1941 - Spielberg comedy, WWII style

[DanielJones]

We just watched this one again and it just seems to get more fun with each watching. Our boy had never watched it before and was totally tickled with it. The roll on the floor laughter. Too cool!
In another thread I had mentioned I wanted to build a diorama of the scene outside of the USO with the M3 Lee tank "LULUBELLE" complete with the lamp post Santa's. It should be an interesting exercise in art.
So how many of you have seen this one, or should I ask, how many times have you seen this one. What is your favorite scene? I know, so many to pick from. lol Let me know your thoughts.
Personally I would love to see Spielberg make another WWII screwball all star comedy again. It would be a hoot!

Cheers!

Dan

 

[Hondo]

John Belushi

I've seen it a couple of times, been meaning to see it again. John Belushi is Wild Bill Kelso is a kick in the butt, (stops at gas station to fill up his P-51 is riot) but what I enjoyed is Tim Matheson's flying lesson inside a B-17, kept me snickering, laughing, its a hot scene, swing dance fight is also great, there are so many good scenes, really enjoyed it.

 

[DanielJones]

Too much fun

What I love about that gas station scene is that it is the same gas station used in 'Duel' with all of the snakes when the rig comes crashing through. And, the same lady is working there. The little homages to some of his earlier works like using the same lady swimming in the ocean & the mother as in Jaws & Close Incounters (the view of the LA Basin from up in the hills turned upside down is the bottom of the space craft). And of course the homage to Bogart's LULUBELLE from Sahara. Then, all of the qusi-historical references, like the supposed air raid over LA, General Stillwell watching Dumbo, the zoot suit riots & more. Then of course all of the embellishments that make it so funny.

Cheers!

Dan

 

[J. M. Stovall]

Doesn't Belushi fly a P-40 in that movie?

 

[Hondo]

Correct! I don't know my planes that well, P-51 or P-40, but thanks! Its a P-40.
I didn't know those facts about the gas station, I haven't seen duel in years.
Gotta keep my eyes open, Thanks!

Doesn't Belushi fly a P-40 in that movie?

 

[Josephine]

I *really like this movie I think Wendy Jo dancing around as her friend is having a serious WTH? moment is hilarious.

 

[BigSleep]

I love that movie.
If you notice at the end Dan Akroyd has a line something like "If you think 1941 was crazy wait till you see 1942."
I think if 1941 had done better there may have been some sequels in the works.
Would love to have seen them.

 

[The Wolf]

I always felt that the line was referring to a sequel also. However it was a bigger bomb than anything Doolittle dropped so another movie would have touble getting the greenlight.

Sincerely,
the Wolf

 

[Fletch]

Yeah, despite it being 25+ years ago, Hollywood has a long memory for failure.

And the snarktastic early-SNL style of comedy is totally out. Acceptable film comedy styles today are a. gross-out, b. family-safe or c. deadpan black irony.

I could see (say) Denis Leary starring in a potential 1942. But it'd have to be a virtual one-man show. That big-picture, It's A Mad Mad Mad Mad World kind of flick would just be called a mess today. Where is the one big bankable name? And how come he's not on screen every friggn minute?

All this is in service of a point I frequently try to make (maybe too frequently): there are lots of movies, products, etc. that people would go nuts for if you could only get 'em past the gatekeepers. But you can't.

People in level, innovation-driven fields like the internet forget that other fields have hierarchies and rules and formulas that they will hold onto right up to the gates of the poorhouse. Look at the record industry. Look at movies and TV. Look at retail garment, fer cry-yi.

Even Spielberg would refuse to make a 1942.

 

[Josephine]

I always felt that the line was referring to a sequel also. However it was a bigger bomb than anything Doolittle dropped so another movie would have touble getting the greenlight.

Sincerely,
the Wolf

I don't think 1941 was a bomb. It just wasn't the mega hit that Spielberg's previous movies (including Jaws) was, and they hoped 1941 would be.

 

[DanielJones]

I know it didn't do too well in the theatres but seemed to gain a following years later. I remember watching it as a kid when it first came to HBO and taping it off of there on to VHS. I think I wore that tape out in one summer.
Personally I think a period all star cast comedy like that would be fun to see. If Spielberg made it with out having it be a super success in mind, just something for a lark & for pure entertainment it would probably sell. Get a couple of folks from 1941 and have a whole new cast doing another homefront comedy of errors WWII film it may fly.
Another one of Spielbegs projects I had enjoyed was "The Mission" from the Amazing Stories series. Of course I'm a huge fan of the B-17 and it fit in right after Memphis Belle had come out. Spielberg could also do a comedy film involving the B-17's & the 8th AAF. May be interesting.

Cheers!

Dan

 

[Mike in Seattle]

I love this movie. It's definitely one of my favorites, although I haven't watched it in a couple of years, but so many funny scenes immediately come to mind. Cameos of Penny Marshal and the pair who were "Lenny & Squiggy" on the LaVerne & Shirley show and lots of the Saturday Night Live and SCTV cast members, James Caan, and character actors like Lucille Benson & Elisha Cook, Jr. showing up in short bits. And those who turned down roles (John Wayne, Charleton Heston, Jackie Gleason & Art Carney, to name a few) was pretty stellar as well.

I think it's one film that had a so-so to OK initial release but developed a larger following and gained popularity over the years. And actually, it had moderate success, but nowhere near the box-office revenue of Jaws or Close Encounters of the Third Kind(Spielberg's earlier hits) or some later hit about some guy with a hat & whip... So compared to those blockbusters, this would be looked at as something of a flop. If I remember, A Christmas Story wasn't a hit when it came out, either, but it's grown to be more popular in the decades since its release.

I remember Mom wanting to go see it when it first came out, so she came along with the gang, because she remembered the actual events that the story's somewhat based on. She kept an old piece of scrapnel that fell in Long Beach in December of 1941 when there were supposedly Japanese subs off the California coast and something went on with aircraft & naval ships. I'm not saying a Japanese sub was actually firing at anything in the area, but the story is some of the military got a little trigger-happy and shot off shells & big guns one night since there were fears of a Japanese invasion or at least attack shortly after Pearl Harbor. Yep, could just be some old pieces of metal, but Mom was pretty adamant, as were aunts & uncles & other family members. One of my cousins just called about something else and I mentioned it - she remembers hearing the stories from her folks and my grandparents. Her dad was in the navy, so her mom was staying with my grandparents while he was away since.

But much like It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World sixteen years earlier, it had a large number of then-big comedic talent in it just popping up for a quick bit or scene, along with a lot of other well-known faces.

 

[DanielJones]

Even Mickey Rourke had a part in there as one of the motor pool crew driving the tank and looking out of uniform. I loved the cameo rolls of those that were famous at the time in their respective tv rolls along with mainstay movie actors.
What's funny is not long after this film Bobby De Cicco & Perry Lang showed up in The Big Red One as GI's.
The one thing that always made the skin prickle was the sound of the aircraft through the streets of Hollywood. Spielberg's sound crew nailed the sound of adrenaline. It sounds fantastic on a surround sound system because you get that doppler effect of the aircraft engines.
It's just one of those films I can watch a bunch of times and never get tired of it, sort of like Young Frankenstein.

Cheers!

Dan

 

[Hondo]

Another one of Spielbegs projects I had enjoyed was "The Mission" from the Amazing Stories series. Of course I'm a huge fan of the B-17 and it fit in right after Memphis Belle had come out. Spielberg could also do a comedy film involving the B-17's & the 8th AAF. May be interesting.

I also am a huge B-17 fan about the only aircraft I know something about (re: P-40 or P-51 :eusa_doh: ) must have missed these cameos I’ll be sure to look more closely on next viewing, and thanks for reminding us of Amazing Stories "The Mission" I completely forgot about that one I won't give away the ending for those who haven't seen it, yeah it is interesting, I for one enjoyed it.