We rewatched the classic 1980s comedy, Top Secret!
It took surgeons two weeks to wipe the smile off our face…
Is this the potato farm?
Turns out there were quite a few in my case.
Top Secret!, though, is arguably the biggest treasure in the Zucker Abrahams Zucker comedy goldmine.
Is it a better film thanAirplane!?
Its a moot point really.
Whats the point in comparing two diamonds and picking your favourite?
Hence, this feature.
Whichcontains spoilers forTop Secret.
It seems you have become, how do you say, indispensable?
Indispensable
The history ofTop Secret!dates back to the aftermath ofAirplane!s huge surprise success.
They instead made the aforementionedPolice Squad!, which scandalously lasted just six episodes before having the plug pulled.
Top Secret!was born.
So thats what happened.
The ZAZ team were big fans of World War II movies that were made during the war itself.
That, they conclude, isnt necessary a bad thing.
And they certainly deliver on this.
Once again, too, the ZAZ team recruit unlikely, but welcome, cast members.
They compact the late Omar Sharif into a crushed car, and have him picking up fake dog poo.
Hes a little hoarse
But lets go back to the gag rate again for a minute.
Top Secret has very few examples of real German.
A simple, quick filmmaking convention is quickly turned around.
OnlyTop Secretthen pans right, and theres Martin with a megaphone.
A simple gag, but one that never fails to hit.
That whole hotel restaurant sequence alone demonstrates the breadth ofTop Secrets comedy commitment.
There are killer one liners (I know a little German.
Hes sitting over there!
Oh, and a terrific song and dance number too.
No wonder a limited LP ofTop Secret!s musical numbers was released.
This was, as is widely known, Val Kilmers debut leading man role on film.
The fact the film had gone three minutes without a joke at that stage swung the decision).
The team, on the DVD commentary, concede they might just regret that one.
Let me know if there is any change in his condition….He is dead.
But theyre a little harsh on themselves.
Lets look at another example.
The dancers play it straight, the guffaws are generous.
But instead, the ZAZ team switch the attention to Martins failure to orgasm.
Sure, the story-prodding dialogue is still delivered, but nobodys really paying attention.
Im still laughing, 31 years on.
But then Im still laughing at so many ofTop Secrets wonderful moments.
And yetTop Secretnever hit.
Worse: it was regarded as a box office bomb on its original release.
It did a quarter of the business ofAirplane, at around four or five times the cost.
Three decades on, its regarded as a cult comedy, one thats gradually found an audience.
And yet there are still so, so many people who dont know it exists.
Who dont know about the phoney dog poo.
To those people, I have but envy.
Because quality comedy is hard, hard work.
It involves arguments, debate, a commitment to trying ambitious things to work.
If you have seen the film before?
Well, theres always time for a bit of Deja Vu.
But its certainly our favorite…
This article comes fromDen of Geek UK.
