Movie: Stir Crazy
There have been many hilarious tandems of male movie actors throughout the years. Abbot & Costello, Laurel & Hardy, Matthau and Lemmon in The Odd Couple, but there is one comedian who rose above the rest in maximizing his talents when paired with another actor.
Yes, I’m talking about the late and great Gene Wilder, who starred with Peter Boyle and others in the timeless comedy, Young Frankenstein. No, I’m not forgetting Eye-Gore, either, but I must move on to one of the most hilarious scenes to ever hit the screen. Skip and Harry (Gene Wilder and Richard Pryor) are thrown into prison for a crime that they did not commit, and they annoyed Deputy Ward Wilson so much that he decided to do something about it.
That something was Grossberger, a terrifying man-mountain that was added as a cellmate into their already tiny and crowed cell. Richard Pryor’s antics were priceless. They were mostly silent lamentations, gently weeping and babbling while Grossberger pinned him to the bunk with his girth. How these actors managed to keep straight faces, especially Grossberger (Erland van Lidth) during this scene is nothing short of supernatural. I won’t spoil the payoff, so just watch the video if you have not seen this magically funny scene.
Memorable Quote:
- “That’s Grossberger. The biggest mass murderer in the history of the southwest? My dear, he killed his entire family and all of his relatives in one weekend and then he killed some more people that reminded him of his family!” -Rory
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