Episode 377: Clue (1985)

"You couldn't make Blazing Saddles today!" Well, that's true, but not in the way that a lot of people mean it. This week, we delve into Mel Brooks's iconic parody of westerns (and racism and Hollywood), Blazing Saddles! Featuring Cleavon Little as Bart, a railroad worker turned sheriff, and Gene Wilder as his best friend the Waco Kid ("some call me...Jim"), Blazing Saddles remains a gold standard for parodies that also provides a none-too-subtle political commentary on contemporary American racism, not to mention the western itself. Next week, Brooks takes on the entire history of Western civilization with History of the World, Part I!

This month is all about the icon, the legend, the one and only Mel Brooks! And we're kicking things off with his most iconic film, Young Frankenstein. From 1974, Brooks co-wrote the script with star Gene Wilder, who plays Frederick Frankenstein, the grandson of the infamous Victor Frankenstein. Though Frederick has tried so hard to unburden himself of his family's legacy, an unexpected trip back to Transylvania gives him the chance to finish what his grandfather started, but to get things right this time. The film also stars Peter Boyle, Marty Feldman, Teri Garr, Cloris Leachman, Madeline Kahn, and Kenneth Mars.

We close out our month of horror musicals with Tim Burton's (and Johnny Depp's) last great film: Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street, an adaptation of the Stephen Sondheim musical of the same name that casts Depp in the role of a barber intent on bloody revenge, first on the judge (Alan Rickman) that had him transported to Australia, then on the world in general. Helena Bonham Carter is also at her best as Mrs. Lovett who suggests that they supplement Todd's revenge with some capitalist know-how and start baking human beings into pies. Probably the bleakest film Burton has ever made, and also one of the best. Next week, we end spooky season and start our Mel Brooks month with an undoubted masterpiece: Young Frankenstein!

We continue our horror musical marathon with the 2004 adaptation of Andrew Lloyd Webber's The Phantom of the Opera, a film that tells the story of how a musical theater kid living in a sewer turns into a incel. Starring Gerard Butler and Emmy Rossum, the film divided audiences when it came out, and still divides the Dames to this day! *Note that Lauren was incorrect: the 1925 silent film version of the story actually used two-strip Technicolor for its masquerade scene! Next up: Tim Burton invites us all for a pie with Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street!

This week, we continue our journey through horror musicals with the 1986 film, Little Shop of Horrors. Adapted from the Broadway musical that was adapted from the 1960 Roger Corman movie, Frank Oz directs this funny movie about a man-eating alien plant named Audrey II and the sweet, unassuming amateur botanist who gets wrapped up in "Twooie's" deadly plot. Rick Moranis is Seymour in his first leading role opposite a who's who cast including Ellen Greene, Levi Stubbs, Steve Martin, Vincent Gardenia, John Candy, Bill Murray, Christopher Guest, James Belushi, Miriam Margolyes, Tisha Campbell, Tichina Arnold, and Michelle Weeks. *Clip from LITTLE SHOP OF HORRORS courtesy of Warner Bros.

This week we continue celebrating Tim Curry AND ushering in Spooky Movie Season at the same time with the 1975 cult classic, The Rocky Horror Picture Show. In the longest-running film of all time, a young couple's car breaks down near an old castle in the middle of Ohio. When they knock on the door to use the telephone, they have no idea that they will spend a wild night in the company of a transvestite scientist from the planet Transsexual in the galaxy of Transylvania. Joining Tim Curry is a fantastic cast that includes Susan Sarandon, Barry Bostwick, Meat Loaf, Richard O'Brien, Patricia Quinn, Nell Campbell, Peters Hinwood, Jonathan Adams, and Charles Gray. *Clip from SATURDAY NIGHT LIVE courtesy of NBC Universal.

We continue our celebration of Tim Curry with the 1985 whodunnit homage/parody/board game adaptation Clue, directed by Jonathan Lynn, written by John Landis and Lynn, and starring a fantastic cast of comedic character actors as strangers who meet in an old dark house only to be swept up into a murder mystery. In a cast full of GOATs (including Madeline Kahn and Michael McKean), Tim Curry manages to make the film his own as Wadsworth, the butler who didn't do it (or did he?). Next week, we kick off spooky season with Tim Curry's most iconic role in The Rocky Horror Picture Show!

This week we switch gears and begin a memorial series dedicated to the icon, Tim Curry. And we're starting off with his 1996 musical comedy, Muppet Treasure Island. Directed by Brian Henson and starring all your favorite Muppets, this adaptation of the Robert Louis Stephenson novel casts Curry as the one and only Long John Silver. In this episode, we talk generally about Curry's career, his much-rumored affair with Miss Piggy, and how this show very obviously inspired the series Our Flag Means Death.

This episode, the Dames talk Dolly Parton, the 1980s, and...Turkish Oil Wrestling! In Steel Magnolias, based on Robert Harling's play of the same name, Dolly plays Truvy, the owner of a home-based beauty salon in a little Louisiana town that becomes the center of the friendships, love stories, and heartaches of a close-knit group of friends. Featuring a fantastic cast that includes Sally Field, Darryl Hannah, Olympia Dukakis, Julia Roberts, and Shirley Maclaine, this is one of the major films of the 1980s, and a beautiful way to end our mini celebration of Dolly's cinematic career. Next up, we pay tribute to Tim Curry, starting with Muppet Treasure Island!

While we were on a break, the world lost some legends. This month, we are remembering Dolly Parton and Tim Curry. First, we talk about Dolly's 1982 musical comedy, The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas. Parton stars as Miss Mona, the proprietor of a brothel known as the Chicken Ranch, a beloved house in rural Texas that comes under attack when TV personality Melvin P. Thorpe (Dom DeLuise) launches a moral crusade. Burt Reynolds stars as Ed Earl, the town sheriff and Miss Mona's longtime paramour. Charles Durning was nominated for an Oscar for Best Supporting Actor, and Parton re-recorded her 1973 hit song, "I Will Always Love You" for the soundtrack. The film was directed by Colin Higgins, who had previously worked with Dolly Parton on 9 to 5. This was his final film and Higgins passed away in 1988. *Clip from The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas courtesy of Universal Pictures.