My Favorite Year (1982)

[trekgeezer]

Mark Linn-Baker (Larry from Perfect Strangers) stars as Benjy Stone, a young comedy writer for a 1950's comedy/variety tv show, who convinces his bosses to give his aging silver screen idol Alan Swann (Peter O'Toole) a guest star appearrance on the show.  Swann is a hard living alcoholic Errol Flynn type swashbuckler. Benjy is assigned to "baby sit" Swann until show night.

King Kaiser (Joseph Bologna) is the star of the show and has made an enemy of  a local corrupt union boss (played by Cameron Mitchell) by mimicing the guy on his show.

Peter O'Toole really steals the show as the washed up matinee idol. Along the way Swann learns as much from Benjy as Swann does from him.

I really loved the big set piece at the end. Show night has arrived and Swann has a panic attack when he finds out the show is live. In the mean time Mitchell has sent over a squad of his goons to work Kaiser over.  When the fight starts the audience thinks it's the show. Kaiser is getting roughed up, but Alan Swann swings out of the rafters to save him .

This is a really good movie and well worth watching.

Swann: I haven't performed in front of an audience for twenty-eight years! I played a butler. I HAD ONE LINE!
[pause]
Swann: I FORGOT IT!

Swann: Damn you! I'm not an actor, I'm a movie star!

[loyal1]

I like this movie...I saw it when we were thinking of putting on the musical during my theatre days...I was suppose to play the part of Alice Miller.  

I love that line with Swann you mentioned "Damn you! I'm not an actor, I'm a movie star!" Classic.  This film is underrated.

[Shadowphile]

A fun movie as well.  

"I guess this is the kissing part of the evening...."

[Yaddo 42]

What a hoot of a movie, and a great Mel Brooks produced love letter to his days a writer for Sid Ceaser's "Your Show of Shows". From interviews Brooks has given the Stephen Tobolowski character is supposed to be a version of Woody Allen who was so shy he would whisper his suggestions to other to repeat, who who would often say, "Listen to what the Kid came up with."

From Mel's stories Joe Bologna's character of King Kaiser and his temper are pretty close to the real Sid Ceaser at the peak of his powers, but he also explains that when Sid was angry he was scary strong. Also kudos for including Ceaser vet Selma Diamond in the cast, she was always a hoot. O'Toole got a best actor Oscar nod for this film, rare for a comedic role, but it's shame he didn't ever, especially for this role. Once of my favorites of his right up there with his role in "The Stunt Man" (another Oscar nod)

Way too many quoteable lines in this film, I use lots of them, but am a little disappointed the film isn't more popular than it is since it's so damn good.

"Stone, ladies are unwell, gentlemen vomit."

I'm not allowed to wear a watch. I don't trust them. One HAND is SHORTER than the other." (I've used this one way too many times to count when people ask me about not wearing a watch.)

"This is for ladies!"
"Madam, so is this, but every so often I have to pass a little water through it."

"Go ahead and lash me, you swine! You'll not loosen my tongue!"

And I still crack up every time I see the look of terror in Swann's eyes when he wakes up in the bed full of stuffed animals and he can only see blonde hair poking up. The expression of "What have I done now?!?!" is classic.

[peter johnson]

One of my all-time favorite GOOD films -- I always get a bit suspicious of this site when we start talking about good films, as, given the name, etc. etc.
I guess The Lesson is is that people who like badmovies are simply cinephiles per se --  We like all sorts!
I love the very beginning of this film, wherein Mark Linn-Baker (Whatever happened to him & why isn't he still a star?) rhapsodises over the grill of a '50's Buick.
I love how the whole thing is told as a reminiscence . . . Were it told in real time/present tense, it would lose all charm.
I love Peter's final drunken waving of his hat at the studio audience at the finale, as Baker talks over him . . . it's such a wonderful end to the film.  A Grand Conclusion, as it were.  
Now, this one would be very very difficult to remake . . .
peter remake/denny remake

[Yaddo 42]

Mark Linn-Baker appears to have worked steadily in TV guest appearances through the 90s, according to IMDB, even directing some sitcom episodes. He's also done some theater, including playing Toad in "A Year with Frog and Toad" in Minneapolis. He was back on network TV (well, the soon to be gone WB netlet) in the sitcom "Twins" which doesn't appear to have lasted too long.

Personally, I'd like to think his lack of stardom is karma paying him back for helping to inflict "Perfect Strangers" on the world. Then again, the show lasted long enough it probably gave him financial leeway as a working actor.

[trekgeezer]

I saw Mark Linn-Baker in an episode of Law and Order: Criminal Intent  playing an insurance investigator who unknowingly suffers from Aspergers Syndrome ( a form of autism).  He had a scam going setting up  homeless people with fake identities as big executives, insuring them for millions and then having someone kill them so he could collect. His wife and kids had left him for a rich lawyer and he thought by getting a lot of money he'd get them back.

The funny part was watching him and Vincent D'Onofrio together with all their strange mannerisms and ticks.

[BoyScoutKevin]

From what I understand many of the characters in the film were based on real people.

Yaddo has already mentioned two of them. Here are some more. Cameron Mitchell's character is supposedly based on Jimmy Hoffa. Peter O'Tooles character is supposedly based on Errol Flynn. And  Mark Linn-Baker's character is supposedly based on Mel Brooks himself.

A great film, and one well worth seeking out.

[peter johnson]

Yes, I know a lot of this --
I too saw the Law and Order episode in question.  I did like it quite a bit -- however, this is the sort of thing one does when one's career is on the wane, and you aren't getting the roles.  This  is what I meant.
There is a HUGE difference between an artistically satisfying walk-on on Law and Order and starring roles in multi-million dollar films.
What did he do to get himself "C-listed" so fast?  I'm curious.
peter johnson/denny crane

[BoyScoutKevin]

One of my favorite put-downs in a film comes in this film. I think it is so good, that I am surprised
that it is not listed under "Memorable Quotes"  for the film at www.imdb.com.

Two anonymous partygoers, after one of them sees Peter O'Tooles character fall off the roof of a building.

"I think Alan Swan is beneath us."--"Of course, he's beneath us, he's an actor."

One that had me both literally and figuratively ROTFL!, when I first heard it on television.

[Yaddo 42]

In between "My Favorite Year" and "Perfect Strangers" he did peanut butter commercials, so was MFY just dumb luck to get a great role in a great film early on?

As for why the C-list, maybe "Perfect Strangers" typecast him or the role just stuck to him. It was a long-running, critically loathed, and "uncool" series, that after a while became one of those "Is that still on? I didn't know anyone still watched that." shows like "The Love Boat" or "Yes Dear" or "Everybody Loves Raymond". Bronson Pinchot kind of reinvented himself with stuff like "True Romance" before returning to sitcom dreck like "Step by Step" and has-been stomping grounds like "The Surreal Life".