OK, time for a revisitation again!
Yep, this time I'm going to re-look at one of my older posts, which is on the comedy classic, Stir Crazy, starring the dynamic comedy duo of Gene Wilder and Richard Pryor.
So, after almost 40 years (38 to be exact!) how does Stir Crazy fair??? Well, let's strap ourselves in and have another look....
And yes, the usual warning is coming up...
PLOT SPOILERS ARE AHEAD!!!
STORY
So the plot is pretty simple as it follows two New Yorkers, a playwright, Skip Donohue (Wilder) and an out of work actor, Harry Monroe (Pryor) who decide to leave New York and head for Hollywood. On their journey they stop off in Arizona and they get a job at a bank doing a song and dance routine dressed as a couple of woodpeckers. On their lunch break however, two men steal their outfits and perform the routine and then proceed to rob the bank. As Skip and Harry return to the bank they are immediately arrested and are soon sentenced to serve a 125 jail sentence.
The two men start to serve their jail sentence but they find life very tough on the inside, and after failing to feign insanity, they end up making friends with inmates, Jesus Ramirez (Miguel Angel Suarez) a robber, and Rory Schultebrand (Georg Stanford Brown) a gay man who killed his stepfather. After three months of their sentence, Skip and Harry are taken to see the warden, Walter Beatty (Barry Corbin) who has Skip ride a mechanical bull, which Skip rides successfully at maximum speed. The warden impressed by Skip's performance on the bull decides he will use him to represent their prison in an annual rodeo.
Skip however soon learns the truth about the rodeo from Jesus and Rory, who tell them it is in fact a corrupt operation run by Beatty and another rival prison warden and the money from the rodeo goes straight to the wardens as a result. Jesus and Rory also tell Skip to hold out on the warden if he get's picked in order to work a deal for themselves, which Skip does. As a result, Beatty has Skip punished by putting him on a gruelling work detail, chaining him up and even placing him solitary confinement, as well as sharing a cell with the most feared prison inmate, a mass murderer called Grossberger (Erlan Van Lidth).
However none of this breaks Skip's spirit, and he eventually succeeds in getting his deal over to Beatty, where he asks to pick his own team and get a larger cell. Meanwhile Skip and Harry's defence lawyer Len Garber (Joel Brooks) along with his law partner, Meredith (Jo Beth Williams) try to prove their innocence as they track the leads of the two men who actually robbed the bank. And as the film nears its end, Skip and Harry attend the prison rodeo, where Skip must ride and while this is going the others must try and plan their escape and make a break for it....
THOUGHTS
Stir Crazy is generally considered to be the best of the Wilder and Pryor collaborations on screen, however for me I think its a close second rather than the best as See No Evil, Hear No Evil works better as an actual comedy, as the laughs here in Stir Crazy are a bit too spread out. Regardless of that, Stir Crazy is still a very entertaining and funny film and the natural on screen chemistry that Wilder and Pryor share is what makes the film work so well. The film recieved mixed reviews on its release although it was a commercial success, its reputation has improved over the years since then.
PERFORMANCES AND NOTABLE SCENES (Warning: this section may contain spoilers and strong language!)
Now onto the performances, starting with Gene Wilder, who is excllent in his role as the overbearingly chirpy and open minded Skip Donohue and he get's some good laughs in the film and good scenes.
For starters, there is the scene where Skip and Harry are in prison and Skip is writing out ideas for his writing and he says "This filthy, roach-ridden reality is inspiring... what did that second policeman say to you when he grabbed you by the throat?". Harry in disbelief says "Man, I don't fucking believe you!" and Skip mistakes this for what the policeman said and he says "Man, I don't fucking believe you!" Fabulous!".
Skip in prison first lays his eyes on Grossberger, who cuts a large frightening figure, who aggressively cuts through the inmates tables to get a salt cellar and Skip says "I wonder what triggered all that violence?? I know what it is, no one has ever simply just sat down and talked to that man". And as Skip approaches Grossberg and mildly says "Hello!" Grossberger stands up and screams at him and Skip runs back to his seat and says "I think I'll wait till after he's had a nap!".
Another funny moment comes during the scenes where the warden tries to "straighten out" Skip and has him placed in solitary confinement. So, after Skip is being released by the hard-assed deputy warden, Wilson (Craig T. Nelson) "Just one more day, please. I was just getting into myself! Come on, be a pal!" leaving Wilson looking astonished.
And the scene where he turns down the warden's offer to be in the rodeo and he says "My mother was a veternarian. I couldn't have anything to do with the exploitation of animals, she'd turned over in her grave!" and he proceeds to have an imaginary converstion with his mother "What I said no, ma! Are you crazy, I said no! I have witnesses! All right we'll talk about it in my cell!".
And another moment that is funny is where Skip and Harry wake up in their cell together and given their extremely cramped confines of the cell, they end up trying to use the same urinal to pee and as they do, Skip says to Harry "You're peeing on me!!".
Then there is the scene where Skip meets with one of his defence lawyers, Meredith (JoBeth Williams) who he finds attractive. So, Skip asks her "Um, you wanna know something...That's always fascinated me?Are the prison romances that sometimes spring up...Between inmates and girls from the outside...sometimes quite beautiful girls..I mean, would you, for example... Could you actually become involved...I mean, romantically... with a prisoner?". So, after a pause, Meredith says to Skip "Absolutely not" and Skip just smiles and says "I didn't think so. I was just curious".
Richard Pryor is also great in his role as the down to earth and rather highly strung, Harry Monroe, who follows Skip's lead on their road to Hollywood, which ultimately turns sour, as they take a wrong and end up in prison.
Pryor has plenty of funny moments in the film such as his first scene where he works as a kitchen waiter in a mansion and one of the staff unwittingly puts half of his container of hash into the food, thinking it was oregano! And Harry looks on bemused and says "Jesus! You cooked half my stash!!" and later as he goes out and serves the stoned guests, one of the women, sits next to a priest, who is also feeling the effects, and she says to him "Tell me, do you get much?" and the priest thinking she means a glass of wine, says "Oh, no just the odd glass" and Harry says out loud to himself "That's not what she meant(!)". However, the priest quickly catches and looks shocked and Harry runs off.
Then there is the scene where having just been arrested and taken to a police station's holding cells, Harry starts to strut his way into the holding cells and pretends to act tough and he says to Skip "You gotta get bad, Jack. If you ain't bad, you gonna get fucked!". However Harry soon drops the tough guy act when one of the big intimidating looking black guys, Big Mean (Cedrick Hardman) wearing a cowboy walks up to him not long after being punched unintentionally by another man (Tony Burton).
So, Big Mean says to Harry, who is now in tears and being comforted by a nervous looking Skip "Gonna need a light". Harry then tries to get back into his tough guy voice and he says "Man needs a light!" so he tries frantically to light a match he has and ends up striking it on Big Mean's chest and it lights and Big Mean grabs Harry's hand forcefully and uses it to light his cigarette with Harry, terrified, saying "Oh shit! Oh shit!". Big Mean then says to Harry "You're a short son of a bitch, ain't you?" and Harry nervously says "Yes I'm a short son of a bitch, my daddy was a short son of a bitch, my mother was shorter than him, and my brother, my brother was so short we couldn't even see him!".
And later during their prison sentence, when Harry tells Skip about Jesus and Rory's plan to bust out and Skip looks on at the men in surprise, who all nod at him. And Skip asks Harry "Harry, are they talking about a prison break?" and Harry says "You bet your ass! I don't think I can take 30 years in this place and I know you can't. We gotta get the fuck out of here!".
And another funny moment is in the scene where one of the inmates, Blade (Charles Weldon) while at the prison stables tells Harry how to handle a bull, which is in the stalls, and there is one word which will drive it crazy and he leaves Harry to figure out the word. And Harry goes through all sorts of things such as "Rumplestilskin" and ends up just saying "Shit!" and the bull goes mad and charges after him with Blade shouting after him "Congratulations! You found the word!".
Another funny moment comes after Skip and Harry after a heavy day's work detail outside, Harry shakily walks into his cell and collapses in a heap and in the morning, they both wake up side by side in a heap. And Harry tries to get ready by putting his leg into Skip's remaining trouser leg, as Skip has his other leg in the other one, and Harry screams "I can't feel my other leg!!".
In the supporting roles Barry Corbin is very good as the prison warden Beatty, and given his Southern drawl, Corbin is perfect for the role and he does a fine job with it.
And I will mention a couple of Corbin's scenes such as the one where the Warden has Harry try out the mechanical bull in the Warden's office. So, after Skip manages to stay on after the deputy warden, Wilson puts the speed up to maximum, the warden looks on amazed and let's Harry and Skip go back to their cells. And the Warden laughs and says "I don't believe what I just saw!" and Wilson says "The machine's malfunctioning!" but the Warden spits back "The machine's fine. Maybe you'd like to get up on it and try it for a six! That boy's a born cowboy!".
Then there is the scene where Beatty lets Skip know that he will be representing them in the prison rodeo, however Skip turns down Beatty's decision and he says "Warden, I can't do that!" and he pretends to have a conversation with his mother, saying she would turn in her grave. So, after Skip goes, Beatty looks annoyed and says to Wilson "That boy is very confused. Straight him out!".
Craig T. Nelson also makes an impression as the hard assed and intimidating deputy Wilson, and he has some good lines in the film, especially in his first scene where he sharply tells Skip to "Get on the BULL!!" i.e. the mechnical bull.
Also later on where Skip comes back and makes a deal with the warden to do the rodeo and he asks for a bigger cell with better ventilation, Wilson says "What's the matter has Grossberger been fartin on ya?!".
Goerg Stanford Brown also is very good in his role as Rory, the gay inmate who takes a shine to Harry, and he helps them bust out of jail.
Brown has some good moments in the film such as the scene where Rory places his hand on Harry's, who smacks it away and he asks "Why did you kill your stepdad anyway?!" and Rory says "For insulting my new fur jacket and slapping my hand!" and Harry panics and takes Rory's hand and places it back on his.
Also there is the scene while they are out in the prison yard, Rory points out the hardened inamte, Blade, to Harry and says "Till Grossberger came along, he held the ax murder record in the Southwest. He's the man I'll get your cheese burger from". Rory then tells a nervous Harry about Blade "Don't worry, I'll protect you! For some reason I make him uneasy!" and Harry says "I wonder why!".
JoBeth Williams is also pretty good as Skip and Harry's defence lawyer's sister and business partner, Meredith. And during one of their meetings in prison, Skip asks Meredith "This sound silly but have you seen "A place in the sun"? and Meredith a little surprised asks "With Elizabeth Taylor and Montgomery Clift?" and Skip says "Yeah" and Meredith, smiles and says "That's my favourite!". Skip then laughs in surprise and he tells her "That's my favourite too!" and Meredith asks him "What does that tell us?" and Skip says "That maybe we're not such strangers as circumstances would imply" and Meredith smiles and says "Maybe not".
And the last two of the cast I will mention are Erlan Van Lidth, as the silent, towering convicted mass murderer, Grossberg, who is lumbered into a cell with Skip and Harry but later on, they become friends against all the odds. Van Lidth, actually was also a wrestler and an operatic bass-baritone singer and we even get to hear him sing in the film when Grossberger later on shows his sensitive side and starts singing. Erlan Van Lidth sadly later died of heart failure in 1987 some seven years after the film's release.
And last of all is Jonathan Banks as the convict inmate, Jack Graham, who runs a contraband operation and is a bad-ass guy, who is in cahoots with the deputy warden, Wilson. And Banks has one good scene in the film worth mentioning where one of the inmates is brought infront of Graham and one of his men ask "What do you want to do with him?" and Graham asks "How late was he?" and the man says "A week". So, Graham grabs the man and angrily says "Snort up all that nice blow...and then you forget about payin'?!! Teach him to be punctual!!" and his men beat up on the prisoner.
DIRECTOR AND MUSIC
As for the direction, Sidney Poitier does a fine job with the film as it moves along at a nice leisurely pace and despite the harsh prison environment, he keeps the tone light hearted and allows for Wilder and Pryor's antics to work well. However, at times the pacing does feel a little bit laggy but that aside its still good work from Poitier.
The film's music score however by Tom Scott remains one of the film's weaker points as it sounds pretty dated and is a bit bland and generic sounding for such a film, but it serves it purpose regardless. The film also makes good use of Kiki Dee's "Nothing's can stop us" which is used at the end and gives the film a nice rather poignant ending.
FLAWS (Warning: this section may refer to spoilers!)
So flaws does Stir Crazy have some???? Yep its not quite perfect.
For starters the film's plot is wafer thin and there's not much story in it all, as it serves merely a vehicle for Wilder and Pryor to work their gags, which no doubt would be largely improvised but well it is a comedy after all.
I also think there are times where the comedy takes a back seat to expand on other things such as Ramirez's family that feel a little unnecessary to add in. Not only that of course there is also the rather tedious prison break scene at the rodeo, which is pretty convoluted and seems to go on forever and again highlights the film spending less time on the laughs in these moments.
Another thing is the ending is a bit daft as despite Skip and Harry busting out of jail, Meredith and Len turn up to tell them they are really free as they caught the real bank robbers. However they are both still guilty of doing a prison break! And that hardly makes them look innocent does it?? Regardless of their innocence in the robbery they have still committed an offence in breaking out!
I also had a bit of a problem with Skip's character as well as he really is a bit of annoying dick, as well as a bit crazy as he impulsively tries to make friends with everyone, particularly people he should have no business even trying to make friends with, such as the two rednecks! And in the end if you look at the events of the film, it really all started with Skip's decision to try and befriend the two rednecks in the bar, who as a result later follow them, watch them do their song and dance routine, and later take their clothes, do the routine and rob the bank!
So, basically in short, while he was innocent of the robbery, its all Skip's fault, as if he was more cautious with whom he chose to socialise with, none of this would have happened. Not only that, Skip decided to go back to the scene of the crime, when they saw the police outside, to the objection of Harry but they end up getting arrested! What a dick this guy is!
And last of all is the film's intro song, titled Stir Crazy funnily enough, is a bit duff and annoying as Gene Wilder sings over it, it doesn't really lend well to the beginning of the film and I never really liked it.
Anyway that's it for the flaws.
SUM UP
So, in summary, Stir Crazy is still a very enjoyable and charming comedy that features Gene Wilder and Richard Pryor doing some of their very best comedic work onscreen together and their natural chemistry works brilliantly here as it would continue to do so in "See No Evil, Hear No Evil". The film is of course not without problems as the laughs take a back seat later on in the film in favour of the prison break at the rodeo, which is a bit too overlong and the film does feel flabby at times pacing wise.
However, despite all this, Stir Crazy is definitely still worth repeated viewing after nearly 40 years.
Right, that's it for now and I'll be back with another post soon.
Till, the next un, bye for now!
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