Noises Off

Peter Bogdanovich, for the last thirty years, has been the reigning expert on 1930's screwball comedies (particularly those of Howard Hawks). In this modern screwball farce, he is clearly calling forth the spirits of old to create one of the zaniest films of the 90's. It's primarily a satire of the theater (a London smash hit called, "Nothing On") consisting of basically three scenes -- the rehearsal, a performance in Miami, and a performance in Cleveland. The rehearsal scene is a bit slow and gets fewer laughs than the following two, but it establishes the audience with the material so that in the next two scenes when all hell breaks loose we know how it should go and just how bad it is actually going. The last 2/3 of the film is a master lesson on timing and choreography. The cast includes Michael Caine, Carol Burnett, Christopher Reeve, John Ritter, Julie Hagerty, Nicollette Sheridan, and Denholm Elliott who stands out above the rest as a partially deaf/senile/drunkard old stage veteran. It was his final performance. A very funny film about what goes on behind the scenes of your typical stage play.