Anything for a Laugh

How many movie spoofs can you name which poke fun at World War II espionage dramas AND rock ‘n’ roll musicals? There’s only one and it’s also notable as Val Kilmer’s screen debut – Top Secret! (1984). The follow-up film to Airplane! (1980), their enormously successful parody of disaster flicks, Top Secret! was the third collaboration between Jim Abrahams, David Zucker and his brother Jerry and employs the same anything goes style of that previous hit and their first film, The Kentucky Fried Movie (1977), which the trio co-wrote but John Landis directed. In other words, outrageous sight gags, terrible puns, anachronisms, broad slapstick, politically incorrect humor and silly pop culture parodies.

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Can Robert Loggia Save the World?

“See cities reduced to ashes! See oceans turned to steam! See mountains turned to molten lava! See interceptor jets and anti-missiles melted in mid-air before your eyes!” These are all taglines from the original poster for The Lost Missile (1958), a relatively obscure sci-fi thriller from the fifties which features Robert Loggia in a rare early starring role.

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Fear of Flying

Consider this as a possible scenario. You are on a flight from Lisbon, Portugal to New York City and, in the dead of night over the middle of the Atlantic Ocean, the pilot’s voice on the intercom suddenly jolts you awake with these words, “Can I have your attention please. This is Captain Williams. We’re in an emergency situation. We may have to ditch.” You might be able to ditch your girlfriend, boyfriend or spouse but it’s not so easy to ditch a plane as demonstrated by the principles of Crash Landing (1958).         

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