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Sid Caesar Collection - The Magic of Live TV

Sid Caesar Collection - The Magic of Live TV

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Product Info Reviews

Features:
  • Black & White


Description:

One of the greatest comedians of early television, Sid Caesar hasn't had his work shown in perennial reruns, so it's especially gratifying to see a collection of his classic sketches released on video, with Caesar himself introducing the material. Besides being a truly gifted comic, Caesar benefited from having some brilliant supporting players, including Carl Reiner, Imogene Coca, and Nanette Fabray. Some of his illustrious writers, including Neil Simon, Woody Allen, and Mel Brooks, appear in interviews setting up the sketches. The sketches themselves include some all-time classics such as Caesar and company playing the figurines populating a medieval town clock (a brilliant bit partly written by Neil Simon and his brother, Danny, who reminisce after the sketch). And of course there are some of Caesar's brilliant parodies of foreign films, in which he and Carl Reiner took the bizarre art of dialect doubletalk to new levels. Caesar bristled with a manic energy, and his brilliant portrayals of characters ranging from a loudmouth suburban husband to a 1950s teen idol are all the more amazing when one considers that all this dazzling work was done without a net, with no second chances, on live TV. --Robert J. McNamara
© 2004, ReviewFocus or its affiliates