Brain Donors

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Brain Donors
Theatrical release poster
Directed byDennis Dugan
Screenplay byPat Proft
Based onSuggested by A Night at the Opera
screenplay by George S. Kaufman and Morrie Ryskind
story by James Kevin McGuinness
Produced byGil Netter
James D. Brubaker
Starring
Cinematography
Zucker Brothers Productions
Distributed byParamount Pictures
Release date
  • April 17, 1992 (1992-04-17) (United States)
[1]
Running time
79 minutes
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish
Box office$918,239 (USA)[1]

Brain Donors is a 1992 American

Zucker Brothers Productions
.

Plot

After the death of tycoon and

philanthropist Oscar Winterhaven Oglethorpe, a ballet company is founded in his name by his widow, Lillian. Ambulance-chasing attorney Roland T. Flakfizer competes against Oglethorpe's former attorney, Edmund Lazlo, to be director of the company. Lazlo is chosen for the position after signing the greatest ballet dancer in the world, Roberto "The Great” Volare. Flakfizer — with assistance from his two associates Rocco and Jacques — earns a spot as co-director by wooing the wealthy widow and by signing the company's leading ballerina and her dancer boyfriend Alan Grant. The ensuing struggle between Flakfizer and Lazlo leads to comic hijinks, including a badger game
involving a chorus girl and an opening-night performance ludicrously sabotaged by Flakfizer and his cohorts.

Cast and characters

Minor roles include

Sam Krachmalnick as a conductor, and Max Alexander
as a stage manager.

Production

Dennis Dugan began work on the film shortly after screening a rough cut of his film Problem Child for David Zucker. Soon after meeting to compare notes, Zucker sent Dugan a script by Pat Proft, and work began on the project in earnest.[3] Initially, Proft was to be a co-producer and frequent Zucker brothers collaborator Jim Abrahams was to be a co-writer, but Abrahams was ultimately not credited as a screenwriter.[4] Principal photography began on December 10, 1990, and the film was largely shot in and around Los Angeles.[4] Portions of the film were shot at the Morton Estate, in Pasadena, California, which was also the location where the Marx Brothers' Duck Soup was shot.[5] The project was filmed under the title Lame Ducks, but Paramount later changed the title to Brain Donors because it was "catchier", according to sources consulted by the Los Angeles Times.[6]

Dugan originally sought to cast Adam Sandler in the film, but the studio did not agree to it; however, this established a rapport with Sandler that led to Dugan directing several films with him.[7] Mickey Gilbert was the stunt coordinator; Max Balchowsky[8] and Ric Roman Waugh (credited as Rick Waugh)[9] were among the stuntmen involved in production. The opening credits and closing scene of the film are claymation sequences designed by Will Vinton.[10] The film is scored by Ira Newborn; Mark Mothersbaugh contributed the main and end titles and additional music.[11]

Initially scheduled for release on July 26, 1991,

Naked Gun and Hot Shots! franchises); the film was not screened for critics, was given minimal publicity support, and only opened in 523 American theaters.[6]

Reception

Contemporaneous reviews of the film were mixed. Positive reviewers included

South Florida Sun-Sentinel noted, "It doesn't have one believable, well-rounded character, it doesn't appeal to our nobler emotions, and it doesn't have anything politically correct to say about any important social problems. These seeming faults, however, are exactly the qualities that make it the most hilarious film yet this year."[14]

Other reviews were less enthusiastic, especially in comparison to the original Marx Brothers films and to the prior films on which the Zucker brothers had worked. Richard Harrington in his review for

Three Stooges, and thought the claymation sequences that bookend the film were more interesting than the actual movie itself.[16] The Los Angeles Daily News described it as "Impudent and manic, yes, in the best Marxian tradition. But it is desperate in its scattered shots at any lame thing for a possible laugh, where the Marxes were always cool and -- for the most part -- surreally inspired when it came to stringing nonsense together."[17] Malcolm Johnson of the Hartford Courant called it a "sometimes clever but ultimately exhausting farce" and noted perplexedly that its title had nothing to do with its subject matter.[18] Variety gave a negative review, remarking, "The title Brain Donors sounds like a horror film and for those expecting a comedy, it is."[19] Entertainment Weekly called it "an almost total failure" and thought "the cheesy sets and breathless pacing give the film the feel of a made-for-TV movie on amphetamines."[20]

A 2005 reevaluation of screenwriter Pat Proft's work wrote approvingly of Brain Donors, remarking, "as a throwback to the Marx/Ritz Brothers ideal of Hellzapoppin' humor, it tried to recapture the bygone days of slapstick and satire, and actually did a terrific job at both."[21]

References

  1. ^ a b Brain Donors at Box Office Mojo
  2. Allmovie
    .
  3. ^
    New York Times
    , May 17, 1991.
  4. ^ a b c d e Brain Donors at American Film Institute
  5. ^ Johanna Steinmetz, A (RATHER LONG) NIGHT AT THE BALLET. Chicago Tribune, April 20, 1992.
  6. ^ a b Jane Galbraith, A look inside Hollywood and the movies. : IN SEARCH OF FUNNY : If You Won’t Laugh, Neither Will We. Los Angeles Times, April 19, 1992.
  7. ^ Heisler, Steve (3 December 2010). "Dennis Dugan: A quiet hitmaker". Variety. Retrieved 17 September 2017.
  8. ^ Max Balchowsky credits, American Film Institute
  9. ^ Rick Waugh credits, American Film Institute
  10. ^ Michael Wilmington, MOVIE REVIEW : ‘Brain Donors’ Transplants Marx Bros.. Los Angeles Times, April 20, 1992.
  11. ^ Mark Mothersbaugh credits, American Film Institute
  12. ^ LaSalle, Mick (April 18, 1992). "Donors Right on the Marx". San Francisco Chronicle.
  13. ^ Maslin, Janet (April 18, 1992). "A Night At the Ballet Run Amok". The New York Times.
  14. South Florida Sun-Sentinel
    , May 8, 1992.
  15. ^ Harrington, Richard (April 18, 1992). "Lamebrained Donors". The Washington Post.
  16. Austin Chronicle
    , April 24, 1992.
  17. Baltimore Sun; reprint of Los Angeles Daily News
    , April 18, 1992.
  18. ^ `BRAIN DONORS' A GAME BUT LAME `DUCK SOUP'. Hartford Courant, April 18, 1992.
  19. ^ Brain Donors. Variety, December 31, 1991.
  20. ^ Steve Simels, Brain Donors. Entertainment Weekly, October 16, 1992.
  21. Pop Matters
    , October 27, 2005.

External links

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