For this inaugural entry, I will discuss one of the movies that helped me develop my comic sensibilities.
Many people are familiar with the movie, "Airplane!" Directed by the comedy team of Zucker, Abrahams and Zucker and released in 1980, it is largely regarded as one of the best comedies ever.
Fewer people have heard of the ZAZ team's follow-up: "Top Secret!"
This poster is slightly misleading. I do not recall a scene with cows falling from the sky. The cow did wear boots, though. And Val Kilmer did shake it.
It amazes me that "Top Secret!" is not more well known. In my opinion, it is just as funny as "Airplane!" and even more original. I was surprised to find out recently that "Airplane!" is basically a comedic remake of a prior film, "Zero Hour!" "Top Secret!" on the other hand, is an unlikely combination of an Elvis-style musical and a Cold War spy film.
It is actually Val Kilmer's very first role. Kilmer plays Nick Rivers, an Elvis-like rock musician who is invited to East Germany to perform in an arts festival. Little does he know that the festival is really a front for a nefarious conspiracy, which he soon gets entangled in. But really, the plot is just a vehicle for the gags, and boy are there a lot of them. "Top Secret!" is the kind of comedy that reveals more and more upon repeat viewings. The movie has it all: cheesy puns, sight gags, parody, satire, and also some very inventive scenes.
Two scenes stand out. In the first, Nick and his love interest, Hillary, visit a Swedish book shop. The shop owner, played by Peter Cushing, speaks in Swedish, which sounds peculiarly like backwards English. The "backwards" theme continues through the scene, until it becomes apparent to the audience that the scene is actually being played backwards. This allows for some very clever sight gags as Nick and the shop owner put books away. At first it may seem that the decision to shoot the scene and play it in reverse is a very random choice. As it turns out, however, it was deliberately done to reference the fact that some English speakers think Swedish sounds like backwards English. In this way, the scene becomes even funnier when you learn the back story. I can't think of very many movie scenes that I can say that about!
Peter Cushing as the Swedish shop keeper
Another memorable scene in the movie parodies Western movies and the classic scenario of a brawl in a tavern. The "Top Secret!" twist? The tavern is at the bottom of a lake and the entire fight scene is filmed underwater.
There's something special about "Top Secret!" and other classic spoof movies that many recent entries in the genre fail to capture. The spoof has lost its luster with the glut of "Blank" Movies: "Date Movie", "Epic Movie", and the rest of their ilk. It seems the writers of modern day spoofs think that referencing pop culture and celebrities is what constitutes parody.
Anyone who is a fan of ZAZ's other work such as "Airplane!" and "The Naked Gun!", as well as the movies of Mel Brooks, owes it to themselves to check out "Top Secret!"
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