Milner unimpressed, ah releases the emergency brake on his car, neutral causing him to roll down the street and possibly killing several people off screen. <unk> Tough to say.
Speaker: Not all bad news for Teddy, though. Persistence finally pays off on the horse riding trail where he finally tracks down the woman in red, this time wearing a riding outfit and a bowler hat. With a snooze. With a snooze. Oh, yeah. Snooze. Not familiar with the term.
Speaker: Oh, a snoot is one of just those little fabric things that like women will put over a bun to help keep their bun in place. It's a fancy hair nut. Yeah, yeah, it makes sense. Yeah, it's an attractive hair nut. He chases her down awkwardly. He has a great running bit of being very awkward on a horse. And then he tells people that he used to give lessons for spare change. Kind of like you what he used to do with fencing, except he was actually good at that.
Speaker: ah Anyway, they chant briefly. We learn her name is Charlotte. um But he's unable to land a date at this junction. He does, however, drop an earring from his coat pocket. His wife gave him her earrings earlier. Don't worry, it's all justified.
Speaker: I'm sorry, I should have wrote down the earrings earlier, but I'm really trying to keep it moving. Um, then, uh, Charlotte notices the earring and brings it to him at his office. Uh, he sees rain, right? Yeah, it's in the pouring rain. It's very sweet that he's standing there in the room in the rain, but he has this big smile on his face. He's clearly just over the moon to be talking to this beautiful woman.
Speaker: And he asked her out. And at first she turns him down, but he's just sort of just so like cute. And he seems so like sweet. And he also lays down on the hood of her car. Yeah. Rose himself on the hood. And there's that terrible like ah squeaking him like sliding off the hood for a little while and then clambering back up. And then she does this like little come hither finger curl towards him.
Speaker: He's like, all right, you wore me down. So, uh, but she does say that he needs, uh, his suit is really old. And he's like, Oh, maybe it's time for me to freshen up my look. but So we get a little makeover montage. sequence Great sequence.
Speaker: Yeah, they dress him like an asshole and they give him they like straighten his hair. So it looks more like mine. It's a little less frizzy. And we have to point out here that Charles Grodin is the one who takes him suit shopping. It's not Joey Bologna. It's not little Mikey. It's Charles Grodin. And you know Charles Grodin's like, you want to look good. I know how to make a man look good.
Speaker: you know like That's important later on. And at this point, the only justification for that is Buddy does appear to be the best dressed of the four. For sure. Let's see. but but but by He shows up for dinner, but only to get a phone call from Charlotte saying that she's down in LA. She had ah an emergency modeling situation. They happen. It's true. ah She invites him to come join her for the evening.
Speaker: Teddy immediately starts setting up another elaborate lie to sneak away from his poor wife, Dee Dee. It involves telegrams, bubble baths, and more temper tantrums, but it works. And soon he's flying from San Francisco to l LA, and he does another great temper tantrum sequence here. It seems like he realized this trick plays with his wife. he's Yeah, he's splashing in the bath. Yeah, just saying, no! No!
Speaker: With the sponge. Yeah. Soon he's flying down to Los Angeles, but unfortunately LAX is closed due to fog. So they are diverted to San Diego and Teddy needs to spend the night in an airport. Still we get a little narration and he thinks to himself, I'm having an adventure.
Speaker: And I think that is such an important line for what's going on with like Teddy's experience in this movie yeah is part of it is just like the thrill of going and doing something. You know, like shaking up the old rhythms. Yeah, but he's also thinking to himself that while he has, you know, Dee Dee waiting for him here and Charlotte waiting for him here, but he's sitting by himself.
Speaker: in the San Diego airport. So yeah, he's having an adventure, but it's it's a really stupid adventure, I would say. It is. But I think ah it speaks to what he's looking for in this whole idealized affair that he has in his mind, that part of it isn't just sex with a beautiful woman, part of it is also adventure.
Speaker: right I think absolutely that's true because, you know, even when we get to the end of the movie and we all know that he's up on the ledge from the very beginning shot, he he fumbles every single bit when he finally gets to that bedroom. And I think that's, yeah, he he has this great grand idea of what an affair could be, but when it comes to actually doing it or having it or any of those kinds of things, he's just all thumbs.
Speaker: yeah Yeah. Also, this is where we get the Academy Award -winning best song. I just called to say, I love you. such Yeah, I did not know that that was from this movie until I started doing my research. What an interesting point of fortune. Yeah, I had no idea. For a classic little jam. ah ah Now, when he does get back, he finds out that Joey has reconciled with Teresa.
Speaker: the bad news for some reason. I mean, I guess that's most that's bad news too. But the other bad news is that it looks like Buddy has caught a fair fever and he's had an affair with a dude named Eric that he met at some sort of party they were having when they got back together. ah This is also how we and the boys find out that Buddy is gay.
Speaker: ah Specifically, the boys find out when Buddy's partner rolls up at lunch and tosses Eric's bracelet at him and says, you poor bitch. It's great, honestly. It's such an unexpectedly poignant thing. Oh yeah.
Speaker: Yeah. And I, here's the deal. A number one, I want Charles Grodin to have a more attractive boyfriend because that man looks like he skis in the darkest dead of winter all the time. Like he never gets out of there except to maybe drive his Porsche.
Speaker: or Jaguar, I'm not sure. He was at least tall. It was an Aston Martin. Oh, it was an Aston Martin. Okay, perfect. Thank you. He just seems so dead face. And maybe he's upset because he just found out his boyfriend was having an affair. Regardless, I wanted Charles Grodin to have a more attractive boyfriend. And thing number two. Well, if he had a more attractive boyfriend, also he wouldn't be cheating.
Speaker: Well, questionable because I think Dee Dee is effing hot. and That's what Gene Wilder doing. Anyway, um I also love that this is a moment in 1984 when four dudes are hanging out at a tennis club.
Speaker: ah and there And there's no like confrontation about Buddy being gay. like Joey kind of gives an eye roll kind of. like We all knew this, but we didn't ever talk about it, so it wasn't a thing. And now it's being shoved in their faces.
Speaker: And, and nobody makes it a big deal. I love that. I loved it. I especially enjoyed the next scene. Teddy and Buddy have a surprisingly tender scene. Yeah. Where they make it clear that Buddy's sexuality is no problem for Teddy. You know, and in 1984, obviously that's very different than 2024, where if you had a movie where four guys and one of them found out the fourth guy was gay, they'd be like, Oh, okay. Yeah. Cool. You're going to finish your sandwich. I did read that.
Speaker: was that's taken directly from the French movie, which came out in 1972. Yeah. And, uh, yeah, the gay character in that is known as like one of the first quote unquote positive characters, positive gay characters in French cinema. That's really impressive. That's crazy. Yeah. I remember, I don't know, the actor who played him was like proud of doing it or Like I thought about that scene even like last night and this morning. Like it's a very touching, very poignant, like it was really, really beautiful. I want more people to see that scene. And can we just make the phrase, shocking pink, like the line for coming out now? Like just, you just like people ask, I like think I can make that declaration. Yeah. You know, I just, I loved it. I loved it so much.
Speaker: ah Yeah, and I love that he he broke the ice by telling him on a little dad joke that was about how you can't even remember things, that you know, how about things aren't a big deal. Like that's the subjects of the joke and they hug and it's just a very sweet scene. Buddy is in fact so touched by this ah visit from Gene that he agrees to help him with his affair.
Speaker: it's very nice of him to do that. None of these men ever learn anything. No, no. I'll make you be a poor bitch too.
Speaker: but Bunny is going to play chauffeur on the date. Teddy and and Charlotte are gonna try another date tonight. We'll see how it pans out.
Speaker: Uh, Teddy just needs to swing by his grandma's place real quick to wish her a happy birthday. Such a weird little thing to be doing on a day, especially when he's just like, you sure you want to, uh, do this? And he just can't be fine. It's like, don't go. What are you doing? Yeah. You're not worried about Dee Dee? Who's Dee Dee? Don't even worry about it. Yeah. Yeah.
Speaker: ah So yeah, they swing by Mama Del and unfortunately it looks like ah Teddy's birthday is tomorrow. And so his entire family is at Mama Del's place for a surprise party.
Speaker: what one luckily buddy johnny on the spot number one bro award to buddy says oh that's my date charlotte ha we better go sweetie so we can have heterosexual sex yeah the the kiss on the cheek that he gives her there is just so awkward for those who are in the know. So great. Oh, it's so great. And then Charlotte even like gives him a little like, slow clap when they make it to the elevator. yeah yeah Great performance. Yeah. And truly a display of a nominative determinism for buddy, a true buddy in that scene. a So yeah, that that keeps him from out of trouble with Dee Dee and the family at the surprise party.
Speaker: Uh, the rest of the boys then show up outside and hatch another scheme to get Teddy away from Dean. This scheme involves Joey publicly threatening to murder his wife for leaving him again. This scene was also very frightening and bizarre. Oh yeah. No, no, this one really threw me off. I was like, what is yeah happening now, i actually?
Speaker: and And like, how are they going to cover for this with Dee Dee tomorrow when yeah she's like, Oh, no, no, no, no, me and Teresa are actually everything's still fine. I was just, um, yeah, I was just, uh, you know, and and you can see her like looking suspicious too. So I really thought that this was going to more directly lead to him being on a ledge.
Speaker: Oh, I didn't, I didn't get suspicious. from got suspended Oh, really? ah That's how I read it. I got more fear and confusion, but maybe I was projecting. It's possible. I also have a feeling like I read this movie very differently. Like this is a bit of an eye opening conversation for me in some ways, which I'll talk a little bit about here. ah which i gets data Yeah, it's it's been an interesting experience with this.
Speaker: but so So they drop him off at Charlotte's photo shoot, which he apparently had scheduled to start immediately after their dinner last night because it was supposed to go through all day. After the photo shoot, they go back to her place where Charlotte reveals that now that she knows Teddy is married, she's more attracted to him than ever. So there you go. Can I just say, I wrote down her line. She says, since tonight,
Speaker: I want you more than any other man." And I was like, what? Time out, what? but yeah I'm sorry. Since tonight, seeing you embraced by your grandma, getting caught in the middle of almost having an affair. I want you more now than ever. Okay. All right. Check. Just making sure. Just making sure. Here's my read on that.
Speaker: It's that he was willing to risk all these wonderful things just to have sex with her. She found that to be incredibly erotic. Okay. Yeah, she did. That's my vibe because they, and I'm not saying it's the worst read because they immediately stripped down to their skivvies to the tune of the best song ever written by Larry Gittens, which will be our closing theme this week. what was the of it again Let's just, it's not on the soundtrack album. They left it off. It's only a minute long. I think because it wasn't by Stevie Wonder. Stevie produced it, but he's not like on the record.
Speaker: Also the cinematography in this little moment, it's like Gene Wilder has done the most terrible cuts throughout this entire film. And then this moment when they're stripping, it's that circular camera that goes from like him to her, to him to her. And they're like spinning and and she's taking off like a sweater and a cami and her hair and makeup is still totally perfect. Yeah.
Speaker: I don't know how she did that. and She's a pro. Yes. And then more satin panties. Yes, of course. ah They get into her waterbed.
Speaker: what ah And then they're like, they they take off their underpants. He throws his underpants off. They land on a lamp. She says, Can you take them off the lamp? I'm so glad that she did that, by the way. I'm so I was just like, God, this is what's going to happen now. It's going to be a fire.
Speaker: And it's like, no, no, she directly addresses it. It's like, no, take those off. We don't want to start a fire. It's like, OK, no, that's my that's an important message for the viewers at home. This movie is movies infotainment. That's what I like to call it. And even here, Shelley, with this choice, you're an educator but now.
Speaker: So he goes and he gets them and he gets back into bed and they he's about they're about to get going when the intercom buzzes. and who's there, but Charlotte's husband. What a twist. oh So wonderful. So wonderful. It made so much sense to me. Yes. ah Charlotte shoves Teddy out onto a pertinent window ledge while he's wearing the bathrobe. And now we are back at the beginning of the movie. Boom. We've got it.
Speaker: At this point, he's he's been out there for a little while, though. He's not getting let back into the apartment as soon as he had hoped. And a crowd notices him and assumes that he's a jumper. Soon, firefighters, news crews, police reporters, they all show up. He tries to get back in the apartment, but unfortunately, Charlotte is busy stripping her husband. She at least finally we got this thing figured out. as He laughs to himself and thinks, boy,
Speaker: Oh, this just isn't worth it. Uh, Dee Dee sees him on TV and laughs at how goofy he looks smoking a cigarette in another man's bathroom. Time out. Time out. Yeah. Yeah. Okay. So here's the deal. No, she's very upset. No, no, no. Here's the deal. As a child, I remember her watching that and thinking she was laughing at her husband like, Oh, he's such a goofball. There he is again. My little teddy bear up on a ledge.
Speaker: But then I noticed she's like crying into her hands, like, yeah inconsolable. Yeah. Yeah. it It's tough. Yeah. She's very upset. Yeah. I think at first, I think at first it's like kind of hard to read because it's one of those moments where you're like, you don't know what's happening. So you're kind of laughing. And then it just becomes just true sadness. OK.
Speaker: Okay, well, too bad for Dee Dee. But, uh, Teddy's doing okay. Uh, he figures it's time to to get off of this ledge. So he jumps down towards one of those firefighter trampoline things.
Speaker: We get the I never thought anybody would take the title for worst green screen from she devil It's so bad very bad this is rough this does not play at all Considering that Ghostbusters came out the same year. Yeah. Yeah, it was still in theaters when this came out and wow so Like the technology was there to make this fall not so miserable but the fact that he's like leaning back smoking a cigarette flips upside down very Willy Wonka and the chocolate factory style like yeah, yeah, it's just ridiculous. ah But on his way down, we realized maybe Teddy hasn't changed his ways because he sees an attractive photographer taking his picture and he thinks boy, she's kind of cute.
Speaker: Then we get a freeze frame, end of the movie. but bu but but um Over. They did it. So that is Woman in Red. Let's give some star ratings. Let's give some final thoughts. Who wants to start off? I can start.
Speaker: This was a weird movie. Sure was. um And I think right after we watched it, i I said that I think I think really a lot of it probably comes from it it being an adaptation of a French first um because there's there's just a mean spirited streak in the movie yeah that um
Speaker: I just was very yeah unpleasant to me. I kept like, I didn't understand, like I didn't know why I would side with Gene Wilder, except that he's Gene Wilder. You know, we he wasn't a particularly nice guy or particularly good at anything or, you know. you know um
Speaker: But there, I mean, there were, You know, we've been laughing, talking about it. Like there were some good bits ah for sure. um Some funny parts. um Gilda Radner was great. ah I don't know. I'm going to give it three stars. Tough but fair. How about you, Greg?
Speaker: Yeah, so for me, as I said, I had quite an experience watching this like watching it. I was just like, I don't know if I'm supposed to be happy for any of these people or excited or what I want to see any of them achieve. Like, do I want him to cheat on his wife? ah Do I want to see these boys? be It was it was very confusing to me. A lot of the time in my notebook, I was just writing, why is this happening?
Speaker: Because a lot of it to me didn't feel grounded. I mean, it's obviously not grounded. ah But then ah thinking about it afterward in having kind of an experience. I remember what you had said, Chris, last week about Troll 2. I knew that it was a a remake of some kind of foreign film. I thought I didn't do too much research. I didn't have a ton of time.
Speaker: um But that felt right of late. I've seen a couple I've i've been ah dabbling lightly into this like world of European sex comedy and comedy of errors kind of stuff. And I was like, this feels.
Speaker: like this fits in that world more. And since it's in the English in is done by someone who is from the same culture that I'm from, I'm reading it in a way that I think makes more sense to me than those do that are helping me explain why those in many ways make more sense than this one does. okay Because I think that, as you said, with Troll 2, it's just more part of the lexicon. And so it feels sort of natural and organic, whereas here it felt sort of forced and weird.
Speaker: um I think that as a bad movie, it is hard for me to recommend to a wide audience. This feels more like a a historian's kind of bad movie than a enthusiast's kind of bad movie. But I do think that there's some value in seeing it if you can um not be upset by some of the content, if that makes sense. So like, when I was trying to figure this out for star rating, I was like, is it ah is like a one and a half? And so I think I'm gonna go two and a half at this point, is what I think I'm gonna say. Okay, fair enough. Well, I'll go we'll save our guest for last. Oh, okay. I'm gonna say I'm gonna give this bad boy
Speaker: two and a half. I think I'm with Greg on two and a half. I think what was good about it was really good. Except for when it was just okay, and coasting on its charms. And what was bad about it was so like off putting and strange. I think Joey was especially ah like the sort of violence in his storyline. Yeah, just totally would pull me out every time. um And I think
Speaker: Honestly, if you want a movie that captures sort of being a a essentially good and faithful husband who is tempted and is in danger of giving in to temptation, that sort of comedy, I strongly recommend Alan Arkin in Last of the Red Hot Lovers. I think that's a ah better take from this material, and so I kept on comparing it to that, and I think it it paled in comparison. But I think, you know, Jean Wilder is is charming as always. I think that Gilda Radner is hilarious anytime she's on camera. And I think Kelly LeBrock looks amazing anytime she's on camera.
Speaker: but everything else is just like, ah. Oh, i owe and Buddy, Buddy was great. I love Buddy, but they're all just feel like lipstick on a pig. It feels like the center of the movie is the pig. What about you, Shelly? How are you feeling about it? Give us your five star rating.
Speaker: Okay, I'm gonna give it a solid three and a half. And I think that half star for me is the nostalgia. um Like it is definitely like grandma's basement, like just cackle laughter. And I ah hear, I absolutely 100 % hear what you're saying now, thinking back with the moments of violence, especially from Joey, especially from Joey. um But I also,
Speaker: Just, I love Dee Dee's character in this film. I think she's one hot mom who maybe just needs to figure out like when her husband throws a tantrum, she needs to say like, what are you hiding from me? What's for you? Yeah, what are you hiding? um I wrote down in my notes like, methinks the lady doth protest too much. Like it's very, it's so blatant and like, I just want her to like put her glasses on.
Speaker: um I loved the the cut like the the queer acceptance in this film that is so like just understood. And knowing now that it was like actually from the 1972 film that was still in there, I love that even more. So I i love that acceptance. And you know I didn't come out until my 20s, but like surely I knew Somewhere in the back of my mind at age 8 when I saw this movie which was far too young to see this movie I think but when I saw this movie, I knew something was different about you know, the Eric bracelet and then the you poor bitch brace our comment but like and the shocking pink I I have always said shocking pink, but I don't think I knew where it came from until rewatching this film um so yeah, I
Speaker: And I also like this Mikey character that we didn't even talk about. Yeah, he's just so pathetic in like a lovable, terrible way. I don't know. I yeah, I I'm gonna give this movie a solid three and a half. Certainly problematic. Yeah, lots of problems. yeah forgot what We wanted to double back to which was Shelley feeling up Didi.
Speaker: Yeah, I'm glad we're going to cover this. I'm glad we're going to cover this. This is so problematic. ok so and also right so i remembered i I said this already, but I remembered the first time watching it, Dee Dee laughing when she saw Teddy on the ledge, right, on the news. and Then I saw it again and I realized, no, she's crying. I read the wikipedia plot cat or the plot synopsis for this and it's that and it says on Wikipedia, and I think this is erroneous, Wikipedia editors go back and fix it.
Speaker: It says that Dee Dee is crying because her affair could get her in just as much trouble. And I was like, what? Didi's what affair? So Mallory and I went back and rewatched it. And I was like, Didi's affair with Shelley? Like, that's what? Because you know how we were talking about that you know we were talking about that moment at the beginning where we first meet Shelley and Gene Wilder is saying, you're you're Jewish, right? And he says, yeah, my parents are. And then they have the mirrored back and forth conversation.
Speaker: And Gene Wilder says to Shelley's character, he says, you take care of my girl. And then Shelley says back, you take care of my girl. And that was the only thing that I could think that like minus the feeling up situation. Is Dee Dee having an affair with Shelley? So I will say, I will say that during the so during the the grabbing scene, there was something said that just made me go,
Speaker: Wait a minute, is that saying that they are in a relationship together? And then something was said after that, that made me think probably not. but Yeah, she says, I'm going to tell your mom, and dey or and Shelly says back, she already knows. Okay. I'm telling you, I think i think those two characters might be having a Really? I think it's awesome. I think you know what we have to do is we have to watch Pardon Mona Faire. Okay. And we need to go back to source material to figure that out. Yeah, that makes sense at all. Well, I think that just means it's time for us to move on to our segment. Anna's got the segment this week, and it's about the score. Ooh.
Speaker: Take it away, Mark. So the soundtrack album by Stevie Wonder was like light years more successful in the movie. um the album The soundtrack album itself peaked at number four on the U .S. Billboard 200. It knocked the Purple Rain soundtrack out of the number one spot on the R and &B charts, which it had held for five months at that point. Holy crap.
Speaker: here Hey, if you're going to beat and beat by Stevie Wonder, that's not too bad. Yeah. ah Lesser single here, but really fabulous. one Interesting one. ah There's a song called Don't Drive Drunk that was oh yeah used used in a PSA the next year by the US Department of Transportation. good What was it about?
Speaker: I'm not driving drunk, well but obviously the lead single um was I Just Called to Say I Love You, which is still ah wonder ah Stevie Wonder's best selling single today.
Speaker: It hit number one on ah Billboard Hot 100, the R and &B and Adult Contemporary charts for three weeks. ah it's well It's his only number one hit in the UK. It was ah number one for six weeks. ah ah Motown's biggest selling single ever in the UK. The second best selling single of 1984 in the UK after ah Do they know it's Christmas? so um And apparently, according to the Wikipedia, the third best -selling UK single of the whole 80s, which is like, it's a lot. They loved it in the UK. It was also a number one in in alphabetical order.
Speaker: Australia, Austria, Belgium, Canada, Denmark, Finland, France, Greece, Ireland, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Portugal, South Africa, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Uruguay, West Germany and Zimbabwe.
Speaker: day Wow. yeah Yes, a and very successful song. And it also won um ah both a Golden Globe and an Oscar. ah It was nominated for three Grammys, but didn't win any. I believe this is our first Oscar winning film. Yes. Yeah, I was gonna say, I love that this one is considered an Oscar winner.
Speaker: Yes, it's an Oscar winning film. I think it's because that song, that sentiment of that song is so universal. You know, I mean, it's just it's not saccharine sweet. It's like beautifully sweet. It's just a little really genuinely sweet. yes Yeah. Yeah. Yeah.
Speaker: I love it. I looked up, I watched the ah clip from ah the Oscar ceremony and the categories announced by Gregory Hines, who was wearing a really interesting like sparkly silver chandelier earring.
Speaker: in his left ear, which I hadn't seen on Mr. Hines before. ah The other nominated songs were, Take a Look at Me Now, Footloose, ah Let's Hear It for the Boy, yeah also from Footloose, and of course, Ghostbusters. Yeah. These are Rock 'em Sock 'em songs. like Oh yeah are yeah yeah. Power songs. like Wild. Yeah. like that that there are four songs that I can immediately hum 40 years on. That's not always the case with the original song category. um And Wonder, you know he's ah wearing a blazer with an amazing rainbow sequined collar. um i says He said that he'd been having dreams on his European tour, that he was at an awards show. And you know just as they were announcing, the and the winner is, he'd wake up.
Speaker: And he kept on with this with his, you know, this was his dream that he couldn't believe it was happening. And then he dedicated his award to Nelson Mandela, which got him banned from South African radio by the government. How about that? Yeah.
Speaker: Pretty rad. Pretty rad. My main feeling from the score, like obviously this is a classic song, but I feel like a lot of the song felt like songs that Stevie Wonder would sing to his cat. They all felt like a little bit, a little bit loose, you know, not necessarily in a bad way, but not as most i did a challenging work. And I wasn't able to find anything unlike How they hooked up or you know, why is dv wonder did this Uh Listen if you go right wait and it's definitely yeah, it's definitely Has lasted a lot longer than um than the movie. Oh for sure Well, I want to point out that I feel like
Speaker: Okay, so Stevie Wonder did this with Dionne Warwick. um And I just think it's like two iconic black singers doing the soundtrack for the most milky white cast.
Speaker: of the ages and I like yes I do want to know I absolutely want to know how Gene Wilder got that win like right what's the process I mean did it have to do something with like was it an Orion movie or was it who was the movie It's an Orion movie, yeah. Yeah, so like, did Stevie Wonder owe someone at Orion? Or what? Because, God, like, Dionne Warwick, like, when the movie opens and it's Dionne Warwick, I had started the movie and Mallory, like, came running in on the pitch and was like, Dionne Warwick? And I was like, yeah, yeah, that's her. So. Yeah. Big. Huge. Well, you guys, again are you?
Speaker: Now that I've once again completely slammed the momentum of the show to a dead stop. Do you guys want to move on to our game? oh my It's a brand new game. ah o That's right. A brand new game and it's about remakes. They're getting remade.
Speaker: This film is getting remade. Woman in Red is a remake of the French film Parton Amour. So for this game, I'm going to give each of you a French film title and the year it came out, a description of the plot. And I want you ah to tell me the title of the American remake. Everybody got it? Yeah. Yeah. All right. We'll start with my wife.
Speaker: Okay. Question number one, l 'amour le près midi. 1972. Though he has an adoring wife, a bourgeois man is still tempted to pursue other women. Pretty much the classic French movie plot. Um, l 'amour le près midi.
Speaker: Afternoon delight.
Speaker: So that was, of course, I think I love my wife by Tyler Perry 2007.
Speaker: yeah as a parent like Right off the top of my head. Wow. Okay. Okay. Question number two. Le grande blonde avec une chasseur noir. 1972.
Speaker: A hapless violinist becomes an unwitting pawn of rival factions within the French secret service after he's chosen as a decoy by being identified as a super secret agent. La grande blonde avec une chasseur noir, 1972. The man with one red shoe? Correct! The man with one red shoe, 1985. One point for Greg, you're on the board.
Speaker: Shelly, are you ready? I'm such trash at trivia. This is this is my wife's. I genuinely that was just a very I was like, I remember there's this is weird Tom Hanks movie where I think i because he's wearing one red shoe. I remember because it had a ridiculous name. Yeah. And that was that. All right, Shelly. Good luck. No pressure. I remember there's no prize for winning. There's only a movie prize if you take it too seriously.
Speaker: Question number three. La Solaire, sorry, La Solaire de la Pier, 1953. Oh, great. Four -man drive, two trucks loaded with nitroglycerin over treacherous mountain roads.
Speaker: Is this - La Solaire de la Pier, 1953. So I'm clearly gonna go with ah the Italian job. Well, no, that was actually a remake of the Italian job.
Speaker: But there are trucks and there are mountains. You're very close. This was Sorcerer. know You might know that film under its English translation title, The Wages of Fear. I know this is a Roy Scheider movie. It's supposed to be very intense. A friend of mine always recommends that and I'm like, what's it called? He's like Sorcerer. I'm like, I'm never gonna remember that. It seems so divorced from what's actually occurring.
Speaker: Yeah, I think it's the name of the truck. Sure. I think it's the name of the truck. But yeah, I hear that that it's there's a really good bridge scene, but I haven't seen it yet. Yeah, I've heard nothing but good things. But all right, Anna, your turn. Let's see if you can catch up to Greg. La Jette, 1962. Oh, man trapped in a stable time loop explores his memories in the wake of World War Three.
Speaker: That's 12 monkeys. Correct. 12 monkeys. Question number five. I don't think I've seen it. I only have really terrible memories of that movie. oh We can talk about it later. All right. We'll move on to Greg's question. Bodu Suave Dezo, 1932.
Speaker: A bookseller saves a tramp from drowning and shelters him, but the tramp's behavior starts to wear everybody down. oh i feel like bo you swabbing there's a I feel like I should know the name of this, but well I'm just going to say the stranger. ah That is Down and Out in Beverly Hills, 1986. The original voodoo saved from drowning. That's right. That makes not a lot of sense.
Speaker: Okay, Shelley, I've got a tough one for you. I'm sorry that the dice rolled this way. I'm so excited. La chevre from 1981.
Speaker: This movie stars Girard Depardieu if that helps, but he's not in the remake if that also helps. A daughter of a millionaire, distinguished by her incredible bad luck, goes missing. To find her, they send out an equally unlucky person.
Speaker: La Chez. Yeah. ah So the cheese. The goat cheese? Could be the goat cheese. I think it's the goat cheese. It's that very famous film.
Speaker: This was Pure Luck from 1991, starring Martin Short and, uh, Glover. I haven't actually seen this movie. Yes, yes, he has the worst luck. He's... Oh, yeah, I do know this movie. Yeah, I thought you would have seen it, but I did not think that you would ever guess it. Yeah, thanks. Thanks, bro. It's okay. Anna, it's tied up, you and Greg.
Speaker: You've got La Total, 1991. A secret agent uses his professional skills to track his family with unexpected results. Hmm. La Total.
Speaker: ah Taken?
Speaker: taken It was true lies. Can I get a point with an asterisk on it? I will guarantee grant you a half point for this deal. Okay. Thank you. Question number eight. Yes. Final round. We'll have steals.
Speaker: Greg, this is your chance to take it all. You can run away with it with this one. Okay. La Jue, 1976. A rich child purchases a down on his luck journalist as his own personal toy. Oh. La Jue.
Speaker: I've got the steal. I feel like I can see the poster. I want to say it's like a Richard Pryor John Candy film. Um, Uh, uh, the price of friendship. I have no idea. What do we got? It's the toy. Oh, Shelly is correct. That's steel. It's all tied up. yeah And that was not John Candy Rag. That was Jackie Gleason. Thank you. ah Question number nine, Shelly, this is your chance to take it a real comeback from behind and you could get this one. I believe in you.
Speaker: La Femme Nikita, 1990. A beautiful young criminal is trained to be an assassin, but finds out that this is not the kind of job you can just walk away from. La Femme Nikita. Is that your final answer?
Speaker: that your final answer I know it's wrong, but sure. It is wrong. Does anybody have the steel? Is it, is it La Femme Nikita? No, that was a TV show. Oh, can oh um no, I don't know. Point of No Return starring Bridget Fonda and Gabrielle Byrne. each of you ninety Oh, hot in that movie.
Speaker: God, Gabriel Byrne, every day, all day, please. george Yeah, he's fantastic. Check out Point of No Return listeners and check it out. We've made it to the final segment of the show. It's the Baddie Awards. Yes.
Speaker: Now you're messing with me.
Speaker: That's right. Congratulations to all our nominees. It's the Batty Awards. Hooray! I will keep this off with our initial Batty Award, and we'll continue the tradition that we started with our last recording and say, you get to pick who delivers the next Batty Award. And I'm going to give my Batty Award for the best coat. It came up a little bit earlier. Miss Milner's raspberry trench coat slash peacoat that she wears when she keys Teddy's car. She is looking fierce in that raspberry trench coat. Yeah.
Speaker: And I realize I'm giving a lot of bad awards to women's costume ring, but that's fine. Yeah. That's normal. And I'm going in to choose to give out the next bad award. My very normal friend, Greg.
Speaker: OK, so my Batty Award is going to be given to my favorite bit in the film, which is the ah the sort of the scene between Shelley and um Gene Wilder's character, whose name I'm forgetting ten like Teddy. Yeah. So like the way it is shot, the fact that he is for some reason just repeating him and then doesn't for the one question, but it's this like Deadpan smart Alec thing and then it's again repeating him And then there's that really weird comment like where he does repeating He's like you take care of my girl like the whole thing I feel like I could write a long essay about that as to why I like it like it's just like Reactions upon reactions the way the shot is done. It's just like everything about it surprised me in such a delightful and interesting way and
Speaker: And it it just made me laugh a lot. And I just really enjoyed that part. And so I felt the need to really highlight that one. All right. I would like to know what your award is, Shelley. My award is going to be really similar to Chris's. I'm going to go with Gilda Radner's entire wardrobe. OK. Not only because I'm just jealous of it, but because it's so wonderful.
Speaker: like The difference between her day wear which while it is like buttoned up is super prim and like precise and like lots of pussy bows and lots of shirt front dresses but also a little bit.
Speaker: dowdy um But then her going out outfits. I mean, God, the one where she gets stood up the first time is this great black illusion like Swiss dot neckline that's a little bit plunging and then a sequined beret off to the side and she's smoking a cigarette. I think on an like, you know, one of those fancy long cigarettes. There's a lot of weird smoking in this movie.
Speaker: Yeah. And then the jumpsuit. I know we had the conversation about that jumpsuit um and that fur stole and that side ponytail, which steals the whole show. um And then after she starts having the affair or not a affair, I don't know, she's a miss and she's having an affair with Jean Wilder's assistant, Richard. She starts wearing these very attractive tops like flowy blouses and these red sunglass glasses in the building. I don't know. Her whole wardrobe is stunning. Tens across the board. I love it. I wanted all of it. And I love that her wardrobe communicated so much about what her character was experiencing in the end. She was dressed specifically for whatever occasion it was. And it's so perfect. I mean, yeah, I, yeah.
Speaker: Yes, I also want to be a member of if that character had, a if she was a Dom somewhere in San Francisco in the 1980s, I would like to, I would, I would like to submissively you present my application. Fair enough. Yeah. Yeah. Well, it's not my bad day award, but I will mention, since you both mentioned costumes, we've talked about costumes a lot.
Speaker: that the costumes are done by a woman named Ruth Myers, who had not done a lot at this point. um but She'd done, I think, at least one of Gene Wilder's previous movies, but she has since. She um has been twice nominated for Oscars for ah the 96 Emma and ah Adam's family. Nice.
Speaker: Yeah, she's done. she' still her umm she did She also knows her way around a pair of silk panties. So yeah, yeah, she's definitely picked the right panties when she was picking out costumes. Yep. Well, I will give my award to um because we've mentioned Dee Dee a lot.
Speaker: Um, and I think that it's sort of a thankless role. Um, but the actress Judith Ivy, um, is so good. yeah She's so good in the role. She's, she's, she's funny in a very kind of understated way where Gene Wilder is, you know, being more nutty, but, but, um, she's funny and she's cute.
Speaker: um She's, ah she won two Tonys, like either previous or contemporary to this, I think mostly a stage actor, but the other movie that I know her from is she played Keanu's mom and the devil's advocate. Yes, she did. And she was very good in that. Yeah, so. Yeah, do you know that this was her third film in 1984?
Speaker: Wow. Wow. She was yeah busy. She was busy and she, yeah. And then six degrees of separation from Gabriel Byrne. She was in a dad. What was the name of that movie? Hello again with Shelley long. So Shelley long is like dies choking on the chicken bone. Her sister played by Judith Ivy is a necromancer. Um, she Zelda, a zany necromancer. She brings her back to life a year later and Gabriel Byrne falls in love with her.
Speaker: Okay. Wow. That sounds intense. It's so good. Speaking of intense, we've made it to the very end of a very long episode. Congratulations to you listeners. You've done it. Hooray!
Speaker: a And hooray to you, Shelly. Thank you so much for coming on. Thank you for picking such an interesting movie. It was so much fun. I loved every second of it. I could talk for another hour and 43 minutes.
Speaker: Well we will all turn into pumpkins if you stick around that long I have a sneaking suspicion shall we have anything that you're doing right now that you want to plug um, you know, I'm just ending up my summer and devoting the rest of my time to ah Rugby sevens on the Olympics right now. Okay and getting ready for school to start so there's that All right, I'm going to plug on Shelley's behalf, your local school teachers. Do what you can to help them out, folks. yeah Do it for Shelley. And if you want to do something for us, that, hey, is probably a lot easier when you really get right down to it. Why don't you leave us a quick five stars, brother? You got your phone in your hand. You're about to stop listening to the show. Just, uh, just pop that five stars on there. It'll take you two seconds.
Speaker: Or you could even subscribe or like, or follow, or leave a comment, whatever way your platform has that you can interact with us. That'll help us beat the algorithms, take back our future from the machines. Another great thing that you can do, take in and away from the machines. Why don't you go interact with another human being and tell them, listen to your favorite bad movie podcast. Tell your friend, tell your coworker, why don't you tell the stranger that you meet?
Speaker: Or, uh, if you want to do something that's less intense, you can always email us at favorite bad movie pod at gmail dot .com. Uh, where we, you can send us your suggestions or if you want to pitch us for coming on the show or just say, Hey, maybe we'll get a mailbag segment going. We're always looking for segments. Let me tell you.
Speaker: And if you want to follow us on Instagram, you can find us there at your favorite bad movie pod. You can also find us on blue sky at favorite bad movie dot B sky dot social. Find all this stuff in the link tree, which is going to be in the show description there. You can also find a link to our YouTube where you can find ah little trailers that I've been making for the show. They're fun. Check them out. That'll help you get hyped up. They'll give you a good visual sense of what the movie looks like.
Speaker: You can also find a link in there to our Discord. You can come and hang out on Discord.
Speaker: Yay! Yay! It's a perfectly fine place. It's totally normal there. The good news is everything there is normal. And there's been no drama yet. Do you want to come and start injecting drama? You can. I'm joining right now. Yes. Start a fight with someone.
Speaker: no but actually Don't do that. Everybody come on and be cool. It's going to be a lot of fun. And anyway, don't forget to tune in next week when we're going to have for our special guest, my brother, Johann Anderson. And we're going to be talking about Albert Pian's Mean Guns, a true classic. So you don't want to miss it. We'll see you then. And until next time, be good. Goodbye. Bye.
