RICHARD PRYOR 1940-2005
Pryor shown most in the concert films. My favorite was LIVE ON THE SUNSET STRIP. He recounts the episode where he caught on fire claiming that he mixed some 2% and whole milk, dipped a cookie in and it blew up.
BLAZZING SADDLES (1974) - Richard Pryor didn't appear but was brought on as a writer according to Mel Brooks so that they could get away with the racial humor. Brooks said that Pryor wrote the Mongo parts of the film.
SILVER STREAK (1976) - Gene Wilder stars as the normal guy who witnesses a murder while traveling on a cross-country train. Pryor appears midway through and the whole tone of the film changes. Pryor is funny and helpful to Wilder in a way that makes him immediately lovable. This is one that I can watch over and over again.
STIR CRAZY (1980) - Wilder and Pryor re-team for a film that I saw 20 times when I was a youngster, but it probably doesn't hold up as well as the first one. This time the pair are sent to jail for a bank robbery they didn't do. Wilder learns that he's a natural at riding the bucking bronco and that helps in their escape.
SOME KIND OF HERO (1982) - This wasn't seen by many. It begins with Pryor taken prisoner during Vietnam. They make him sign a confession for his atrocities and when he returns home after the war, the Army makes him suffer for doing so. It's an interesting serious role for Pryor although it wasn't a great movie.
THE TOY (1983) - Pryor and Jackie Gleason wasted talent in this silly movie about the spoiled boy that they both love.
SUPERMAN III (1983) - This movie ruined the Superman franchise with the big hook being Pryor skimming off fractions of cents to embezzle (later played to hilarity in Office Space) and the bad guys making some sort of kryptonite type substance that doesn't kill superman, but turns him into a jerk.
3 comments:
One of the hosts on ESPN Radio this morning talked about how his mom took him when he was 13 to see Pryor's LIVE ON THE SUNSET STRIP. Now that is quite a mental picture.
Brewster's Millions was featured on "I Love the 80s" on VH1 back in October.
Pryor was huge when I was a youngster. I remember his SNL appearances and I saw SUNSET STRIP with E in the theater. Heck, I even saw BREWSTER'S MILLIONS in the theatre, though it was weak. The first R-rated movie I ever saw, and thus the first time I ever heard curse words was STIR CRAZY, which was hilarious through the first two acts before it petered out in act three. SILVER STREAK is a classic.
Once he blew up freebasing, I realized that you can be a famous funnyman, yet still be a loser. Now the airwaves are filled with BEHIND THE SCREEN type shows, but before Rock Hudson got sick, it was Richard Pryor's mishap that made me realize that it's not all roses for celebrities, and they all have their secrets. Never wish MS on a fellow, but this guy already looked half dead during SEE NO EVIL, so I'm guessing the golden years were not so great.
Post a Comment