TODAY'S NUGGET: Duck Soup (1933) - The Importance of Laughs in Parody (Inventiveness)

[Quick Summary: When inept Rufus T. Firefly (Groucho) is appointed dictator of Freedonia, he faces two enemy spies from Sylvania (Chicolini and Pinky).]

I love, love, love Airplane and Naked Gun, but could never figure out why that writing doesn't come naturally to me. 

Seasoned comedy writer Ken Levine explains that these are parodies/spoofs (vs. what he writers, which is more character based comedy):

Here are the pros and cons of parody/spoofs:

Pros: You can draw laughs from anywhere, any style.  Puns, wordplay, physical comedy, shock humor, absurdity — anything is fair game.  All the things you normally pitch in a room and wish you could do you CAN do.   And parodies give you a target right from the get-go. 

Cons: You’re only as good as your last laugh.  Stories are hard to construct because they mean nothing — just a coat rack to hang jokes.  So there’s no emotional investment.  The only thing keeping the souffle from collapsing is laughs.  So they better be damn good and lots and lots of them.

So what brings on the laughs? Inventiveness is definitely one key.

In this scene* from the Marx Brothers' famous Duck Soup:
- There is no real story.  It's just laughs.
- Note how inventive this reversal is: Chicolini and Pinky want to get inside the house --> both DO get inside the house --> then both end up outside.

In a longer shot, Chicolini pulls away and presses the buzzer on the door.

We now see a hedge in the foreground; Chicolini and Pinky hide behind it as the butler comes out of the front door and looks from side to side. Pinky dives for the front door, followed by Chicolini, goes in and slams the door in Chicolini's face while the butler looks behind the hedge. Chicolini hides behind the hedge again as the butler goes back to the door, finds it shut and goes off to the left.

Cut to show Chicolini as he goes up to the door, rings the bell and hides behind the hedge again. Pinky comes out and looks over the hedge, whistling. Chicolini dives for the door behind him and slams the door in his face. Pinky presses the bell and hides.

We see Pinky hiding behind the hedge as Chicolini comes out again and looks over it. The butler reappears in the background, goes in and shuts the door in the faces of Pinky and Chicolini.

WHAT I'VE LEARNED:  I glad that I finally realize that I'm not just the joke-joke-joke kind of writer that parodies require to keep from collapsing.

Duck Soup (1933)
by Bert Kalmar and Harry Ruby

*There is no official script available.  This one that was publish is likely the best approximation, and was cobbled together from dialogue continuity pages and shot-by-shot viewings of the film.

TODAY'S NUGGET: Monkey Business (1931) - The Rule of Three: In Word Play & to Show "I Like You"

[Quick Summary: On a transatlantic voyage, the Marx Brothers annoy everyone.]

As you may know, the Marx brothers films are light on plot, but heavy on fun.  

They understood what works in comedy, particularly the comedy rule of three, i.e., setup, setup, payoff.  I've begun to think of it as a rhythm thing.

This script* demonstrates the rule in a variety of ways:

a) In word play, which requires a knowledge of English:

CHICO: I was gonin' ta bring my grandfather, but there was no room for his beard.
GROUCHO waving his toothbrush: Why don't you send for the swine adn let his beard come later?
CHICO: I sent for his beard.
GROUCHO: You did?
CHICO: Yeah, it's coming by hairmail.

b) In action to show "I like you," where language isn't as important.

On the promenade deck, Zeppo skids past and through a doorway with Gibson in hot pursuit. He reappears through another glass door and crouches down, hiding from Gibson, as a girl - Mary - walks through. Zeppo springs up and strolls along beside her, taking her by the arm. Camera tracks ahead of them.

ZEPPO expansively: You know, there's some might pretty country round here. I've...

MARY: I beg your pardon?

She disengages herself and walks on. Zeppo strides ahead of her whistling. He drops his handkerchief, picks it up, and steps up to Mary again.

ZEPPO: Pardon me, is this yours?

MARY: Why no.

She walks on. Zeppo hesitates, then tries again.

ZEPPO: Are you sure?

MARY sweetly: I'm positive. 

A smile comes over her face as she walks on. She drops her own handkerchief and waits. Then as Zeppo hurries up again she picks it up and holds it out to him.

MARY: Is this yours?

ZEPPO pocketing the handkerchief. Yes, it is.

He takes her by the arms and they stroll on. 

ZEPPO: Well, as I was saying, there's some mighty beautiful country round here.

MARY enthusiastically: The trees are lovely.

ZEPPO: Oh, you bet they are. I love 'em.

They go off in the foreground.

WHAT I'VE LEARNED: Think in threes.  Also, I noticed that the economy of the dialogue and comedy is amazingly compact.

Monkey Business (1931)
by S.J. Perelman and Will B. Johnstone

*There is no official script available.  This one that was publish is likely the best approximation, and was cobbled together from dialogue continuity pages and shot-by-shot viewings of the film.

TODAY'S NUGGET: Vicky Cristina Barcelona - Unfulfilled Love as a Strong Theme

[Quick Summary: When college friends Vicky and Cristina spend two months in Barcelona, each falls in love with the same artist, whose volatile ex-wife returns.]

I was surprised that the theme was so strong in this Woody Allen script.

It made more sense when I considered that:
a) The theme is unfulfilled love, and
b) Every character WANTS the same thing (variations of longing for love), but NEEDS something else. *

One of the script's strength is how strong that WANT is, yet it remains unfulfilled.

For example, in the scene below:
- Vicky had a fiancee, and was unprepared for her connection with artist Juan. 
- They had a one night stand.  He moved on easier than she did.
- On a whim, Vicky's fiancee suggested getting married in Barcelona. 
- Vicky and Ben are in Spanish classes together.
- I thought this was a poignant conflict for Vicky who has attracted two guys, yet still feels unfulfilled because of a third guy.

INT. FRUIT STORE - CONTINUOUS

Ben reaches toward Vicky and clasps her hand.

NARRATOR (V.O.): ...he couldn't resist taking her hand.

VICKY: Uh...uh, no.

Vicky pulls her hand away from Ben.

VICKY (cont'd): Don't. I....

BEN: No?

VICKY: Ehhh, no. Yyyy-you-you-you do know...that I'm, I'm recently married.

BEN: Yeah, I...I guess I was under the impression that...maybe you jumped into it too quick, maybe you regret it...?

VICKY: Regret? Have, have I implied that?

BEN: Unless I read into it.

VICKY: No, I...I shouldn't tell you this. I, I, uh...you know what? I was always someone who thought I knew exactly what I wanted.

BEN: But you didn't.

Vicky shakes her head nervously.

VICKY: Well, no, I, I, I met somebody else and, uh...I'm not gonna get into that story.

BEN: So, this guy you met?

VICKY: The guy is, is living with my best friend. (sighs) You know? (chuckling) What am I talking about? When I...when I hear myself, it's just, it's just crazy. I just married the guy I wanted.

BEN: Did you?

VICKY: I thought so.

BEN: So? What happened?

Vicky shakes her head.

VICKY: One goddamned weekend in Oviedo.

WHAT I'VE LEARNED: I liked that each character wanted love, but a slightly different variation, which kept it interesting.

I also appreciate how Allen writes dialogue that stumbles around a bit, like people thinking aloud.

Vicky Cristina Barcelona (2008)
by Woody Allen

*As a side note, I found that the comedy comes from characters choosing the wrong person to fulfill that want.

TODAY'S NUGGET: Brazil (1985) - When You Need Funny, Imaginative, Inventive Inspiration

[Quick Summary:  Sam, a lowly employee, disrupts the intrusive, bureaucratic Ministry of Information Retrieval, as he pursues a woman he had dreams of.]

Sometimes you just need examples of how far you could push being funny, imaginative, inventive.

If so, read this script. Here are three (I underlined my favorite parts):

FUNNY: 

CUT to group of tables with diners. At one of them sits a wealthy-looking OLDER WOMAN with a rather plain-looking DAUGHTER in her 20s. The OLDER WOMAN is easily distinguished from the other clientele by a large bandage that covers a goodish part of her head. The two of them (the MOTHER and DAUGHTER, not the MOTHER and bandage) are perusing the menus.

IMAGINATIVE:

Before he can really take in where he is the phone rings. He staggers over to it.

SAM: Hello...hello...

PHONE VOICE: Hello. Mr. Lowry?

SAM: Who's that? 

A sound at the kitchen door turns SAM'S head - and ours - just in time to half see a quick blurred movement, but then a rap voice in his ear-piece brings his head back.

PHONE VOICE: Put the phone down and your hands up.

SAM (into the phone): What? Who is this?

SAM realizes that the voice is also in the room behind him. He turns round and sees TUTTLE. TUTTLE is middle-aged, a short tough figure dressed in dark clothes suggesting a cross between a cat burglar and  a night-raid commando. In one hand he holds a gun pointed at SAM. The other hand is holding a telephone receiver which TUTTLE is in the act of placing in the large capacious bag at his feet. SAM puts down his phone, and his hands up.

INVENTIVE: 

From SAM'S POV, a piece of broken mirror lying on the floor reflects the hole in the ceiling...with JILL's head and shoulders framed in the hole. The moment is unreal for SAM in his dazed condition. The vision seems unreal too. JILL is staring at SAM out of the piece of mirror and she's very much the GIRL from his dream now.

WHAT I'VE LEARNED: Despite the heaviness of topic (bureaucracy), it was easy to follow because of 1) the simple thorough line (guy pursuing girl); 2) humor.

Brazil (1985)(1983 draft)
by Terry Gilliam