Overdrawn at the Memory Bank

(a weird, sick-sounding woman sings “Falling in Love Again” at the piano. Mike and the ‘Bots make fun of her)

I don’t particularly get that woman (I think her name was Lola). Raul Julia is supposed to be in his Casablanca world, right? Then, what’s that blonde woman doing singing “Falling in Love Again” on top of the piano? Nobody in Casablanca did that. Was she supposed to be Lauren Bacall, singing on top of the piano while FDR played? Then why did she have a German accent? Was she supposed to be Marlene Dietrich in Blue Angel? If so, how in bloody hell does that figure in at all with Casablanca? The woman didn’t even look like Marlene Dietrich, in any case. Anyway, Overdrawn at the Memory Bank is loaded chock-full with references to Casablanca (obviously). The guy who impersonates Peter Lorre is actually pretty good.


Sick-Sounding Woman: Buckle your seatbelt, Fingle…It’s going to be a bumpy ride.
Mike: Wait, now All About Eve? What next, are the Bowery Boys going to stop by?

The Bowery Boys (also known as the Dead End Kids) were a group of kids who starred in 30’s and 40’s movies like Angels with Dirty Faces, Dead End, and Crime School (all of which starred Humphrey Bogart, although Humphrey Bogart did not star in all the Bowery Boys films). They were always tough-talking New Yawk kids who, as their films became more of a franchise, were kind of like the Little Rascals gone bad. Their best movie, in my opinion, was Angels with Dirty Faces, which starred Bogie and James Cagney. Story has it that Bogie got along really well with the kids, playing stickball with them and such, while Cagney couldn’t stand them, and even slapped one when the kid started ad-libbing. It reminds me of a scene in Angels with Dirty Faces, when Cagney is playing basketball with them, and they try to cheat, and he slaps them all over and over again! One of the funniest things I’ve ever seen in a non-comedic film. All About Eve, by the way, is one of the many classic films that Bette Davis made—it’s about an aging actress who gets upstaged by a creepy, egomaniacal starlet. The line spoken by the Sick-Sounding Woman is pretty much the line in the film, but it goes “It’s going to be a bumpy night,” and without the “Fingle” of course. It’s one of the most famous lines in film history, as famous as “You talkin’ to me?” (Taxi Driver) and “My boat.” (Waterworld)…just kidding about the second one. Sorry.


(the whole film’s about Casablanca)

(Warning: This is going to be rather long, because I love Casablanca and have to comment on it)
Casablanca is regarded as one of the best movies ever made, counted in the top five by Roger Ebert, the American Film Institute, Entertainment Weekly, and Leonard Maltin. Ebert calls it “The Movie” because it really does seem to be the most well known movie ever, and the most beloved. Everyone knows its lines like “Here’s looking at you, kid”, “You’ll regret it, maybe not today, maybe not tomorrow, but soon, and for the rest of your life”, “Is that cannon fire or is it my heart pounding”, “Round up the usual suspects”, “The problems of three little people don’t amount to a hill of beans in this crazy world”, “This could be the start of a beautiful friendship”, and “Play it again, Sam” (although this last line was never actually said verbatim). Everyone knows the song “As Time Goes By” because of this movie and most everyone immediately identifies Humphrey Bogart and Ingrid Bergman to their characters in Casablanca, Rick Blaine and Ilsa Lazlo. There’s the great scene in the beginning of the movie, with Rick meeting Ilsa again, the Paris flash-back, and the scene where Paul Henreid gets everyone in the bar to drown out the Nazis by singing “La Marseilles”, and of course the legendary final scene at the airport. It’s been parodied and referenced to in a million movies, from When Harry Met Sally to Play It Again Sam to Hot Shots. And it’s nearly played to death in this insipid little made-for-television movie, but I still love it. I loved Servo’s line, “Never play a good movie in the middle of your crappy movie”. Indeed.


(Raul Julia stands behind a caravan of what-looks-like corpses going by on stretchers.)
Mike: Corpse-spotting.

Reference to—Trainspotting. I already praised the movie in Revenge of the Creature, so I’ll skip it here. In the movie, there’s a scene where the group of druggies (Renton, Spud, Sick Boy, and Tommy, who technically is not a junkie yet but will be) go for a hike in the hills. They pass a train. The image of them standing in a row by the railroad tracks is a trademark of the film. Come to think of it, the movie’s title is never explained in the movie itself. I think I remember someone telling me it was because they’re always pinpointing the exact time the trains go by. Doesn’t make sense though. Hmm…


(Scary Fat Man is talking)
Crow: You once called me a warped, frustrated old man…

Yet another (another! For Christ’s sake!) reference to It’s a Wonderful Life. George Bailey has gone to Mr. Potter to ask for money, because Uncle Billy has “misplaced” 8,000 dollars. “Misplaced”, because Mr. Potter actually stole it. Poor George has to grovel at Potter’s feet and at one point Potter is rubbing it in his face and he says, “You once called me a warped, frustrated old man. Well what are you but a warped, frustrated young man?” He doesn’t give him the money. He intends to get Poor George arrested. He’s a mean old guy. This movie is pretty depressing, now that I think of it. No wonder everyone is always depressed at Christmas…


(Animals are drunk…)
Mike: They doppled Oliver Reed and Peter O’Toole?

Ha—you know, no matter how good Oliver Reed and Peter O’Toole actually were, they’ll forever be known as alcoholic playboys (perhaps Reed more than O’Toole, since O’Toole was in a lot more good films). Both O’Toole and Reed are from England, but Reed had no theatrical training whatsoever, while I’m rather sure that O’Toole went to RADA. Reed died in 2000 while making Gladiator, and O’Toole was given a Lifetime Achievement Award at the Oscars. Neither men ever won an Oscar—in fact, O’Toole is tied with Richard Burton for the greatest number of nominations without a win (although I don’t know if it’s moot now that he was given that award). If I had to name a best picture for both of them, I’d say Oliver! for Reed, and Lawrence of Arabia for O’Toole. So there you go.