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In this interview Mel Brooks discusses his new movie "The Producers". The following is discussed: the plot; the other actors in the film; the satirical and campy nature of the film; . Brooks performs several different impersonations throughout the interview.
Actor and director Sam Wanamaker died in December of 1993. In an interview in 1980, he discussed his love of Shakespeare's plays. Wanamaker's mission in life was to recreate, reconstruct and revive The Globe Theatre as it was in Shakespeare's days.
Through an interpreter, Madame Ida Kaminska discusses her role in the film "The Shop on Main Street." Both her mother and father were actors, too. Madame Kaminska explains she comes from a family of actors from 100 years ago.
Silent film pioneer Buster Keaton discusses his career following the release of "When Comedy Was King," a compilation of some classic shorts by Keaton, Charlie Chaplin, Harold Lloyd, and others. Keaton reveals how they shot the early silent films, generated material and gags, how they planned big chase scenes, the resurging European interest in silent classics, and more. Studs asks Keaton about the stylistic differences between him and Chaplin, whether he would recreate silent films, and how they compare to today's film-making.
Studs interview with Hildegard Knef, actress and writer. They discuss her life in Nazi Germany during the war and her experience as an actress when she came to America. Studs and Hildegard read together from her book, "The Gift Horse." Knef describes her family, Nazi Germany, survival, and her experience as a German in American post WWII. Her husband, David Anthony Palastanga, also reads an excerpt from her book.
The film is based on the Eliot Asinof book: "Eight Men Out: the Black Sox and the 1919 World Series"
Interviewing actor Anthony Quinn about his autobiography, "The Original Sin, A Self-Portrait" [includes a postscript by Studs].