Going Hollywood - Movies and Television from the Golden Age to Today

Dial H for Hitchcock: Colin Higgins' “Foul Play” (1978)

Brad Shreve & Tony Maietta Season 2 Episode 15

Macguffins, albinos and dwarves, oh my!

There is that and so much more in our film for today, 1978's "Foul Play". This perfect summer escape film stars Goldie Hawn, Chevy Chase and a whole slew of wonderful and eccentric characters (including a pre-"Arthur" Dudley Moore) all under the guidance of filmmaker extraordinaire, Colin Higgins. 

 Higgins, the creative genius behind "9 to 5," "Harold and Maude," and "The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas" is sadly little known today, but we intend to rectify that as we discuss this delightful comedy thriller which  perfectly captures his distinctive style: brilliant comedic timing, unforgettable characters, and genuine heart...all wrapped up in this virtual love letter  to Alfred Hitchcock and the noir thrillers of the 1940s and 50s. 

"Foul Play" stars Goldie Hawn as Gloria Mundy, a librarian who inadvertently becomes entangled in a plot to assassinate the Pope after picking up a hitchhiker on the Pacific Coast Highway. Chevy Chase plays the somewhat lecherous but charming detective who falls for Gloria while investigating her increasingly outlandish claims about albinos, dwarfs, and men with scars. The chemistry between these two leads creates movie magic, supported by an incredible ensemble including Moore , Burgess Meredith, and the formidable Rachel Roberts.

 So, are you ready to take a chance on this delightful thriller comedy? Grab your popcorn, your brass knuckles and your favorite cookie-loving python and join us on a trip back to the disco-loving late 70s San Francisco. Oh, and don't forget your Scrabble dictionary...it may come in handy.

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Tony Maietta:
Hello, I'm film historian Tony Maietta.

Brad Shreve:
And I'm Brad Shreve, who's just a guy who likes movies.

Tony Maietta:
We discuss movies and television from Hollywood's golden age. We go behind the scenes and share our opinions, too.

Brad Shreve:
And of course, being the average guy, my opinions are the ones that matter.

Tony Maietta:
As does your self delusion. Welcome to Going Hollywood, Brad. I want to start a new segment on Going Hollywood and I want to call it the best director you've never heard of.

Brad Shreve:
Okay?

Tony Maietta:
And I think. I think for my very first nomination of this little series we're gonna have, I want to nominate one of your favorite directors, John Gillerman. What do you think?

Brad Shreve:
Yeah. Because I love every John Gillerman film.

Tony Maietta:
No, I'm kidding. I'm kidding about John Gillerman. I'm just. I love bringing him up because I love to see the smoke come out of your ears. But I'm not kidding about this idea. And I. But I do believe the first candidate should be the director of our film for today. But before I present him for nomination, I just want to throw a few titles out at you.

Tony Maietta:
Okay?

Brad Shreve:
Yeah, I mean, I'm anxious to see this because I did not look at what else he's done. So this is new to me.

Tony Maietta:
Okay, so here's some titles for you. Harold and Maude. The Best little Whorehouse in Texas, Silver Streak. Here's a big one, nine to five. And our movie of today from 1978, foul play. And that man's name is Colin Higgins. Have you ever heard of Colin Higgins?

Brad Shreve:
I have never heard of Colin Higgins. And you list off those films which are. Were either huge successes or at least have become big favorites. I don't know which. Everybody knows those movies. I'm absolutely shocked that it's somebody I never heard of. That's really wild.

Tony Maietta:
Amazing. I think he was one of the great filmmakers. Now, he didn't direct all of those. He wrote Harold and Maude. He did not direct Harold and Maude, but he directed all the other ones, including our movie of Today. And I think he was one of the great filmmakers who died much, much too soon, because he died in 1997. And I think you can guess what he died of. He was a young man, and he died of a plague that robbed us of the future of so many great artists.

Tony Maietta:
He died, of course, of aids.

Brad Shreve:
Yeah.

Tony Maietta:
In fact, at the time of his death, he was working on a reunion movie for Lily and Jane and Dolly. And unfortunately, you know, that never happens. There's never been, at least at this point, a reunion movie of the three of them from nine to five. But, you know, I don't. We'll talk more about Colin later and what happened with him. But I. Because I want to keep this upbeat because it's. It's.

Tony Maietta:
It's summertime. It's summertime. And this movie is one of my favorite summertime movies. You know, it's. You know, it's summertime because I want a fun escape film. And to me, that's what summer's all about. It's about fun. I mean, last year we did Tootsie.

Tony Maietta:
Maybe sometime we'll do Arthur, another fun, fun movie with a cast member from the movie we're talking about today. And I think we've been dealing with some pretty heavy films lately. Don't you think so? I mean, we had Midnight Express. We had Ordinary People. We had the Poseidon Adventure. I think that maybe it's time for just a few. A pure fun escape movie. And that's what foul play is.

Brad Shreve:
Well, you're forgetting that Midnight Express was a dark comedy.

Tony Maietta:
Oh, that's true.

Brad Shreve:
It was.

Tony Maietta:
I forgot about that. And so was Misery. As a matter of fact.

Brad Shreve:
Yes. No, we have. Actually, now that you mentioned it, we have been kind of dark for summer, so this was a good choice. And, you know, we need to do Arthur, because I haven't seen that in so long, I'm wondering how that holds up. And I remember nothing about Harold and Maude. Nothing.

Tony Maietta:
Harold Mod is so. It's just brilliant. One of my very favorite movies. But here's something interesting now. Foul Play from Paramount in 1978 was actually released 48 years ago this week. So it's truly, truly a summertime movie. It's a 1978American Romantic Neo noir comedy thriller starring Goldie Hawn, Chevy Chase, and a whole slew of really, really wonderful people. So I gotta ask you, Brad, had you ever seen Foul Play before?

Brad Shreve:
I have seen Foul Play. Oh, probably about 200 times. I have not seen it in decades.

Tony Maietta:
Okay. Wow. Yeah.

Brad Shreve:
So this was a. This was a nostalgic trip and an interesting trip.

Tony Maietta:
Okay. Oh, I'm getting some suspicions here. I always. It's funny because I have seen. I had seen Foul Play so many times. I remember loving it. And then it's funny because kind of like Colin Higgins, I forget about it and then I watch it again and I guess there's no spoiler alert here. I adore this film.

Tony Maietta:
I find this film such a fun time. I love Goldie, I love Chevy. I think they have such a wonderful romantic chemistry. And remember. And think about this fun cast we have along with them. Okay. We have Goldie and Chevy as the romantic leads. But this film also has the distinction of introducing to the movie going public a wonderfully insane youngish comedian, musician and actor.

Tony Maietta:
1 Dudley Moore, who plays Stanley Tibbets, the unluckiest horny man in film history. I love Dudley Moore in this. He's, you know, he wasn't the first choice too. Do you happen to know who is the first choice to play Stanley was?

Brad Shreve:
No, I only read that originally this character didn't exist and they wanted to lighten things up a little. I don't.

Tony Maietta:
Yeah, well, originally. And I'll go into the background of the film, originally Colin Higgins had Tim Conway in mind. Oh, my God, Stanley. Now that could be funny. But when you think about Stanley and the situations he finds himself in, I think, to borrow a Lucy phrase, I don't think Tim Conway wanted to ruin his General Foods image, you know? Yeah. So you know Tim Conway in a massage parlor, not so great.

Brad Shreve:
I think of Tim Conway up there as far as comic genius with Robin Williams. The man is just hysterical. Just wonderful. I could not picture him in this film at all. It's. The thought of. It's almost disturbing.

Tony Maietta:
It is. It's very strange. And Dudley Moore is. He's phenomenal in this. He's just. He's. He's perfect in this film as Stanley. Stanley is a character that you, you know, that Colin Higgins weaves through this film.

Tony Maietta:
And he shows up when you least expect it. It's always a brilliant, brilliant bit. But we also have. Besides, besides Dudley Moore, we have the wonderful Burgess Meredith. Brian Dennehy.

Brad Shreve:
Yeah. So I didn't remember he was in it.

Tony Maietta:
I didn't. I always forget Brian Dennehy's in this. And I'm like, oh, my God. Yes, Brian Dennehy. And of course, Billy Barty. Do you just die when you see Billy? You're like, how long has this man worked? He's been. He was around forever.

Brad Shreve:
He had a great career. And that's. That scene to me was one of the funniest scenes. He was the most obnoxious salesman ever.

Tony Maietta:
Bible salesman. Yes, obnoxious Bible salesman. So we have a couple more people, but I think before we go any further, I have to introduce the incomparable Rachel Roberts as Ms. Caswell. Did you. Had you any knowledge of who Rachel Roberts was or Rachel Roberts work?

Brad Shreve:
I'm. I definitely am familiar with her. I've seen like, she's one of those. Oh, I recognized her face and I've seen her numerous things. I had no idea what her name is and I couldn't tell you what I've seen her in, but I recognized her instantly.

Tony Maietta:
Yeah, she will. We'll talk a bit about Rachel Roberts. She was quite a character. Quite a character. We also have Eugene Rochi as Archbishop Thorncrest, AKA Charlie, as Rachel calls him. Shut up. Charlie.

Brad Shreve:
He's another one of those. Oh, that guy. I think very few, very few people would know his name, but they would recognize him immediately.

Tony Maietta:
He was the Ajax man for years on television. The Ajax man. He's not the Maytag repair man. Easy to confuse them. He's the Ajax man. And of course, finally we have the terrific Marilyn Sokol as Stella, Gloria's co worker at the library. And Brad, let me ask you a question. What do you not do to Stella, Brad?

Brad Shreve:
Touch her?

Tony Maietta:
Mess with her.

Brad Shreve:
You don't mess with her.

Tony Maietta:
Nobody messes with Stella unless Stella wants to be messed with or you'll get.

Brad Shreve:
Smacked in the nuts with a brass knuckle.

Tony Maietta:
We used to quote that line all the time. Nobody messes with Stella unless Stella wants to be messed with. So we have this crazy cast coming together for this, in my opinion, wonderfully funny, crazy romantic comedy. So I'll go ahead and ask you, Brad. Might as well get it over with. Pull off the band aid. What did you think of foul play when you saw it again?

Brad Shreve:
Well, first of all, I want to say something that apparently I'M not the only one that thought this. I was so surprised. Apparently, many people, including me, as I just said, felt. Think of this huge run of movies starring Goldie and Chevy. And there were only two. Only two.

Tony Maietta:
There were only two.

Brad Shreve:
I would have sworn they were in at least four, maybe five.

Tony Maietta:
They're such a wonderful couple. I think they are such a wonderfully romantic, fun couple. I love them in this. I adore. I think they have. Their chemistry is off the charts to me.

Brad Shreve:
They look beautiful together.

Tony Maietta:
Yeah.

Brad Shreve:
And I forgot how yummy he looked.

Tony Maietta:
He does look at me. That scene. That romantic scene they have in the. In the houseboat where they're, like, telling me what. Your first impression of me. What? Right before that. Right before. And, you know, they're just.

Tony Maietta:
They're. It's foreplay. But it's so cute. There's two cute people. They're so. They're so adorable. Yeah, I agree with you.

Brad Shreve:
So now let me tell you how I feel about this movie.

Tony Maietta:
Okay?

Brad Shreve:
It was very nostalgic. I was excited when you suggested it, and. And I really enjoyed watching it because it's been so long and it made me think back. I didn't recall how bad this movie actually is. It's a fun movie. I could watch it again and have a good time. But because of this show and really paying attention, I'm like, there is so much wrong with this movie.

Tony Maietta:
What do you mean, wrong? It defined wrong to me.

Brad Shreve:
Well, first of all, I do not think that they had good chemistry. I think they had good chemistry as a couple together. I felt no romantic chemistry whatsoever.

Tony Maietta:
What about when they're practically in each other's faces before they kiss? Aren't you saying, like, kiss, kiss, kiss?

Brad Shreve:
No, I felt like nothing. I felt like it was a 70s. We need to do something sexual. Even though that wasn't very sexual, I didn't feel anything as. As far as them as a couple.

Tony Maietta:
Oh, I couldn't.

Brad Shreve:
I will say the.

Tony Maietta:
Couldn't disagree more.

Brad Shreve:
The stunts were bad. Horrible plot holes. Dudley Moore, I remember being absolutely hysterical. And it still was, but it was. He served nothing to the plot. It's perfectly okay to. If you have subplots, you need to either learn more about your character or it moves the major plot forward. It did none of that.

Brad Shreve:
It was just. It was a skit shoved into the movie. And I had a real problem with that. I got. I was funny. And then I was really bored. I'm like, move on. It's time to move on.

Tony Maietta:
He saved her. What's funny About Dudley Moore's character is he's constantly saving her. He constantly turns up. He turns up at the bar when they first meet, saves her. He turns up later at the massage parlor, saves her. Then he turns up to be the conductor of the orchestra of the opera where the assassination is going to. I think I love the way Higgins weaves him in and out of the plot. So when you least expect it, there he is in another ridiculous situation where he's being humiliated.

Tony Maietta:
You don't think that's enough? You think he has to serve the plot more?

Brad Shreve:
I do think I, I think he should have served the plot at least a little bit more. I think it was great the way he kept showing up and I remember that being so funny and I really enjoyed that aspect of it. But there could have just been a little something that advance the plot more. Instead it really, to me it emphasized how, I hate to say it, absolutely dumb. Goldie is in this film, but she's not the only one. Everybody is. Everybody is clueless in the film. The police look bad, the bad guys look bad.

Brad Shreve:
The non existent FBI and Secret Service, who would have been there when the Pope was there, looks bad on them. It just.

Tony Maietta:
You're forgetting this is, this is the 70s too. The security was not that. Oh, extreme.

Brad Shreve:
Oh, come on. Oh, come on. For the Pope, people were just wandering. People were wandering around that opera house with the Pope City.

Tony Maietta:
This is long before the Pope had to go around in that Pope mobile. I mean, this is. He was open to the public.

Brad Shreve:
I know, I know, but still.

Tony Maietta:
Well, okay, you have to suspend your disbelief a bit.

Brad Shreve:
Yes. And that's why I said I still enjoyed it.

Tony Maietta:
Right?

Brad Shreve:
I still enjoyed it, but it really. There is a lot wrong with this film.

Tony Maietta:
Sometimes I wonder about your criteria for judging a movie. You go, I loved it. I had a great time. It was hysterical. I enjoyed it. I hate this movie. It's terrible. And I'm like, what do you, what do you judge a movie?

Brad Shreve:
I didn't say I hated it, though. That's the thing. I didn't say it terrible. I would say from a, from a quality standpoint, it is not like I, I can enjoy a movie for what it is. I don't think every movie has to be Oscar worthy or that. But I expected a little bit of continuity and I, it's just, I was really disappointed. Okay, I still enjoyed it. I will watch it again.

Brad Shreve:
But I was disappointed.

Tony Maietta:
Well, we'll agree to disagree.

Brad Shreve:
Yes. And let me, I'll tell you right now, my biggest disappointment Is it was. Maybe this is from Working in Mysteries. It was the fact that they knew there was this professional assassin, well known professional assassin in town and there was an archbishop involved and that the Pope was going to be in town and they didn't connect the dots in any way, shape or form. I'm like, what?

Tony Maietta:
Yes. Well, you know, this is one.

Brad Shreve:
That's where I'm saying everybody was clueless in this film.

Tony Maietta:
That's, that's example of when I say, you know, you either suspend your disbelief or you fire its ass. And for that even I thought that I was like, okay, you say there's going to be an assassination. Who's in town? The Pope. Duh. Connect the dots. But if you notice what Colin Higgins does, and I love this about the script, is that the Pope is all throughout this film, he's always on in the background in the television and you want to say to the characters, look at your tv, look at your tv. So yeah, he's trying to say these people, it's right in front of you. But I think that's part of the genius of, of the screenplay and what Colin Higgins was trying to do.

Tony Maietta:
Because I don't think it's any surprise to you that this is an homage to Hitchcock.

Brad Shreve:
Oh yeah.

Tony Maietta:
This film as much, as much as High Anxiety was a spoof of Hitchcock, this film is an homage to Hitchcock. There are scenes in this film which he, he references. Saboteur, north by Northwest, Dial M for Murder, the Man who Knew Too Much. I mean, it's a, it's a love letter to Alfred Hitchcock. And sometimes with Hitchcock too, you gotta really suspend your disbelief and go, okay, what? Yeah, but that's what you have to do. There's even a MacGuffin in this movie. I love the fact there's, there's a MacGuffin in this movie that we know.

Brad Shreve:
Nothing about and it never is explained.

Tony Maietta:
That's the definition of a MacGuffin.

Brad Shreve:
Yes.

Tony Maietta:
You think is going to be this huge plot point and it turns out to be inconsequential, has nothing to do. So he takes you in there. But I, you know, again, I see what you're saying, but Brad, let me ask you. Are you ready to take a chance on this movie and talk about it even though, you know, even though you don't like it? I think maybe you should.

Brad Shreve:
You know, it took years to get that song out of my head and I loved it. I still actually, when I, when the movie came out, I'm like, this is really a beautiful song. I know A lot of people don't like it.

Tony Maietta:
I guess we should say we're talking about Ready to Take a Chance Again, which is the love theme from Foul Play. It's sung by Barry Manilow is the beginning credits role. So hoot. Who doesn't love this song?

Brad Shreve:
Some people critiqued it, didn't fit the film.

Tony Maietta:
Well, you know, she's funny because she sings it in the movie too. She sings?

Brad Shreve:
Yes. Yeah.

Tony Maietta:
They knew this was going to be in the film when, when Barry Manilow, he didn't write it. But when you talk about Oscar nominations, I think the only thing that got nominated from this film was that song.

Brad Shreve:
And I was really surprised he did not write it. I thought for sure he would have.

Tony Maietta:
No, he did not. It was written by Charles Fox and Norman Gimbal. But if you notice, he. He created the recording of it. I mean, that's Barry Manilow for you. But it's just another part of that ubiquitous 70s feeling this movie has. Because if you notice when she walks into the bar when she first meets Stanley Dudley Moore, that Copacabana is playing. And I'm like, yes, Barry's getting some mileage out of this movie.

Tony Maietta:
I'll tell you right now. Go ahead.

Brad Shreve:
And let me put this. When you, when you gave me the list of movies 9 to 5. Love 9 to 5 and loved it at the time. And I still enjoy it. But the last time I watched, I'm like, I forgot how 70s or 80s this film is. It's really. I don't think any. I think young people watching today would just think it's weird.

Tony Maietta:
Really?

Brad Shreve:
And I think that is along the lines of this one.

Tony Maietta:
Well, you know what? It's kind of hard to separate a film from its era. I mean, you can watch a movie like the. The Seven Year Itch and you can go, wow, that's so 50s you can watch. Unless the movie set in the past. You watch a movie like it's a Mad Mad, Mad Mad World. You can say that's so 60s. Notice how I noticed mentioned two films that we're going to be talking about eventually.

Brad Shreve:
But see, I think Mad Mad Mad Mad World is, is timeless.

Tony Maietta:
Do we really?

Brad Shreve:
And we talked about Mary Tyler Moore. Mary Tyler Moore is timeless. It's early 70s, but it's a work environment that people can relate to. And 9 to 5, I'm saying people can relate to it in many ways. I mean, we've all dealt with office politics or even if you don't work in a right office, there's politics in every Every position. So I think everybody can relate to that. I mean, it's just the way women are treated in nine to five. There's.

Brad Shreve:
I don't know if a lot people will connect with it. Well, and probably this is from watching so many of these movie reaction shows. People really scratch their heads and like, they're confused. Sometimes they'll go, I think there was a joke in there. I'm not really sure.

Tony Maietta:
But that's thanks to a movie like 9 to 5. Those things are not. Not necessarily as happening as much as they did because of a movie like 9 to 5, because it brought light to situations. I don't want to talk about 9 to 5. Maybe we'll talk about 9 to 5 sometime. But I think. I don't think this movie is dated at all. I mean, other than its fashions and the music.

Tony Maietta:
You can't escape that. You know, Time moves on. Music tastes change. I love the fact that this movie gives me a real late 70s feel. In fact, the song that won the best song Oscar that year, do you want to venture a guess at what it was?

Brad Shreve:
I know it. It was one of the worst movies ever. And I really enjoyed it. Anyway, it was from. Thank God it's Friday the Last Dance by Donna Summers.

Tony Maietta:
Exactly. An anthem to 70s disco. Same year as us. So I love that. I love the fact that when I'm in this movie, I'm like, God, the 70s. I mean, it's just so. It's just a great time to look back on.

Brad Shreve:
Did you watch or remember Think, God, it's Friday.

Tony Maietta:
I haven't seen Think God, It's Friday since 1978.

Brad Shreve:
Jeff Goldblum was the club owner and.

Tony Maietta:
Yeah, I remember, but I. I remember.

Brad Shreve:
That would be a fun one to watch. You want to step back in time. All right. Back to this movie.

Tony Maietta:
Back to Foul Play. Do we want to talk a little bit? Do you want to give a little breakdown of exactly what Foul Play is about?

Brad Shreve:
Certainly Foul Play is about Gloria Mundy, who is played by Goldie Hawn. And she is just after a party. She's driving on the Pacific coast highway. And it's definitely the 70s because she picks up a hitchhiker and he. He makes arrangements to see her that evening as he's watching a car behind him. And basically she gets stuck with a piece of film that bad guys are after, and she becomes involved in a. In a twisted plot. She's an everyday woman that works in the library.

Brad Shreve:
Very Hitchcockian.

Tony Maietta:
Very that.

Brad Shreve:
Yeah, very Hitchcockian. That. She is just a normal person who gets wrapped up in this plot and she has to convince the police what's happening and they have to solve what's happening.

Tony Maietta:
So, yeah, it's. You know, that's.

Brad Shreve:
That's in a nutshell. Very, very simple.

Tony Maietta:
That is in a nutshell. There's lots of. There's lots of twists and turns. There's lots of adventures in this, and we'll go over them. But I. Before we go any further, though, I think we need to issue a disclaimer right now and an apology to little people and people with albinism everywhere, because we will use the term dwarf in this episode and we will also use the term albino in this episode because they are big plot points and we mean no offense. We are just talking about this film. We know they're not exactly the terms that are appropriate.

Tony Maietta:
So if we say them, please don't take offense at them. They're used in this film. In fact, one of the biggest plot points of the film is when Scotty Guy, that Goldie Hawn, picks up his dying words to her in the movie theater are, beware the dwarf. And Goldie doesn't know what the. That means. And that's also a reason why she attacks Billy Barty the way she does.

Brad Shreve:
But poor Billy.

Tony Maietta:
Poor Billy, yes. So Brad gave you the. The plot in a nutshell. Goldie Hawn plays Gloria Mundy, and Gloria Mundi is a reference to the Latin term sick transit gloria mundi, which means thus passes the glory of the world. Now, I have no idea what the hell that has to do with this film other than the fact that it's a really great name. I love that name. But that's what that means. It was.

Tony Maietta:
It was. Well, it was a. The phrase was part of the rite of papal coronations until 1963. So maybe that has something to do with the fact that we have a Pope getting attempted assassination of a pope. Maybe. I don't know. I find it, if anybody else knows out there exactly why Colin Higgins decided to call her Gloria Mundy. Other than that, please let me know.

Tony Maietta:
I'd love to know.

Brad Shreve:
You did the pronunciation very well. I was sitting here trying to figure out how to pronounce it, and I'm like, think back to Latin class. I probably don't remember because I haven't used Latin since then.

Tony Maietta:
It's true. It's true, it's true. But, you know, so, yes, it is. The film is an homage. This is funny. This is kind of our second homage to Alfred Hitchcock. I wouldn't call it High Anxiety homage. I call it a spoof.

Tony Maietta:
This is a homage because it. The plot holds on its own with air quotes, real characters, real situations, and Hitchcock is referenced. It's not a recreation of Hitchcock scenes, although there are some very great nods I love. One of my favorite ones is the dial in for Murder nod. When. When Goldie Hawn's being attacked by the man in the scar in her house with a scarf, it's a call out to dial in for murder. And as she's getting choked, she reaches her hand back to try to grab something, and you notice she reaches into this box and there's a pair of scissors and knitting needles. Well, in Dial in for Murder, Grace Kelly grabs the scissors and stabs her attacker.

Tony Maietta:
And in Foul Play, Goldie Hawn grabs the knitting needles. So I kind of. I love that. That was. That was a great little twist there. I love that.

Brad Shreve:
Yes.

Tony Maietta:
And as we said, the plot also includes a MacGuffin because. And what a MacGuffin is, is an object that initially is the central focus of the film. But as the film goes on, it declines in importance until it's forgotten. Until we're like, oh, wait a minute. Yeah, what happened to that? And so in this film, it's Scotty puts a microfilm into a pack of cigarettes and. And tells Goldie Hawn's character to please hold on to it for him until they meet that night. But when they meet that night, he's been shot or stabbed and he dies in the movie theater.

Brad Shreve:
So through most of the movie, it sits at an end table just sitting there just slightly under a plant until Burgess Meredith picks it up and tosses it into a fireplace.

Tony Maietta:
That's the end of it.

Brad Shreve:
That's it. Other than sitting there, I love it.

Tony Maietta:
But why? Okay, but why does he throw it into the fireplace? Who has a real predilection for cigarettes?

Brad Shreve:
His snake.

Tony Maietta:
Yes, Esme, played by Shirley the Python. Esme. I love it. Esme. When we first see Esme, Gloria has just come home and BURGESS MEREDITH PLAYS Mr. Hennessy, plays is Gloria's landlord. And she's telling him what happened in the movie theater when Scotty died. And then his body disappeared.

Tony Maietta:
And we slowly see the snake come winding around her feet. And we think, oh, somebody put a snake in here. It's going to attack her. And the snake comes up and goes for the cookies and purchase. Meredith goes, esme, no. No cookies. She loves cookies and cigarettes. So that's another great fake out.

Tony Maietta:
The fact that this is this pet snake of Mr. Hennessy, I love this stuff. You don't like this stuff? I think it's so great.

Brad Shreve:
You're getting me wrong. For example, something that's really stupid, this movie, but it makes me laugh. Okay. The. The albino it takes. Catches Goldie, she faints, and he takes her away. And they lock her into this room while they had the opportunity. They didn't search her apartment, in which they would have very easily.

Brad Shreve:
Well, they would have found the cigarette pack. They wouldn't necessarily know the film was in it.

Tony Maietta:
Right.

Brad Shreve:
But clearly they did not search her apartment. So it makes no sense whatsoever. But that didn't. That didn't upset me. Like, most of this stuff didn't upset me. It made me laugh.

Tony Maietta:
I love the fact.

Brad Shreve:
I just was surprised I didn't remember all this.

Tony Maietta:
I love how Colin Higgins, as I said, interweaves character throughout. And he inter. He interweaves plot points. For example, the whole scene with Stella after Goldiehan is first attacked, when Stella says, stella. Nobody messes with Stella unless Stella wants to be messed with. And she gives Goldie Hawn the brass knuckles. She gives her the can of Mace, and she gives her the. The thing that makes a really loud noise, the alarm.

Tony Maietta:
And so when Goldie is kidnapped, she uses those things to escape. And I love the fact that everything is placed at certain points in this plot to carry the story forward. I like that he does that. I find that he does the same thing in nine to five. You know, the rat poison in nine five shows up over and over and over again. It's just. That's what Colin Higgins does. I think he really.

Tony Maietta:
He really thought this out and put these little things in here.

Brad Shreve:
And that emphasizes. That emphasizes my point, because Stella had several purposes. One, her relationship with Goldie. So you got to see part of Goldie's everyday life. She added some comedy relief, and she was integral to the plot as far as. Because she handed Goldie those items. So she was a. To me, a perfect character having this.

Brad Shreve:
Whereas I didn't feel that from. To me, Dudley Moore was in there just as a comic relief.

Tony Maietta:
But what a great comic relief. What a great comic relief.

Brad Shreve:
Okay. Yeah. Well, when we get to his big scenes. Well, I'll talk about those.

Tony Maietta:
I love when Stella and Stanley meet when he's arrested and he accidentally smacks her ass. She goes, watch it, buddy. It's like, this guy cannot catch a break. I'm just gonna give a brief backstory on this film because there's not a lot to it. The original script for Foul play was, was written under the name Killing Lydia. And Colin Higgins did have Goldie in mind for it. He had met Goldie through their mutual friend Hal Ashby. Hashby directed Harold and Maude Colin script, and he had directed Goldie in Shampoo.

Tony Maietta:
So they knew each other, but the project did not go anywhere. And then after Silver Streak was such a big hit, Higgins was hot, so he could say, now I want to direct. So he, he presented the script again to Paramount. But, but Goldie was off for a couple years having her son, the delectable Oliver Hudson. That's all I'm going to say. So she wasn't working. So they offered it to Farrah Fawcett, but, but Fawcett was having her Charlie's Angels issues at that point, so she couldn't do it. So by the time it went into production, Goldie was available.

Tony Maietta:
She came back and did it and she. You know, it's kind of interesting because Goldie Hawn, I don't know if people today realize how powerful Goldie Hawn was in the late 70s and 80s. I remember a Life magazine in 1986 and it had the five most powerful women in Hollywood. And it was Barbara, of course, Jane Fonda, Sally Field, Jessica Lange and Goldie. Because Goldie was not only an actress, Goldie was a producer. She produced Private Benjamin, she produced Overboard, some of these big hits of hers of the 80s. And I think Goldie, not only is she an Academy Award winning actress, but she's a very smart lady, a very smart cookie, somebody who goes against the, the grain of her Persona as this ditzy blonde, which I don't know that I find her ditzy in this. Brad, I actually think she's quite smart in this movie.

Brad Shreve:
No, she's ditzy. She, she doesn't, she doesn't, she doesn't act in a very smart manner.

Tony Maietta:
Okay, okay, she's a Hitchcock blonde. What do you want from her?

Brad Shreve:
She. That. Yes, I was gonna bring that up. That Hitchcockian again. She's a blonde.

Tony Maietta:
Yes. So when they were casting it, they had Goldie. We already talked about. Colin's first choice for Stanley was Tim Conway. Thank God he turned it down. The first choice for Tony the Detective. Who. Do you know who some of his first choices were?

Brad Shreve:
No, I don't know.

Tony Maietta:
His first choice was Harrison Ford.

Brad Shreve:
Oh.

Tony Maietta:
Because Harrison Ford had been his carpenter. You know how Harrison Ford was a carpenter before he hit it with Star Wars?

Brad Shreve:
Yeah. Yep.

Tony Maietta:
And then he offered it to Steve Martin too, but they both turned it down. So eventually he went to Chevy Chase, who had just left Saturday Night Live.

Brad Shreve:
Yes.

Tony Maietta:
And it totally set him off on this, on this career which, you know, went on and on and on.

Brad Shreve:
And he was somewhat, I tried, for lack of a better word, he was somewhat lecherous, as he is known to be in his, in his movies, a charming lechery. Yeah, yeah. I don't, that's, that's why I said I don't like to use the term. But he really was. And it's really the only reason. He's the one that despite. She's talking about crazy things like dwarves and albinos and mammoth scars. Yes.

Brad Shreve:
He's the only one that took her seriously. But he really didn't. It was. He's kind of trying to make his moves a little bit.

Tony Maietta:
Well, I love the way they brought him in because first they meet at that party and she thinks he's a bore and then he turns out to be the detective on the case that she. That. And that's how they fall in love. I mean, it's.

Brad Shreve:
Yes. And don't get me wrong, that was not a critic. Criticism of the film at all. That's Chevy Chase.

Tony Maietta:
Well, yeah, I mean I, I come and go with Chevy Chase sometimes. I find him incredibly appealing in this movie and I find him incredibly obnoxious in many other movies. Don't get me started on the vacation movies. I mean, I just can't. But you know what other movie we talked about how this is an homage to Hitchcock. You know what else I think this is homage to? Brad.

Brad Shreve:
What's up, Doc? I thought about, for the whole movie, I kept thinking about, what's up Doc?

Tony Maietta:
There are so many similarities with this movie and what's up dog? And I don't think Colin Higgins was. Was grifting on Peter Bogdanovich, but it's so funny. Not only all of the San Francisco locations. I mean the Noe Valley, the Mission, Telegraph Hill. There's a pizza parlor scene in this, like, there's a pizza parlor scene in what's up Document? And of course the chase at the end of the movie, I'm like. And Goldie even says, this is a one way street. And I thought, isn't cheffy supposed to say I'm only going one way? I'm like, no, that's what's up Doc. It's so funny.

Tony Maietta:
I was expecting them to get into a VW Bug, but instead they get into the truck of that gorgeous. Far out guy.

Brad Shreve:
Yes.

Tony Maietta:
And destroy it. But it's so funny. It's it's what's Up Doc. It is. It reminded me so much of what's Up Doc? And I think probably Colin Higgins and the producers of this film got permits to do this chase because they destroy almost as much stuff as they destroyed on what's Up Doc?

Brad Shreve:
And regarding the cowboy, I had to. After the film ended, I immediately had to go to his filmography. Apparently, he was more of a stuntman than an actor.

Tony Maietta:
But, well, you needed to be good. You needed to be. You needed to be to be in that. I mean, my God, that was hysterical. His name was Sandy, and I don't remember anybody ever mentioning his name in. In the movie at all. To me, he's just the gorgeous far out guy.

Brad Shreve:
Far out.

Tony Maietta:
Far out. So I would love to talk about a couple of my favorite scenes in this movie. What about you? What would you like to talk about with this?

Brad Shreve:
I'd like to talk about some of the things I really enjoyed about this film because it sounds like I didn't like it. And I. I did like it. I just. The only reason I'm bringing these things.

Tony Maietta:
Up is I was really surprised how much you forgot.

Brad Shreve:
It caught me off guard. Not. Well, not how much I forgot. Like, there were things I really remembered, like the Far out. I remember that being funny. I remember the Kojak bang bang being hysterically funny. Though some would say it's probably. I don't know, I don't consider it racist, but because they could be from anywhere.

Brad Shreve:
There's. There's so many good things about this movie. I just was surprised how bad aspects of it before I mentioned the. The stunts. Like some of the fight scenes weren't that. That well done. There is a scene when they're going down the hill. And, you know, typically, as you're going down the hill, you have cars that cross.

Tony Maietta:
Right.

Brad Shreve:
You know, you can see the cars clearly sitting there waiting till their cue.

Tony Maietta:
No, no, no, no.

Brad Shreve:
They're supposed to cut after that.

Tony Maietta:
They were at a stoplight. They were at a stoplight. Brad. I know what scene you're talking about. I know which shot in the chase you're talking about.

Brad Shreve:
Okay, I'll watch it again.

Tony Maietta:
They're at a stoplight because if you notice, they moved at the same time. I mean, that's the way I took it. Yes, I took it. They were at a stop sign. They were a stop light. So that's why I took it.

Brad Shreve:
They were sitting there waiting, and then they did it.

Tony Maietta:
But before the chase.

Brad Shreve:
I could be wrong before the chase.

Tony Maietta:
So there's a bunch of fun, fun scenes. Yes, go ahead.

Brad Shreve:
So scenes I enjoyed. This isn't necessary scene. I really liked Burgess Meredith in this. I liked his relationship with Goldie. It was very.

Tony Maietta:
He's great.

Brad Shreve:
It was a very loving relationship. He cared a lot for her and he was a fun character. You know, he's played so many different types of characters. And that's what I really noticed during this film. I'm like, he did the Penguin. He's done this. He did.

Tony Maietta:
Oh, yeah. He had like a six, six decade career. Burgess Meredith, for people who don't know Burgess Meredith was. He received two Oscar nominations. One in seven back to back, by the way. One in 75 for Dave Locust and 76 for probably his most famous role as Mickey in Rocky. But his second most famous role as Brad just mentioned was as the Penguin in the Batman series. I love him.

Tony Maietta:
I love him. I love the fact that he's a judo expert. I love the fact that he's like. He's always wants to get in on the action and talk about my favorite scene, his showdown with Rachel Roberts. And.

Brad Shreve:
Oh, that was hysterical.

Tony Maietta:
Maybe this is why you think that the. I didn't think the stunts were bad at all in this because we have Rachel Roberts, who was pretending to be the archbishop secretary, but it's revealed that she is a bad guy. She's one of. She's behind the plot to assassinate the Pope. And the Archbishop, who we think is the archbishop, is actually his twin brother who was killed at the very beginning of the movie. There's a plot hole. But yeah, okay, I'll give you that. I'll give you that.

Tony Maietta:
So Goldie and Chevy Chase are tied up in the Archbishop's house. And. But. But Burgess Meredith is there. They don't know it. And he comes to save them and he throws a bottle and he knocks out the archbishop. And then Rachel Roberts looks and he takes a judo stance. And then Rachel Roberts takes a judo stance.

Tony Maietta:
And you can see the glee in his eye. Cause he's like, we're gonna have a battle here. And they do this phenomenal, phenomenal judo fight where they're all over the room.

Brad Shreve:
And I don't remember that as being badly choreographed. I'm sure if I watched it and analyzed it, I would. But it was so much fun. Especially to me, the fun. It was so much fun to watch those two after each other. But the funnest part to me was Chevy and Goldie just kind of sitting there. Cat. Because it's what is going.

Brad Shreve:
They're Tied up, they can't do anything. So they're just kind of like, spect.

Tony Maietta:
This isn't Jackie Chan, you know, or this isn't Bruce Lee. This is these two middle aged elderly people going at it, throwing each other all over the room. I mean, he takes a painting and knocks it over her head, picks up a plant, shoves in the face. It's hysterical. And when he finally knocks her out and he throws her in the piano and knocks the lid off the piano and she's trapped in the piano, he turns and he says, she was one tough old mama. Yes, I love that when she kicks her shoes off and she goes, hi It. See, that's why I love this movie. It's so much fun.

Tony Maietta:
I love that scene. I love that scene. Another one of my favorite scenes. And I forgot about this scene until I rewatched it. And I don't know how I forgot about it because I remember the first time I saw it, I was laughing hysterically. So Goldie keeps getting kidnapped throughout the movie. She gets kidnapped and then she escapes. She gets kidnapped and she gets.

Tony Maietta:
And she escapes and she goes back to Chevy Chase and finally they believe her about this story about the dwarf and the albino and they're being an assassination. But one of the times she's kidnapped and she escapes, she's in this. It looks like an abandoned building, but it's not an abandoned building. It's a building in a very bad part of town. And she climbs out on the fire escape and it's raining. And notice she takes off her shoes, Brad. So note to Stella Stevens and Pamela Sue Martin. You can climb down scaffolding in your bare feet, okay? Or your stalking feet.

Brad Shreve:
And I gotta tell you, I was like, is she on Derulo Street?

Tony Maietta:
It did look like 159 Derullo street, didn't it? You're like, it's what's up, dog? She's climbing down the fire escape and she sees a light on in another apartment and she trying to get these people attention. And the camera goes in and it's two elderly women playing Scrabble having this totally innocuous conversation while they're playing Scrabble. But when they were playing Scrabble, Brad, what were they spelling out?

Brad Shreve:
I had forgotten about this. And it had me laughing so hard. Well, it started with fuck. And then the next woman added er, so it became fucker. And then the next one added mother.

Tony Maietta:
And what was wrong with. What was wrong with motherfucker?

Brad Shreve:
The problem with is it's a hyphenated thing. But I also was. I'm like, is it spelled with a U or no? Is it?

Tony Maietta:
No, it's a U.

Brad Shreve:
She spelled it with a U. And I wasn't sure.

Tony Maietta:
It's not going to be in any Scrabble dictionary that you can show. Yes, they're playing, basically playing dirty word Scrabble. These two elderly ladies, one of them is. Who is. One of the ladies playing, by the way, is Hope Summers, who for years played Clara Edwards on the Andy Griffith Show, Aunt Bee's Friend. So it's so funny to see Clara playing dirty word Scrabble, but they're having this totally innocuous conversation that you would imagine old ladies air quotes would have about Arizona Highways magazine. And, oh, that was just lovely, wasn't it? And they're like, oh, look, triple word score. And she puts down, you know, motherfucker.

Tony Maietta:
And she goes, I think that's wrong. I think that's spelled with a hyphen. She goes, oh, worth a shot. It's so. I forgot all about that scene. And it made me. I did, too, hysterically, while I was watching that. I thought, that is a brilliant scene.

Tony Maietta:
Goldie escapes. She jumps into a dump truck and it takes her away. And my other favorite scene is the chase. And it's the two Asian tourists in the backseat. So they get into. Just like in what's Up, Doc?

Brad Shreve:
Yes.

Tony Maietta:
They're changing cars. They're there. They leave the archbishops. Burgess Meredith has knocked Rachel Roberts out. They're rushing to prevent the assassination of the Pope. They have to go all the way across town. So they go through all of San Francisco, and at one point, they get into a limousine from the airport, and they don't realize there are two. Two Asian couple, an Asian couple behind them, two customers being taken from the airport.

Tony Maietta:
And it's this cute little tiny Asian couple who are so confused because they don't speak English. And they're being. And Goldie's trying to explain to them, it's police. He's police. Bang, bang. You know, Kojak. And that's the word they get. Kojak.

Tony Maietta:
And they think, kojak, Kojak. And so they think they're on television. It's great. And they take out their little American flags and they're waving and laughing and just having the best time in this.

Brad Shreve:
And they keep saying kojak. Bang, bang. And they're waving their flags and the car is doing leaps in the sky and. And they're laughing through the whole thing. It is just so cute. I love that scene. I love that scene.

Tony Maietta:
It's a. It's so much fun. They are so happy. They're having such a good time. One of the things I love most about this movie is the score. It's by Charles Fox, the same guy who wrote Ready to Take a Chance Again. And it's such a fun score. There's so many Hitchcockian melodies in this score.

Tony Maietta:
You know, like when she first comes upon the albino in the library. And the music builds and builds and builds. And then there's that climax when you see the albino when she faints in her bath in her kitchen. And it's right out of Vertigo. And she starts. It's slow motion. And the camera starts to turn.

Brad Shreve:
Yes.

Tony Maietta:
And it's that wonderful, lush music Bernard Herman did. Doesn't his school. I love that. And the music during the chase is so much fun. It's such a fun, bouncy music. And they're back there in the back of that limo with their flags going back. It's. It may be cultural, culturally inappropriate, but it's off.

Tony Maietta:
It's an awful lot of fun, I think.

Brad Shreve:
Yes, I agree. It was. It was fun. And I. I hate that I'm coming across like I didn't enjoy it.

Tony Maietta:
No, no, no. And you just don't. You just don't like it. You love these scenes, but you don't like the movie. I don't understand your criteria, Brad.

Brad Shreve:
Because I can set that aside and enjoy it. Because it's hard for me from a writing standpoint, not to analyze. Like when I worked in the hotel industry, I could go to the most luxurious hotel in the world and enjoy myself at the same time. I noticed every piece of trash on the floor, everything out of place. It's the same thing when it comes to writing.

Tony Maietta:
It's kind of funny. You have. You, who are the air quotes normal guy from our beginning who likes movies. And I'm the air quotes film historian. And I'm like, isn't it a good time? And you're like, I see plot holes. I see things that don't make sense. And I'm like, didn't you have fun, though? Wasn't it great? And that's. That's what I.

Tony Maietta:
That's how I look at a movie.

Brad Shreve:
You know what? I'm. I'm mimicking Rex Reed, who hated everything. That's true.

Tony Maietta:
True. That's true.

Brad Shreve:
If it wasn't long and boring, he hated it. So that's. That's where I'm coming from.

Tony Maietta:
So true. So they finally get to the opera house. They're able to. To overtake the Albino, who's. Here's a Manchurian Candidate shout out. Did you. Did you. Were you having Manchurian Canada's flashbacks as the Albino is up in the.

Tony Maietta:
Up above with his gun. You know, didn't he seem like Lawrence Harvey loading up that gun? He was even sweating like Lawrence Harvey when he's ready to assassinate. I got Manchurian Candidate flashbacks.

Brad Shreve:
Now that you mention it, it seems very obvious, but no, I didn't make that connection at all.

Tony Maietta:
I thought that was so funny. I'm like, that's Manchurian Candidate. So anyway, one. One more time, he gets a hold of. Of Goldie Hawn and takes her and runs with her up through the catacombs of the theater, up to where they're above where the Mikado is being performed. And there's a shootout and unfortunately, two policemen die, which I didn't like. But the. They fall over.

Tony Maietta:
Chevy Chase is able to get a really clear shot of the Albino shoots him. He falls down. They're caught up in the scenery for Pinafore, which must be what's playing after this current comic opera.

Brad Shreve:
Yes, that was. That was really funny.

Tony Maietta:
And the flat comes down and you see these two dead bodies on the side of a ship. This is HMS Pinafore. And the audience is stunned. And of course, Dudley Moore is the conductor. And he's stunned, too, but he's really stunned when he sees. Once again, he sees Gloria Mundy, Goldie Hawn there, and he sees that Chevy Chase is a cop. And so he reaches down and puts on a pair of sunglasses so nobody recognizes him.

Brad Shreve:
What I loved most, and I thought they did it really well, or the actors on stage just kind of looking around like, what the hell is going on? Like, stunned that this. This ship has dropped down behind them.

Tony Maietta:
I know.

Brad Shreve:
And how do we play this off? Because I found that very believable. They were. It was funny to watch their faces. And to me, they came across as very real.

Tony Maietta:
And the audience is stunned until the Pope starts applauding and they all start applauding. And then it's like, that was a nice touch. Makes all the sense. And that's, of course, when Goldie and Chevy take their bows and. And that's the end of Foul Play to me, a very funny, funny, wonderful, fun movie. So, Brad, why don't you tell us a little bit about how Foul Play did when it was released.

Brad Shreve:
Yeah, I have the information. And it was kind of a surprise. Hit it. It only cost $5 million and I saw another one that said 10 million, but 5 million is the one I saw the most often.

Tony Maietta:
I saw five.

Brad Shreve:
Yep. And it earned 45 million. So first of all, it was very cheaply made. And secondly, 40 million is not too shabby.

Tony Maietta:
No, that's a good return. That's a good return.

Brad Shreve:
The reception from people nowadays is kind of lukewarm, a little towards the warm side. It's critics give it a 69% and audience give it a 66%. And I'm going to take a guess that in the 70s it would probably been much higher.

Tony Maietta:
Mm.

Brad Shreve:
As far as other movies that came out this year, this movie was the 10th most profitable film of 1978. Now, you mentioned the Academy Award, and it was. The only nomination it got was Best Original Song, which we talked about. Right? It did. We don't talk about the Golden Globes very often, but it was nominated for four different Golden Globes.

Tony Maietta:
Right.

Brad Shreve:
Both Goldie and Chevy for Best Actor and Actress, Best Motion Picture. So at least they got some accolades from there.

Tony Maietta:
Right.

Brad Shreve:
As far as the top 10 box office hits, as I said, it was number 10. We talked about this when we did Midnight Express, but the top were Grease, Superman, National Lampoons, Animal House, Every which Way But Loose, and number five. A movie we should eventually do because we both like it as Heaven Can Wait. Other notable films of the year would be the Deer Hunter, Coming Home. Thank God it's Friday. As we said, Halloween was a biggie. I think people have heard about that movie. Invasion of the Body Snatchers, the remake.

Brad Shreve:
Eyes of Laura Mars, one of your favorites. And the Wiz. The Wiz.

Tony Maietta:
I always mean that ironically when I say the Eyes of Laura Mars is one of my favorites.

Brad Shreve:
Oh, really? I didn't know you meant it. I. I was trying to be nice. I never said anything because it's an awfully slow film.

Tony Maietta:
Tommy Lee Jones is gorgeous in that movie, but that's pretty much all I love about it.

Brad Shreve:
And I didn't realize it was a John Carpenter film.

Tony Maietta:
We've been hanging out in 1978 a lot lately. That's so funny. Yes, we've been hanging out in the 70s a lot. So we're gonna. We're gonna take a trip backward after this. But I just want to say that, yes, it was. The movie was a. Was a big hit.

Tony Maietta:
And Han and Chase were reunited in 1980 for Neil Simons. Seems like old times, which I think is a. It's a cute movie. I don't think it's nearly as good as Foul Play. But what's interesting about it, it's the only film directed by our MTM friend of the pod, Jay Sandrich. So isn't that interesting? Here's Jay again. We just talked about him last week, and this is the only film he did. So, yeah, it's not as good as foul play, in my opinion.

Tony Maietta:
I love foul play. I want to talk a little bit about some of these people that were in foul play. Just a little more information about them. I think we all know, you know, after Dudley Moore did this film, it was his first American film. He was in beyond the fringe in the 60s. He was part of that whole. Great. We talked about it during Keeping Up Appearances.

Tony Maietta:
Great. That was the week that was British comic Benny Hill kind of comic revolution in the 60s. Blake Edwards said, I want that man. He put him in the film 10 became a huge, huge cultural phenomenon. And then, of course, he made one of my favorite movies. And I. Do we talk about. I hope we talk about Arthur sometime, because he was so wonderful in Arthur.

Tony Maietta:
But here's what. Here's what's kind of sad, sadly ironic about that. So, you know, after having his greatest success playing this lovable, drunken Arthur, he was diagnosed with terminal degenerative brain disorder, psp, which is a Parkinson's like syndrome. And some of the early symptoms are similar to intoxication. So he was often reported as being drunk and. No, he was suffering from this horrible disease which eventually and very sadly took his life. We talked about. I wanted to say about Rachel Roberts, and I don't want to go too much into, because I don't want to bring this podcast down.

Tony Maietta:
This is supposed to be a fun summer podcast, but Rachel Roberts, if you ever get a chance to seek out some Rachel Roberts films. Rachel Roberts was nominated for an Academy Award in 1963 for Best Actress for a film called this Sporting Life. She was an incredibly interesting, complicated actress. And I think, as you can see in this film, it's kind of refreshing to see her in this lighter film because she could get really into it. She was an incredibly, incredibly accomplished dramatic actress. But unfortunately, she's better known for her personal life because she was married to Rex Harrison. And what was known about them was they were kind of a nightmare version of Taylor and Burton because they were known for their excessive drinking. They engaged in public fights.

Tony Maietta:
So she became more notorious than she was celebrated for the really accomplished actress that she was. And unfortunately, she committed suicide in 1980 by drinking lye, which is a horrible, horrible death, very violent death. It's very Sad. She had a very, very sad end. And we talked about Colin Higgins, who was openly gay and who died of age related illnesses in August of 1988 at the age of 47. But what if there's any silver lining to this horrible cloud? The Colin Higgins foundation, which was established following his diagnosis with HIV. It's established in 1986 and it provides support for gay and transgender youth. And I think that's wonderful that out of this horrible tragedy of this brilliantly talented young man's life ending much too soon.

Tony Maietta:
That's a great legacy. So I got to give it up to Colin Higgins. I am a huge, huge Colin Higgins fan. Please, ladies and gentlemen, if you have an opportunity to watch any of these films, watch Harold Mod, for God's sake, watch nine to five if you haven't. What wonderful, wonderful films and what a great legacy this air quotes unknown director.

Brad Shreve:
Has left us and watch Foul Play. Because if you're like me, it was so fun to go back and watch this film for. I know it doesn't sound like it, but it really was nostalgic for me. I enjoyed it more than I didn't like it. I just had to bring up the things because, like I said, they struck me. It's because I was astounded.

Tony Maietta:
I know. I'm just kidding. I think it's. I think it's fine, Brad. I think it's fine. I'm glad that we did it. It was a lot of fun. Is there anything else you want to say about Foul play or about the podcast?

Brad Shreve:
Well, no, I had some things to say about foul play, but it will one on a high note there or on a good note about.

Tony Maietta:
Well, I don't really. I just listed these dead people, so I don't really know that that was necessarily a high note, but why?

Brad Shreve:
No, but you gave. You gave a very well said acknowledgement to the director.

Tony Maietta:
And of course, Goldie and Chevy just keep going. They just keep going. Well, Brad, I guess there's only one thing left to say, but I don't.

Brad Shreve:
Know, there's several things left to say.

Tony Maietta:
Oh, yeah, you got to talk about the. Yes, I'm sorry, go ahead.

Brad Shreve:
If you're new to listening to this show, we ask that you please subscribe so you can listen to more and grow to love us as much as we love ourselves. And if you've been listening to us for a while, we would love it if you would go to Apple, Spotify, or wherever you listen to this podcast. The vast majority of you listen on Apple and rate and review us. We would, we would love that. That people will see that and will be more likely to listen in.

Tony Maietta:
Yes. What are you waiting for? What are you waiting for? Do it. Do it. So we've been hanging out a lot in the 70s and 80s. We're going to go back in time next week. Week. I'm not going to tell you what, but we're going to go on because we are classic Hollywood. Even though I consider these films part of the second classic age of Hollywood.

Tony Maietta:
We're going to have some fun going back in time a bit. So I hope everybody joins us. So anyway, Brad, I guess there's only one thing left to say but I don't want to say it. So let's not say goodbye. Let's say au revoir.

Brad Shreve:
No, let's say goodbye.

Tony Maietta:
Shut up, Charlie. Don't excite yourself. Bye everybody.

Brad Shreve:
That's all, folks.

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