Thursday, March 5, 2009

marty feldman show

Most people remember Marty Feldman from his role in Young Frankenstien as Igor. He started out as a writer and first got in front of the camera in AT LAST THE 1948 SHOW. The first time I remember seeing Marty's quirky brand of humor was in his British comedy series MARTY, (later Marty Feldman's Comedy Machine). I wish more of these old shows were available on YouTube. I'll scarf them up if I ever see them on DVD.

Marty was a funny fellow. The show MARTY as I recall was basically funny shorts back to back - much like those of Monty Python's Flying Circus. In fact, John Cleese wrote for Marty Feldman's series. If you ever get a chance to see AT LAST THE 1948 SHOW you'll experience the beginnings of the Monty Python troope. I found the DVD's of the show a few years ago at Big Lots and bought them. I never watched them hoping that I could have a guy night at my house sometime.

Marty came out with a string of Gene Wilder movie comedies after Young Frankenstien was such a huge hit. He was still at his peak when he died of a heart attack (1982 ) during the making of Yellow Beard.

Watching this clip from his old series you'll see obvious influences of the great silent days of hollywood. No wonder - Marty was a huge fan of my favorite silent film star Buster Keaton.

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