Bert Rigby, You're a Fool
Encyclopedia
Bert Rigby, You're a Fool is a 1989 American musical film directed by Carl Reiner
, and starring Robert Lindsay
in the title role.
", and his first appearance on stage goes all wrong, when his nose starts bleeding after an injury sustained playing football - but the audience loves him anyway. So he starts as a comedian in a traveling amateur show for $50 a night, touring around the country with his manager, Sid Trample, and Sid's wife Tess. Bert repeats the act he did in his first appearance, until he tires of it and starts doing a Buster Keaton
imitation. During the tour they come across a crew filming a contraceptives commercial.
One day Bert gets an offer from an ad director from Hollywood and flies to America with Sid, expecting a great career ... and again leaving behind his pregnant young wife. Bert is calling Laurel when he is about to leave, and when he has to break off, he swears when he discovers his bags are missing, leaving Laurel with a misunderstanding. In Hollywood they film a commercial with him playing Buster Keaton, and directed by Kyle DeForest, the same director he had seen filming the contraceptives commercial, but the ad is dropped when a demographic survey reveals that most of the target audience had never heard of Keaton. Bert phone's Laurel to apologize, but he swears again when he slips on the wet bathroom floor, causing yet more misunderstanding. Bert then discovers that Sid has left him high and dry, and stranded in America, they part ways.
Bert then works as a pizza deliveryman, where he encounters a group of thugs, and then as a nightclub comic, where he defends a Hispanic man against a loutish patron. The grateful Hispanic hires Bert to work as a tree pruner. There he meets Meredith, the hot-to-trot wife of movie mogul I.I. Perlestein. When Bert is fired from his job as a tree pruner, he is then hired by Perlestein to work as a servant in their house, and to act as a technical advisor to Jim Shirley, a caddish Hollywood star who is playing a Briton in a film. While fending off the advances of Meredith, Bert forms a bond with Shirleys' son. Then Bert phones Laurel, and during their conversation, he has a dream where he sings to her "Dream a Little Dream of Me." The Perlestein's have a dinner party at their house, with Bert acting as the servant. The party becomes a disaster when the curtain hiding a priceless masterpiece is set on fire. The flashback ends, and the bartender tells Bert that the person he has been telling his story to does not speak English. Bert then dances in the bar, which catches the attention of an ad producer. Bert eventually returns to England in triumph, with a showing of his song-and-dance Crown Royal commercial in the town theatre. The commercial is followed by Bert doing a rendition of "Puttin' on the Ritz
."
Carl Reiner
Carl Reiner is an American actor, film director, producer, writer and comedian. He has won nine Emmy Awards and one Grammy Award during this career...
, and starring Robert Lindsay
Robert Lindsay (actor)
Robert Lindsay is an English actor who is best known for his television work, especially his roles of Wolfie Smith in Citizen Smith, Michael Murray in G.B.H., Captain Sir Edward Pellew in Hornblower and Ben Harper in My Family which has been on television screens since 2000.-Early life:Lindsay was...
in the title role.
Plot
Bert Rigby is a miner in a small dying town of Langmore in northern England, with aspirations to show business. He tells the story in flashback, while sitting in a bar. He lives with his mother, a musical fan, and next door to his sweetheart, Laurel Pennington. She lives above the pub where she works, and they have a bomb shelter straddling their back yards where they have secret meetings. While his fellows are on strike once again, Bert decides to try his luck in show-biz. He gets his chance when he performs in an amateur show, singing "Isn't It Romantic?Isn't It Romantic?
"Isn't It Romantic?" is a popular song and part of the Great American Songbook. The music was composed by Richard Rodgers, with lyrics by Lorenz Hart. It has a 32-bar chorus in ABAC form...
", and his first appearance on stage goes all wrong, when his nose starts bleeding after an injury sustained playing football - but the audience loves him anyway. So he starts as a comedian in a traveling amateur show for $50 a night, touring around the country with his manager, Sid Trample, and Sid's wife Tess. Bert repeats the act he did in his first appearance, until he tires of it and starts doing a Buster Keaton
Buster Keaton
Joseph Frank "Buster" Keaton was an American comic actor, filmmaker, producer and writer. He was best known for his silent films, in which his trademark was physical comedy with a consistently stoic, deadpan expression, earning him the nickname "The Great Stone Face".Keaton was recognized as the...
imitation. During the tour they come across a crew filming a contraceptives commercial.
One day Bert gets an offer from an ad director from Hollywood and flies to America with Sid, expecting a great career ... and again leaving behind his pregnant young wife. Bert is calling Laurel when he is about to leave, and when he has to break off, he swears when he discovers his bags are missing, leaving Laurel with a misunderstanding. In Hollywood they film a commercial with him playing Buster Keaton, and directed by Kyle DeForest, the same director he had seen filming the contraceptives commercial, but the ad is dropped when a demographic survey reveals that most of the target audience had never heard of Keaton. Bert phone's Laurel to apologize, but he swears again when he slips on the wet bathroom floor, causing yet more misunderstanding. Bert then discovers that Sid has left him high and dry, and stranded in America, they part ways.
Bert then works as a pizza deliveryman, where he encounters a group of thugs, and then as a nightclub comic, where he defends a Hispanic man against a loutish patron. The grateful Hispanic hires Bert to work as a tree pruner. There he meets Meredith, the hot-to-trot wife of movie mogul I.I. Perlestein. When Bert is fired from his job as a tree pruner, he is then hired by Perlestein to work as a servant in their house, and to act as a technical advisor to Jim Shirley, a caddish Hollywood star who is playing a Briton in a film. While fending off the advances of Meredith, Bert forms a bond with Shirleys' son. Then Bert phones Laurel, and during their conversation, he has a dream where he sings to her "Dream a Little Dream of Me." The Perlestein's have a dinner party at their house, with Bert acting as the servant. The party becomes a disaster when the curtain hiding a priceless masterpiece is set on fire. The flashback ends, and the bartender tells Bert that the person he has been telling his story to does not speak English. Bert then dances in the bar, which catches the attention of an ad producer. Bert eventually returns to England in triumph, with a showing of his song-and-dance Crown Royal commercial in the town theatre. The commercial is followed by Bert doing a rendition of "Puttin' on the Ritz
Puttin' on the Ritz
"Puttin' on the Ritz" is a popular song written and published in 1929 by Irving Berlin and introduced by Harry Richman in the musical film Puttin' on the Ritz . The title derives from the slang expression "putting on the Ritz," meaning to dress very fashionably. The expression was inspired by the...
."
Cast
- Robert Lindsay - Bert Rigby
- Robbie ColtraneRobbie ColtraneRobbie Coltrane, OBE is a Scottish actor, comedian and author. He is known both for his role as Dr...
- Sid Temple - Cathryn BradshawCathryn BradshawCathryn Bradshaw is an English actress, perhaps best-known for her role in Oranges Are Not the Only Fruit.-Background:Bradshaw trained at the Bristol Old Vic Theatre School in Bristol and graduated in 1987.-Career:...
- Laurel Pennington - Anne BancroftAnne BancroftAnne Bancroft was an American actress associated with the Method acting school, which she had studied under Lee Strasberg....
- Meredith Perlestein - Corbin BernsenCorbin BernsenCorbin Dean Bernsen is an American actor and director, known for his work on television. He is best known for his roles as divorce attorney Arnold Becker on the NBC drama series L.A. Law, and as retired police detective Henry Spencer on the USA Network comedy-drama series Psych...
- Jim Shirley - Bruno KirbyBruno KirbyBruno Kirby was an American film and television actor. He was perhaps best known for his roles in the Hollywood films City Slickers, When Harry Met Sally..., Good Morning, Vietnam, The Godfather Part II and Donnie Brasco.-Early life:Kirby was born Bruno Giovanni Quidaciolu, Jr. in New York City,...
- Kyle DeForest - Jackie Gayle - I.I. Perlestein
- Carmen du SautoyCarmen du SautoyCarmen Du Sautoy is an award-winning leading actress who has worked extensively in theatre, television and film...
- Tess Temple - Liz SmithLiz Smith (actress)Liz Smith, MBE is a British actress, best-known for her roles in the sitcoms The Vicar of Dibley and The Royle Family. She also appeared in the 2005 film Charlie and the Chocolate Factory.-Early life:...
- Mrs. Rigby - Mike Grady - Mick O'Grady