My Favorite Year
An Overlooked Comic Gem!
“My name is Benjy Stone and 1954 was my favorite year.
Not my best year, not the year I had the most success but my favorite year!”
My name is Benjy Stone, and 1954 was my favorite year. Not my best year, not the year I had the most success but my favorite year!”This overlooked gem is wonderfully funny, tremendously nostalgic, fabulously well acted. This thoroughly delightful movie is a perfect example of how comedy can be made with warmth and a real feeling for a specific place and time.
My Favorite Year brings to life, perfectly, the era of live television in 1954 New York. The dialogue is hilarious and memorable, and the period detail immediately evokes a beautiful moment when television comedy united the nation. When Sid Caesar was the King of Comedy on television, he had the most fabulous writing staff ever assembled. Mel Brooks, Woody Allen, Neil Simon, Larry Gelbart, Carl Reiner, and Selma Diamond were only some of the writers working for the master. The volatile genius of Sid Caesar and the craziness in the writing room have proven rich fodder for books, movies, and television shows. “The Dick Van Dyke Show” was based on Carl Reiner’s experience, so was Neil Simon’s play, “Laughter On The 23rd Floor.”
MY FAVORITE YEAR – INSPIRED BY THE SID CAESAR SHOWS
Although Mel Brooks served as executive producer and had input into the script, it is not, for the most part, a Mel Brooks movie. In some ways, it always seems to me more like a Woody Allen film, in which small moments, witty dialogue, Jewish humor, and offbeat situations keep you smiling. The mood is warm, the relationships touching, and every supporting performance is stellar.
O’Toole is pitch perfect; alternately hilarious, maddening, and deeply touching. It is a deft performance that showcases not only Peter O’Toole’s superb acting skills but incredible comic timing. The film is blessed with offbeat but effective casting (click here for other examples of unique casting in films) that liven every corner of My Favorite Year.
Although Mel Brooks served as executive producer and had input into the script, it is not, for the most part, a Mel Brooks movie. In some ways, it always seems to me more like a Woody Allen film, in which small moments, witty dialogue, Jewish humor and offbeat situations keep you smiling. The humor is warm, the relationships touching, and every supporting performance is stellar.
One of the most significant difficulties of making a period film is making it appealing and accessible to those who did not live during that era. In this respect, “My Favorite Year” is a shimmering success. You need not have lived in 1954 to enjoy the richly textured production. Benjy Stone’s favorite year is beautifully recreated through costume, sets, props, and dialogue. One particularly lovely scene was set on 45th Street, in the heart of the Broadway theater district. By using window dressings and period cars in the foreground and a brilliantly painted matte on the corner, the production makes it look as if you were really seeing Manhattan in 1954. Today, this would be easily accomplished with CGI (computer generated imagery) but what My Favorite Year presents is a warmer, more intimate feel.
Peter O’Toole was nominated for an Oscar and the film earned three Golden Globe nominations. Despite being a tremendous critical success but not a smash at the box 
office.
Looking at the trailer for the film, I have to conclude My Favorite Year was one of the worst publicized great movies ever! The trailer is simply dreadful. Please do not let that deter you. Nor do you need to know anything about live television to be immediately swept into its wonderfully wacky world.
“My Favorite Year” is one of those films you can watch over and over and over again, until you have memorized every line, and still want to watch again and again!
In the comments section below, I have a wonderful and fun challenge for you. If you have seen My Favorite Year, I know you love it! Leave your favorite line of dialogue as a comment.
Comedy comes from being relatable. We can all relate to Benji Stone’s desires to me close to greatness, hold on to his childhood idols, and get the girl. This all occurring within the frantic setting of the high speed world of live television comedy creates great parallels later modeled in Soapdish. Must see!!!
Two men on a balcony, as Alan Swann jumps (with a rope to crash their party), misses their balcony and dangles a couple of balconies below:
“Alan Swann is beneath us…”
“Of course he’s beneath us, he’s an actor!”
Benji’s mom to Alan Swann: “Welcome to our humble chapeau.
Alan Swann: I’m not an actor — I’m a movie star!
Nan, you chose some beauties! The balcony scene is hilarious! I love when the drunken Alan Swann says we will just “shimmy down.” Benji’s response is priceless: “Shimmying? Shimmying? I’m not shimmying down anything! It’s too DANGEROUS!”
Benji: Here’s a dollar.
K.C. What for?
Benji: Accordian lessons
Steve, what makes the line even funnier is that KC actually TAKES the dollar!
Benjy Stone: Mr. Swann, I think I’m going to be unwell.
Swann: Stone, ladies are unwell. Gentlemen vomit.
Benjy Stone: Mm-hm.
Swann: [to his limo driver] Alfredo, you needn’t wait. We shan’t need the car any more. We’re going to throw up in the park and then walk home.
Arnie,
Hilarious choices! Swann’s ability to appear to be a polished gentleman even in the oddest of circumstances is part of the great charm of the movie. He can even make throwing up sound funny!
Remember him inadvertently walking into the ladies room and accidentally exposing himself to Selma Diamond:
Lil: ( Referring to the fact that he is in the ladies room) This is for ladies only!
Swann: ( referring to the fact that he is exposed) And so is this, ma’am, but every now and again I need to run a little water through it.
Yes,
That was a great line.
Kind of sad. Peter O’Toole says he is retiring from acting today.
:http://insidemovies.ew.com/2012/07/10/peter-otoole-announces-retirement/?hpt=hp_c2
Arnie,
Even in the last decade he has made some terrific films. WHat a great career!
Barry
A line that I quote from time to time: “California? You can’t write comedy in California! It’s not depressing enough!”
R. A. –
Great line! I also love Benjy’s mother reacting to his obvious discomfort about Alan Swann to dinner at her apartment in Brooklyn:
Belle: “Benjamin, what are you ashamed of?”
Benji: “Everything!”
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Thanks for the great review. I’ve probably seen this movie 10 or 15 times since it first came out and can quote most of the dialogue right along with the action on the screen. Drives my wife nuts, but she loves me anyway. This is one of the all-time great comic screenplays; it strikes me as one of those situations where the writer envisioned the ending first and then created the story around it. The last 10 minutes are one of the most satisfying 10 minutes I’ve ever spent in a movie theater.
Speaking of conceiving of the ending first, that’s gotta explain the brilliant denouement in My Cousin Vinnie. Another Top 10 all-time great comic screenplay, in my view.
Keep ’em coming.