Brain Donors is an
AmericanThe United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
comedyComedy , as a popular meaning, is any humorous discourse or work generally intended to amuse by creating laughter, especially in television, film, and stand-up comedy. This must be carefully distinguished from its academic definition, namely the comic theatre, whose Western origins are found in...
movie released by
Paramount PicturesParamount Pictures Corporation is an American film production and distribution company, located at 5555 Melrose Avenue in Hollywood. Founded in 1912 and currently owned by media conglomerate Viacom, it is America's oldest existing film studio; it is also the last major film studio still...
, loosely based on the
Marx BrothersThe Marx Brothers were an American family comedy act, originally from New York City, that enjoyed success in Vaudeville, Broadway, and motion pictures from the early 1900s to around 1950...
comedy,
A Night at the OperaA Night at the Opera is a 1935 American comedy film starring Groucho Marx, Chico Marx and Harpo Marx, and featuring Kitty Carlisle, Allan Jones, Margaret Dumont, Sig Ruman, and Walter Woolf King. It was the first film the Marx Brothers made for Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer after their departure from...
(coincidentally the Brothers' first film they did after leaving Paramount). The film co-stars
John TurturroJohn Michael Turturro is an American actor, writer and director known for his roles in the films Do the Right Thing , Miller's Crossing , Barton Fink , Quiz Show , The Big Lebowski , O Brother, Where Art Thou? and the Transformers film series...
,
Mel SmithMelvin Kenneth "Mel" Smith is an English comedian, writer, film director, producer, and actor. He is most famous for his work on the sketch comedy shows Not the Nine O'Clock News and Alas Smith and Jones along with his comedy partner Griff Rhys Jones.- Early life :Smith's father, Kenneth, was born...
, and
Bob NelsonBob Nelson is an American stand-up comedian and actor.-Biography:Nelson specializes in rubber-faced comedy characters, much as Red Skelton did in his heyday...
in the approximations of the Groucho, Chico, and Harpo roles, with
Nancy MarchandNancy Marchand was an American actress, whose career encompassed both stage and screen. She appeared in various theatre productions throughout the early 1950s, before being offered roles on film and television....
in the
Margaret DumontMargaret Dumont was an American comedic actress. She is remembered mostly for being the comic foil to Groucho Marx in seven of the Marx Brothers films...
dowager role.
The project was filmed as
Lame Ducks; however, when the film's producers (David and
Jerry ZuckerJerry Zucker is an American movie director known for his role in directing comedy spoof films, and the hit film Ghost....
) left for another studio, Paramount scrapped the publicity campaign, changed the title, and withdrew the film after its initial screenings.
Brain Donors attracted attention on the home video market, which has resulted in a
cult followingA cult following is a group of fans who are highly dedicated to a specific area of pop culture. A film, book, band, or video game, among other things, will be said to have a cult following when it has a small but very passionate fan base...
according to its screenwriter,
Pat ProftPatrick "Pat" Proft is an American comedy writer and actor.Proft was born in Columbia Heights, Minnesota, the son of Marguerite and Bob Proft. He began his career at Dudley Riggs' Brave New Workshop in Minneapolis. In the mid-1970s, he began writing for television and films...
.
Plot
After the death of tycoon and
philanthropistA philanthropist is someone who engages in philanthropy; that is, someone who donates his or her time, money, and/or reputation to charitable causes...
Oscar Winterhaven Oglethorpe, a
balletBallet is a type of performance dance, that originated in the Italian Renaissance courts of the 15th century, and which was further developed in France and Russia as a concert dance form. The early portions preceded the invention of the proscenium stage and were presented in large chambers with...
company is founded in his name by his widow, Lillian (
Nancy MarchandNancy Marchand was an American actress, whose career encompassed both stage and screen. She appeared in various theatre productions throughout the early 1950s, before being offered roles on film and television....
). The formation of the ballet company leads to ambulance-chasing attorney Roland T. Flakfizer (
John TurturroJohn Michael Turturro is an American actor, writer and director known for his roles in the films Do the Right Thing , Miller's Crossing , Barton Fink , Quiz Show , The Big Lebowski , O Brother, Where Art Thou? and the Transformers film series...
) vying against Oglethorpe's former attorney Edmund Lazlo (
John SavidentJohn Savident is a British actor, best known for playing the part of Fred Elliott in the soap opera Coronation Street from 1994 to 2006. And also was a frequent guest on Soccer AM alongside fellow actor Jack 'The Rigger' Spooner....
) to be director of the company. Lazlo is chosen to be director of the company after signing the greatest ballet dancer in the world, "The Great Volare" (
George de la PenaGeorge de la Peña is an American ballet dancer, musical theatre performer, choreographer, actor, and teacher. He was born in New York City, New York, U.S....
) to dance for the company. Flakfizer, however — with assistance from his two associates Rocco (
Mel SmithMelvin Kenneth "Mel" Smith is an English comedian, writer, film director, producer, and actor. He is most famous for his work on the sketch comedy shows Not the Nine O'Clock News and Alas Smith and Jones along with his comedy partner Griff Rhys Jones.- Early life :Smith's father, Kenneth, was born...
) and Jacques (
Bob NelsonBob Nelson is an American stand-up comedian and actor.-Biography:Nelson specializes in rubber-faced comedy characters, much as Red Skelton did in his heyday...
) — earns a spot as co-director by wooing the wealthy
widowA widow is a woman whose spouse has died, while a widower is a man whose spouse has died. The state of having lost one's spouse to death is termed widowhood or occasionally viduity. The adjective form is widowed...
and by signing the company's leading ballerina (
Juliana DonaldJuliana Donald is an American actress who starred in films and has made guest appearances on television shows...
, billed as Juli Donald) and her dancer boyfriend Alan Grant (Spike Alexander). The ensuing struggle between Flakfizer and Lazlo leads to comic hijinks, including a
badger gameThe badger game is an extortion scheme, often perpetrated on married men, in which the victim or "mark" is tricked into a compromising position to make him vulnerable to blackmail....
involving a chorus girl (
Teri CopleyTeri Copley is an American actress. She was best known for her roles on the American television series We Got it Made and I Had Three Wives. She posed nude for Playboy for the November 1990 issue....
), and an opening-night performance ludicrously sabotaged by Flakfizer and his cohorts.
Cast and characters
John TurturroJohn Michael Turturro is an American actor, writer and director known for his roles in the films Do the Right Thing , Miller's Crossing , Barton Fink , Quiz Show , The Big Lebowski , O Brother, Where Art Thou? and the Transformers film series...
as Roland T. Flakfizer
Bob NelsonBob Nelson is an American stand-up comedian and actor.-Biography:Nelson specializes in rubber-faced comedy characters, much as Red Skelton did in his heyday...
as Jacques
Mel SmithMelvin Kenneth "Mel" Smith is an English comedian, writer, film director, producer, and actor. He is most famous for his work on the sketch comedy shows Not the Nine O'Clock News and Alas Smith and Jones along with his comedy partner Griff Rhys Jones.- Early life :Smith's father, Kenneth, was born...
as Rocco Melonchek
George de la PenaGeorge de la Peña is an American ballet dancer, musical theatre performer, choreographer, actor, and teacher. He was born in New York City, New York, U.S....
as Roberto Volare
John SavidentJohn Savident is a British actor, best known for playing the part of Fred Elliott in the soap opera Coronation Street from 1994 to 2006. And also was a frequent guest on Soccer AM alongside fellow actor Jack 'The Rigger' Spooner....
as Edmund Lazlo
Nancy MarchandNancy Marchand was an American actress, whose career encompassed both stage and screen. She appeared in various theatre productions throughout the early 1950s, before being offered roles on film and television....
as Lillian Oglethorpe
Reaction
Richard Harrington in his review for the
Washington Post wrote, "It's all very busy, and in Zucker style there seem to be 10 jokes per minute, but most fly fast and fall flat." Mick LaSalle's review for the
San Francisco Chroniclethumb|right|upright|The Chronicle Building following the [[1906 San Francisco earthquake|1906 earthquake]] and fireThe San Francisco Chronicle is a newspaper serving primarily the San Francisco Bay Area of the U.S. state of California, but distributed throughout Northern and Central California,...
felt that the film was "an audacious attempt actually to make them like they used to - with no apologies, no nostalgia. It's no masterpiece, but neither was every Marx Brothers movie." In her review for the
New York Times,
Janet MaslinJanet Maslin is an American journalist, best known as a film and literary critic for The New York Times. She served as the Times film critic from 1977–1999.- Biography :...
wrote, "
Brain Donors will stop at very little to get its laughs, and Mr. Turturro has just the right silliness for the occasion."
External links