Rating: 3.5/5
Cult Movie Challenge 2024 | 50/52 | Cameron Mitchell
1954. You don't get years like that anymore. It was my favorite year. […] In 1954, television was live, and comedy was king. Comic stars like Milton Berle, Sid Caesar, and Jackie Gleason kept America in front of their TV sets. I was the freshman writer on The Comedy Cavalcade starring Stan "King" Kaiser, Saturday nights at 8:00.
Benjy Stone makes his way out of 30 Rockefeller Plaza in NYC carrying a cardboard cutout of his idol, Alan Swann, a swashbuckling adventure star from the 1930s and 1940s. That week, Swann will be the guest star on The Comedy Cavalcade.
When Benjy gets to the writer’s room, he finds out Swann has gone missing on a sex and booze-fueled bender. When Swann finally shows up, he’s plastered. King and the execs want to dump him, but Benjy begs them to give Swann one more shot. So, King assigns Benjy to babysit Swann every day until showtime.
An episode of 30 Rock features Kenneth meeting his idol, Bucky Bright, only to learn of the traumatizing horrors that Bright engaged in during the early days of television. I’m pretty sure this movie inspired that episode. In fact, the sets, illogical plot developments, and permanent manic energy remind me so much of 30 Rock that this movie has to influence the show.
Cameron Mitchell shows up as Karl, a Jack Donaghy-type boss, gruff-voiced and suited expensively, with whom King has a long-standing grudge over a recurring skit impersonating Karl.
I love that Herb is too shy to say his jokes out loud, so he whispers them to Alice.
The worst scenes are Benjy “romancing” K.C. Mark Linn-Baker is charmless, despite the movie’s best efforts. Jessica Harper is underutilized and relegated to the humorless love interest. You could cut these scenes and affect nothing else in the film.
Overall, I found this quite funny. Though it meanders, it finds its way to a satisfying finale.