John Candy as Orson Welles

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Slowly easing into a holiday mood, I happened upon this early '80s SCTV John Candy bit, apparently based on a tape of the actual Orson Welles recording a British frozen-peas audio advertisement.

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Posted by Jeffrey Wells on November 16, 2007 at 4:19 PM

comment #1

Carl LaFong says ...

Actually, it was an infamous frozen food commercial Welles was recording. Transcript and sound clip on Wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Frozen_Peas

Posted by Carl LaFong at November 16, 2007 4:48 PM

comment #2

le corbeau says ...

I wanted to be KING OF THE POPES!

Posted by le corbeau at November 16, 2007 5:07 PM

comment #3

D.Z. says ...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K3qg4i22x9M
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IH1PJTY9AVA&feature=related
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f3B3C5hR1lk&feature=related

Posted by D.Z. at November 16, 2007 5:54 PM

comment #4

The Hoyk says ...

It's nice that Mgmax and I can find some very funny common ground. It took me a long time to realize that THE MAN WHO WOULD BE KING OF THE POPES was really more of a rib on BECKET than anything else, right down to the "Alan Bates as 'the tailor'" detail.

I've never heard confirmation of this, but I think the Welles incident was the inspiration for Monty Python's "Bishop" sketch, where a bishop keeps flubbing his voiceover lines. The audio engineer who is suffering Orson's wrath is definitely British (which is why I think Pinky was given his very silly English accent on "Pinky and the Brain."), and I think this dialogue is telling:

"Who is he?"

"The Bishop of Leicester, I think."

"Why couldn't we get Bath-and-Welles?"

"He's doing frozen peas for Nigel."

"Lucky bastard, he's so good."

Posted by The Hoyk at November 16, 2007 6:14 PM

comment #5

Jack Price says ...

Proof that Hoyk's Pinky and the Brain connection is utterly true:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rl_TFyk2GJo&feature=related

Posted by Jack Price at November 16, 2007 6:33 PM

comment #6

jeffmcm says ...

DZ, you forgot to add that we should all know by now that Welles was a hack because he did The Lady from Shanghai.

Posted by jeffmcm at November 16, 2007 6:48 PM

comment #7

D.Z. says ...

Welles made the animated Transformers movie memorable. Lester made Superman crash and burn.

Posted by D.Z. at November 16, 2007 6:59 PM

comment #8

jeffmcm says ...

No, he didn't. Superman II is, as far as I'm concerned, the best of the Reeve series.

Posted by jeffmcm at November 16, 2007 7:03 PM

comment #9

D.Z. says ...

The Donner Cut's better; not perfect, but better.

Posted by D.Z. at November 16, 2007 7:07 PM

comment #10

WinslowLeachtheComposer says ...

GodDAMN, John Candy, he is missed. Actually, so is just about everybody else on SCTV.

Posted by WinslowLeachtheComposer at November 16, 2007 8:21 PM

comment #11

scooterzz says ...

you do know that welles stole 'lady from shanghai' from william castle, right?...and, while that might not make him a hack, it does make him something not good.....

Posted by scooterzz at November 16, 2007 9:05 PM

comment #12

MathewM says ...

The Donner Cut sucks. I typically like seeing alternate versions but cutting in the casting calls from 1978 did not work.

I personally like the vibe Lester gave the Superman films. Superman 2 is a lot of fun and while Supes 3 is a mess it has way more memorable scenes than Superman Returns.

Posted by MathewM at November 17, 2007 6:21 AM

comment #13

Jeremy Smith says ...

"Girl or no girl, you're gonna spit teeth."

I have no use for the Donner cut.

Posted by Jeremy Smith at November 17, 2007 7:52 AM

comment #14

D.Z. says ...

MathewM: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UiwduaIGVVE

Posted by D.Z. at November 17, 2007 9:41 AM

comment #15

MathewM says ...

You know as idiotic as that Superman 3 trailer is it's still 10X more entertaining than Superman Returns. I also think that the whimsical, satirical humor in Supes 3 works. At least some of it does. Robert Vaughn's line "...and I can't believe that you couldn't do as simple thing as kill Superman..." and then Richard Pryor's reaction is pretty good. Superman is a comic book character. He's also pretty much invincible which makes him kind of boring as a superhero. At least Supes 3 tried to put a spin on things by making him turn bad. Anyway I think Lester was the best director of the Superman films, Donner coming in second and Singer is the worst aside from the no-name guy they found to direct Supes 4 which is just a bad all around movie.

Posted by MathewM at November 17, 2007 10:01 AM

comment #16

D.Z. says ...

"Anyway I think Lester was the best director of the Superman films,"

Oh, and Michael Bay is an underrated director, too.

Posted by D.Z. at November 17, 2007 10:11 AM

comment #17

le corbeau says ...

"Anyway I think Lester was the best director of the Superman films"

He's certainly the best director to have directed a Superman film-- none of the others can hold a candle to A Hard Day's Night, Petulia, and The Three/Four Musketeers.

But then he had experience making sequels better than the original: Mouse on the Moon will actually make you laugh, unlike The Mouse That Roared.

Posted by le corbeau at November 17, 2007 10:50 AM

comment #18

christian says ...

And THE KNACK, JUGGERNAUT, ROBIN AND MARIAN, etc.

Lester brings a manic energy to the Superman films which works perfectly in 2. It's the only Lester film where I've seen an audience of kids literally jump to their feet in cheers and applause.

SCTV, sigh.

Posted by christian at November 17, 2007 11:41 AM

comment #19

D.Z. says ...

You do all realize that the footage for Superman 2 is mostly Donner's, right?

Posted by D.Z. at November 17, 2007 12:07 PM

comment #20

Carl LaFong says ...

This doesnÃ¢â‚¬â„¢t make any sense. Sorry. ThereÃ¢â‚¬â„¢s no known way of discussing John Candy & Orson Welles in which you begin a sentence with Ã¢â‚¬Å“in Richard LesterÃ¢â‚¬Â and emphasize it. Get me a jury and show me how you can say Ã¢â‚¬Å“Superman III is goodÃ¢â‚¬Â and IÃ¢â‚¬â„¢llÃ¢â‚¬Â¦ go down on you. ThatÃ¢â‚¬â„¢s just idiotic, if youÃ¢â‚¬â„¢ll forgive me by saying so. You canÃ¢â‚¬â„¢t emphasize Ã¢â‚¬Å“The KnackÃ¢â‚¬Â, thatÃ¢â‚¬â„¢s like heÃ¢â‚¬â„¢s wanting me to emphasize Ã¢â‚¬Å“The Four MusketeersÃ¢â‚¬Â before Ã¢â‚¬Å“The Three MusketeersÃ¢â‚¬Â. Come on, fellas, youÃ¢â‚¬â„¢re losing your heads!

Posted by Carl LaFong at November 17, 2007 12:18 PM

comment #21

christian says ...

Easy for you to type, Carl.

Posted by christian at November 17, 2007 12:22 PM

comment #22

Carl LaFong says ...

Christian, sorry about that. Ancient Netscape web browser.

Posted by Carl LaFong at November 17, 2007 12:41 PM

comment #23

George Prager says ...

Shorter Carl LaFong:

â‚¬ÂIÃ¢â‚¬â„¢llÃ¢â‚¬Â¦!!!!!!!

Posted by George Prager at November 17, 2007 1:01 PM

comment #24

Carl LaFong says ...

Okay, GP, here's a re-post. Hope it works better this time... (like Jeff, I just need to break down and buy a new Mac!)

This doesn't make any sense. Sorry. There's no known way of discussing John Candy & Orson Welles in which you begin a sentence with "in Richard Lester"and emphasize it. Get me a jury and show me how you can say "SUPERMAN III is good" and I'll go down on you. That's just idiotic, if you'll forgive me by saying so. You can't emphasize THE KNACK, that's like he's wanting me to emphasize THE FOUR MUSKETEERS before THE THREE MUSKETEERS Come on, fellas, you're losing your heads!

Posted by Carl LaFong at November 17, 2007 1:11 PM

comment #25

MathewM says ...

Carl, Superman 3 isn't very good. However it does contain the best fight scene out of all of the Superman films. If Singer wants to go all "Wrath of Khan" with the sequel then he should take note starting with this scene: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XY3dxb5OpIw&feature=related

I don't think Brandon Routh has the chops though to pull it off.

Posted by MathewM at November 17, 2007 2:23 PM

comment #26

le corbeau says ...

You do all realize that the footage for Superman 2 is mostly Donner's, right?

Funny all those moments of Lesterian slapstick that play like Help!, then.

My favorite completely unknown Lester film: Finders Keepers. David Wayne is hilarious in one of his last roles.

Posted by le corbeau at November 17, 2007 2:34 PM

comment #27

D.Z. says ...

MatthewM: But he already fought three people with his powers in the previous film. Plus the garbage compactor scene was swiped from Star Wars.

Posted by D.Z. at November 17, 2007 2:59 PM

comment #28

christian says ...

"Plus the garbage compactor scene was swiped from Star Wars."

Actually, the fight scene was swiped from MICKEY ONE which also ends in a garbage dump.

Posted by christian at November 17, 2007 3:19 PM

comment #29

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comment #30