WEBVTT - Mel Brooks Turns 100

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<v Speaker 1>Mel Brooks makes the world laugh. Watch the Producers Blazing

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<v Speaker 1>saddles Young Frankenstein, Listen to the two thousand year old Man,

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<v Speaker 1>or read his autobiography All About Me, and you are

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<v Speaker 1>guaranteed to find yourself laughing out loud until it hurts.

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<v Speaker 1>But for me, having known mel for twenty five years,

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<v Speaker 1>funny is not the first word I would use to

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<v Speaker 1>describe this amazing man. Hungry, hungry, fiercely proud. Do you

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<v Speaker 1>think that's your adjective? You get hungry with you? I

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<v Speaker 1>get hungry when I see you. Well, we love you there, fiercely,

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<v Speaker 1>proud of his children and his grandchildren, the first one

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<v Speaker 1>to pick up a phone to a friend in trouble,

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<v Speaker 1>refusing an award in opposition to the Iraq War and

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<v Speaker 1>waiting to accept it from President Obama. Vulnerable after the

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<v Speaker 1>loss of people he loved to mail. Food and wine

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<v Speaker 1>are crucial. Many of his life's happenings have occurred in restaurants,

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<v Speaker 1>and as for wine, he will tell you himself.

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<v Speaker 2>Spill it all over the table.

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<v Speaker 1>I'm trying to take this seriously. Today it is home.

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<v Speaker 1>We are together, lucky me. We're going to talk about

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<v Speaker 1>wine and family and friends. And be prepared to laugh

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<v Speaker 1>because mel Brooks is funny. So that was a serious introduction.

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<v Speaker 1>I want to tell you what do you want to

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<v Speaker 1>tell me that.

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<v Speaker 2>Before we stopped talking, before I forget, I would like

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<v Speaker 2>to do my imitation of a cat, because not a

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<v Speaker 2>lot of people know that I do it. I make

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<v Speaker 2>the best cats sound in the world. Ready, I just

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<v Speaker 2>want to just give me.

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<v Speaker 1>I just need one second to really get myself into this.

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<v Speaker 2>Here's no Brooks doing the sound of a cat. That

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<v Speaker 2>is that is a perfect sound. It's hard to do,

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<v Speaker 2>hard to do. How do it? In young Frankenstein? I

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<v Speaker 2>think it's it's a dart throwing contest and one of

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<v Speaker 2>the dots hits a cat and you hear you know, did.

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<v Speaker 1>You do the sound? I get there every night? Can

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<v Speaker 1>you do it again?

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<v Speaker 2>Wow?

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<v Speaker 1>That's good? So what's the technique?

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<v Speaker 2>Technique is to is to squash some air between your

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<v Speaker 2>cheek and the front of your mouth.

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<v Speaker 1>Let's begin at the beginning. Earliest food memories. What do

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<v Speaker 1>you remember from you know, your early days. Did your

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<v Speaker 1>mother cook?

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<v Speaker 2>Yeah? My mother, okay, it was it was a standard

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<v Speaker 2>Williamsburg Brooklyn Jewish tenement food. So breakfast in the winter

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<v Speaker 2>was always a hot cereal, cream of wheat or Rollston

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<v Speaker 2>which was the kind of Barridge Brown Barridge. And then

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<v Speaker 2>in the summer corn flakes, rice krispies or wheaties.

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<v Speaker 1>What year would that have been? How old would you?

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<v Speaker 2>I would that would be thirty five, I'd be around nine.

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<v Speaker 2>That's when I went my uncle Joe, shortest jew on earth.

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<v Speaker 2>Short he was about four to four when when a taxi,

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<v Speaker 2>a big checker taxi cab rolled down the streets of

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<v Speaker 2>Brooklyn and there was no driver. That was there was

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<v Speaker 2>no driver. It was so short it get just about

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<v Speaker 2>peer over the you know. Anyway, Joe took me because

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<v Speaker 2>his friend Al was the doorman of the Alvin Theater

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<v Speaker 2>on fifty second Street, and running at that same theater

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<v Speaker 2>was Cold Porters Anything Goes. I had never seen a

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<v Speaker 2>Broadway show. I was nine years old and Uncle Joe

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<v Speaker 2>took me to see Anything Goes. I was stunned. I was.

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<v Speaker 2>I couldn't believe it, even though we were in the

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<v Speaker 2>second balcony, was far away from the stage as you

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<v Speaker 2>can get ethel Merman was too loud, No MIC's she

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<v Speaker 2>was just jish. Anything Goes. At the end, I nearly

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<v Speaker 2>clapped my hands over. I just couldn't stop clapping and

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<v Speaker 2>screaming and shouting. And then I got back in uncle

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<v Speaker 2>Joe's cap. I said to him, Uncle Joe, I'm not

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<v Speaker 2>going in the garment center. Everybody at three sixty five

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<v Speaker 2>South third Street between on Hooper and Use, everybody in

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<v Speaker 2>that building worked in the garment center. They were shipping clerks,

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<v Speaker 2>they were cutters, these tenements. Everybody in the garment center.

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<v Speaker 2>And I screamed at my uncle Joe, Uncle Joe, I'm

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<v Speaker 2>not I'm not going into the garments at I'm not

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<v Speaker 2>I'm gonna go into show business. I loved it. I

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<v Speaker 2>loved it, you know. And it changed, but it did

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<v Speaker 2>and I did.

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<v Speaker 1>And because he take you to food, but do you

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<v Speaker 1>take you out to eat? I always went to the

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<v Speaker 1>theater as a kid. And then there was the meal afterwards,

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<v Speaker 1>lunch before it was a day.

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<v Speaker 2>We had some favorites that Uncle Joe would take us to.

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<v Speaker 2>One was called Gallagher Steakhous. They had like half a

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<v Speaker 2>cow in the window. I always had these half cows

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<v Speaker 2>in the window, you know, raw hanging gallaghers, and the

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<v Speaker 2>and the steak was incredible. Some a lot of Jewish

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<v Speaker 2>restaurants were called dairy restaurants, and they serve stuff like

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<v Speaker 2>blinches with sour cream and old dairy. You ever mixed

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<v Speaker 2>meat and dairy with something some religious nonsense?

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<v Speaker 1>Did your grandmother cook for you?

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<v Speaker 2>My grandmother cook?

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<v Speaker 1>What did she cooks? Which grandmother? Your mother's mother? I

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<v Speaker 1>never knew, you never knew your father's.

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<v Speaker 2>No, No, my father his grandmother. I didn't know. She

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<v Speaker 2>did save her meals, best olden meals in Bensonhurst where

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<v Speaker 2>they lived in a big one family.

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<v Speaker 1>Did they come with their first generation?

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<v Speaker 2>Yeah?

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<v Speaker 1>They were European, Yeah, born born and so do you

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<v Speaker 1>think your grandparents brought their food with them, the food culture.

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<v Speaker 2>They cooked the same stuff. Mostly it was chicken, chicken

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<v Speaker 2>and chicken soup.

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<v Speaker 1>And uh briscuit.

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<v Speaker 2>Yeah, they made brisket. Absolutely, they made brisket and brown potatoes.

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<v Speaker 1>Do you know my grandparents came they were They came

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<v Speaker 1>from Hungary and Russia. And my father remembers my grandmother

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<v Speaker 1>having in the Lower East Side a carp swimming in

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<v Speaker 1>the bathtub that they would make a filter fish out of.

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<v Speaker 1>So can you imagine having a look, they would bring

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<v Speaker 1>it a live fish.

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<v Speaker 2>Live fish.

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<v Speaker 1>We would get a live fish.

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<v Speaker 2>My brother Bernie and I were usually one week. We

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<v Speaker 2>loved and we called him already and we fed them

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<v Speaker 2>bread crumbs and we chased them around the bathtub. And

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<v Speaker 2>then it was unspeakable. I can't even describe it. Irving,

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<v Speaker 2>my old oldest brothers Irving and Lenny held us back.

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<v Speaker 2>We were screaming, don't kill him. And my mother would say,

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<v Speaker 2>we gotta eat, we gotta eat supper. And she'd kill

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<v Speaker 2>Audie and serve them and we would cry and we

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<v Speaker 2>ate them.

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<v Speaker 1>And then would you get another carp and kill that?

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<v Speaker 1>We got another carp It's so interesting that they had

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<v Speaker 1>live fish swimming in the back.

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<v Speaker 2>And let me tell you that my mother used to

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<v Speaker 2>make every once in a while on a Sunday night,

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<v Speaker 2>she would make spaghetti. She would buy a box of

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<v Speaker 2>Mullers noodles. They were flat, flat noodles, and she cooked

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<v Speaker 2>them until they were dead. They were really soft, and

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<v Speaker 2>then she put them in a baking pan and she

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<v Speaker 2>would empty a bottle of Heinz ketchup over there, this

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<v Speaker 2>is spaghetti. And then she'd bake it for thirty or

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<v Speaker 2>forty minutes until the pan was dead, till everything was dead,

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<v Speaker 2>and then She cut them into squares and served it

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<v Speaker 2>to us and he said spaghetti. And I was from

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<v Speaker 2>eight years old to about thirteen or fourteen. That was

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<v Speaker 2>spaghetti and it was okay, Yeah, it was really okay.

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<v Speaker 2>Then I had joined a club called the Baltzer Bugs.

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<v Speaker 2>We made model airplanes. I think we enjoyed smelling the glue.

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<v Speaker 2>Why do we like baking the planes? But we made

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<v Speaker 2>so one of the Baltzer Bugs it was Bernie Steinberger,

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<v Speaker 2>was Flappy Rothman, and there was Tony Galliani and Italian

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<v Speaker 2>an Italian. And Tony said I'm going home. It was

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<v Speaker 2>Sunday and I said. He said, I'm going home to

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<v Speaker 2>have spaghetti. I said, we have spaghetti on Sunday too.

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<v Speaker 2>He said, well try, you know, come on and have

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<v Speaker 2>bar spaghetti. So I went home. I walked into his apartment,

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<v Speaker 2>which was in green Point at on the edge of Williamsburg.

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<v Speaker 2>As I walked in, I was assaulted by these incredible smells,

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<v Speaker 2>just as the aromas of of of garlic, and I

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<v Speaker 2>mean it was just incredible. Then I sat down. They

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<v Speaker 2>served this warm, squiggly spaghetti, real spaghetti, squiggly but not dead.

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<v Speaker 2>My fotback and saw this red thick red, beautiful sauce

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<v Speaker 2>with meatballs in it, and and sprinkled on top of

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<v Speaker 2>it was this white stuffed snow. I think it was

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<v Speaker 2>parmesan cheese. And I took I took one bite, and

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<v Speaker 2>I started to cried. I wept. I wept, and I said, Tony,

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<v Speaker 2>this is spaghetti. This is spaghetti. I was about fourteen,

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<v Speaker 2>and I just wept and I went. When I came home,

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<v Speaker 2>I said, Mom, you're not making spaghetti. I don't know

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<v Speaker 2>what that stuff is, that cardpoint, but it's not spaghetti.

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<v Speaker 2>One of the most delicious things was very simple. We

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<v Speaker 2>lived at five stories up in this tenement. I was

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<v Speaker 2>not going to come up for lunch. I was not

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<v Speaker 2>why because there was five stories and I didn't want

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<v Speaker 2>to leave the game. So we took a break in

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<v Speaker 2>the game and we all had lunch. They all brought

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<v Speaker 2>bags and stuff with them, sat on the curve of

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<v Speaker 2>my friends and my mother would throw in it, throw

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<v Speaker 2>down in a brown paper bag, kaiser roll smeared with

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<v Speaker 2>a lot of butter, fresh butter, and almost a whole

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<v Speaker 2>tomato sliced and salted and put that and it was

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<v Speaker 2>the most delicious thing. You'd catch it and I'd always

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<v Speaker 2>catch it, but one time I missed it.

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<v Speaker 1>I was going to say five stories up.

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<v Speaker 2>As one time I missed it and splashed black. You

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<v Speaker 2>heard the sound and the bag was crammed with wet

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<v Speaker 2>So I very carefully peeled what used to be the

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<v Speaker 2>bag away from the sandwich, and I began eating the sandwich,

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<v Speaker 2>and I once again cried. It was so great. It

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<v Speaker 2>was the closest thing to pizza.

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<v Speaker 1>When did you have your first pizza?

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<v Speaker 2>Oh, I have my first pizza when I was I

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<v Speaker 2>don't I was sixteen or seventeen.

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<v Speaker 1>Yeah, So you always cared about how food tasted.

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<v Speaker 2>Yeah, And there was one big, another, very big revelation

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<v Speaker 2>in my food. Jeane Wilder, I could cry. Take him,

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<v Speaker 2>You're so sweet, sweetest invited Anne and I to dinner

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<v Speaker 2>it is house and in the village at his house

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<v Speaker 2>apartment in the village. I forgot what we hate. But

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<v Speaker 2>he served wine. Up until then, the only wine I

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<v Speaker 2>had ever really, I never cared for wine. I don't

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<v Speaker 2>say it tastes a little sour up until then. Mana

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<v Speaker 2>chevitza carmel is a sweet Jewish wine. And I tasted

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<v Speaker 2>this wine.

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<v Speaker 1>Was it a French wine?

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<v Speaker 2>It was a French wine, Santa stef you know, and

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<v Speaker 2>I said, what is this? He said, it's wine. I said,

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<v Speaker 2>so this is wine? And he got me hooked. And

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<v Speaker 2>from that day I think I was twenty something whatever,

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<v Speaker 2>twenty four, twenty six, I don't know, to that day

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<v Speaker 2>to this if I have wine, it's always a good wine.

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<v Speaker 2>It's either a good Italian wine or a good French

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<v Speaker 2>wine or a good half of valley wine. But he

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<v Speaker 2>taught me that wine wine could actually taste, really taste good,

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<v Speaker 2>you know.

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<v Speaker 1>And so how did you make the kind of voyage

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<v Speaker 1>from tasting wine to having one of the great sellers?

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<v Speaker 2>And well, up until Blazing Saddles, I was hanging on

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<v Speaker 2>the show business with the skin of my teeth, not

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<v Speaker 2>making any money. The first movie I made was The Producers,

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<v Speaker 2>good movie. I won the Academy Award for the screenplay,

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<v Speaker 2>but just about broke even. And then the next one

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<v Speaker 2>was The Twelve Chairs, which was a foreign movie kind

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<v Speaker 2>of you know, made It was a good, very one

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<v Speaker 2>of my best movies, but alas it didn't make a penny.

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<v Speaker 2>So I was thinking of going back to television, where

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<v Speaker 2>I was doing all right, I was making money, and

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<v Speaker 2>then blazing saddles and that was an explosion, busted open

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<v Speaker 2>the doors and windows and gave me enough money to

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<v Speaker 2>buy house. And you know, finally pay pay for dinner

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<v Speaker 2>and didn't have to slip me money under the table.

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<v Speaker 2>And I was okay.

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<v Speaker 1>When you were working in film in the studios, what

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<v Speaker 1>would food be like? There would there be a canteen

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<v Speaker 1>where you ate? What were they called the commissary?

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<v Speaker 2>What would they commissary?

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<v Speaker 1>Commissary?

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<v Speaker 2>What was that my arm? It's a mess hall. Yeah,

0:14:22.920 --> 0:14:24.960
<v Speaker 2>in the movie studios, it's a thomassary.

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<v Speaker 1>And what happened? What was that like?

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<v Speaker 2>Well? Some some had a Fox? Was very good?

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<v Speaker 1>Was that a way of kind of meeting people? Who

0:14:34.240 --> 0:14:36.600
<v Speaker 1>did you meet when you had a commissary? Yeah?

0:14:36.680 --> 0:14:39.360
<v Speaker 2>Well mostly the folks that I met, you know, the

0:14:39.440 --> 0:14:42.080
<v Speaker 2>stuff that you know, Allan Ladd Jr. Who ran Fox

0:14:43.000 --> 0:14:44.440
<v Speaker 2>often liked to eat at my table.

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<v Speaker 1>Yeah.

0:14:45.800 --> 0:14:50.760
<v Speaker 2>And Jay Canter who at one time as an agent

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<v Speaker 2>for MCA handle Marlon Brando, Grace Kelly, I mean, and

0:14:56.840 --> 0:14:58.920
<v Speaker 2>they all liked him because he was soft and sweet

0:14:58.920 --> 0:15:01.560
<v Speaker 2>and he was so Jay used to eat with us.

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<v Speaker 1>Your good friend Alan Up who Alan whenever he was

0:15:05.200 --> 0:15:06.840
<v Speaker 1>in town. He told me to ask you a story

0:15:06.880 --> 0:15:11.160
<v Speaker 1>about Carry Grant. Yes, what's the story about Carry gran Oh, it's.

0:15:10.960 --> 0:15:15.760
<v Speaker 2>A good story. Okay. I was not yet a filmmaker,

0:15:16.800 --> 0:15:19.520
<v Speaker 2>but I was writing a movie for a guy called

0:15:19.520 --> 0:15:23.880
<v Speaker 2>Marvin Schwartz on the Universe a lot. So I'm writing

0:15:23.960 --> 0:15:26.000
<v Speaker 2>this movie and I look across the way and I

0:15:26.040 --> 0:15:29.760
<v Speaker 2>see Grandhart g r a n Art and I say

0:15:29.760 --> 0:15:33.680
<v Speaker 2>to Marvin Schwartz, Marvin, what the hell is Grant Grandhart?

0:15:34.080 --> 0:15:39.680
<v Speaker 2>Who works there? He said, that's Carry Grant. That's Carry Grant.

0:15:40.960 --> 0:15:43.480
<v Speaker 2>That's about twenty feet away. It's thirty feet away.

0:15:44.000 --> 0:15:45.000
<v Speaker 1>What here was this smell?

0:15:45.920 --> 0:15:51.280
<v Speaker 2>This was I can tell you exactly fifty nine. Yeah,

0:15:51.520 --> 0:15:52.560
<v Speaker 2>I think fifty nine.

0:15:53.120 --> 0:15:53.920
<v Speaker 1>So you're watching.

0:15:54.120 --> 0:15:59.520
<v Speaker 2>I'm watching to see carry Grant. I'm watching, and sure

0:15:59.600 --> 0:16:04.440
<v Speaker 2>enough a rolls Royce comes. I would know. A guy

0:16:04.440 --> 0:16:07.840
<v Speaker 2>gets out of chauffeur. He opens the back door, bounding

0:16:08.920 --> 0:16:12.960
<v Speaker 2>two steps at a time up up the stairs to

0:16:13.040 --> 0:16:16.760
<v Speaker 2>Grandharts in a gray it has got to be Good's,

0:16:16.840 --> 0:16:22.480
<v Speaker 2>dark gray with chalk stripes, double breasted Carry Grant. It

0:16:22.680 --> 0:16:26.760
<v Speaker 2>was him. I said, holy shit, Carry Grant. I can't

0:16:26.800 --> 0:16:31.520
<v Speaker 2>believe it. So one day soon after that, I'm walking

0:16:31.560 --> 0:16:38.320
<v Speaker 2>down about twelve thirty two, the commissary at Universal. I

0:16:38.360 --> 0:16:43.880
<v Speaker 2>hear a little click clack behind me, and I turn

0:16:43.960 --> 0:16:49.560
<v Speaker 2>around and I hear mel Brookshaw. I don't believe it.

0:16:49.560 --> 0:16:52.960
<v Speaker 2>It's mel Brooks. I said, oh my god, it's Carry Grant.

0:16:53.560 --> 0:16:55.240
<v Speaker 2>I said, how do you know me? He said, I

0:16:55.280 --> 0:16:57.880
<v Speaker 2>got your record. I just bought your record. You cost

0:16:57.960 --> 0:17:00.800
<v Speaker 2>me one thousand dollars. I bought so many record And

0:17:00.840 --> 0:17:02.480
<v Speaker 2>then he said, but where are you going? I said

0:17:02.480 --> 0:17:05.359
<v Speaker 2>to the company. He said, well, let's go together. So wow,

0:17:06.080 --> 0:17:08.200
<v Speaker 2>I'm going to have lunch. I had lunch with Carry Grant.

0:17:08.200 --> 0:17:11.879
<v Speaker 2>I called my brother Bernie, Lenny, Irvy. I called everybody Williamsburg.

0:17:12.680 --> 0:17:14.360
<v Speaker 2>They you wanted to know what he ate? I said

0:17:14.400 --> 0:17:20.760
<v Speaker 2>he had two poached eggs yon toast, but I had Tunicial. Yeah, okay.

0:17:20.840 --> 0:17:24.520
<v Speaker 2>Next day, phone rings, it's car Carrie. Yeah, it's mail

0:17:24.720 --> 0:17:29.040
<v Speaker 2>Carry Mal. They come lunch. Yes, well boom. Together Me

0:17:29.160 --> 0:17:32.520
<v Speaker 2>and Carry Grant. We walked down the Wednesday was me

0:17:32.640 --> 0:17:36.760
<v Speaker 2>and carry it. Thursday, Me and we're talking. What's your

0:17:36.760 --> 0:17:39.880
<v Speaker 2>favorite color? I say blue? He says yellow. What's your

0:17:39.880 --> 0:17:43.120
<v Speaker 2>favorite car? I said buick? He says the rolls or yeah,

0:17:43.760 --> 0:17:45.919
<v Speaker 2>comes right. I don't know what, they ask him. I

0:17:45.960 --> 0:17:48.160
<v Speaker 2>don't you know, I know it's gonna call. I run

0:17:48.200 --> 0:17:52.639
<v Speaker 2>out of dialogue. So the phone rings, and I said

0:17:52.640 --> 0:17:58.119
<v Speaker 2>to Marvin, if it's Carry Grant, I'm not in, which

0:17:58.160 --> 0:17:59.840
<v Speaker 2>is not true, but I mean makes.

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<v Speaker 1>Great Did you see him ever again all the time?

0:18:03.320 --> 0:18:04.960
<v Speaker 1>One of the carry Grunt stories.

0:18:05.359 --> 0:18:07.479
<v Speaker 2>You know, I used it in my stand up stuff

0:18:07.480 --> 0:18:11.959
<v Speaker 2>and I made it funny, but actually, if I told

0:18:12.560 --> 0:18:16.720
<v Speaker 2>the truth, it was really very touching because he was

0:18:17.600 --> 0:18:22.920
<v Speaker 2>really a good actor, and he had made some very beautiful,

0:18:23.880 --> 0:18:29.320
<v Speaker 2>you know, intelligent soft films about love and people, and

0:18:29.480 --> 0:18:32.040
<v Speaker 2>they have none of it. I kept saying, why don't

0:18:32.359 --> 0:18:34.320
<v Speaker 2>that was such a great picture? What did they make?

0:18:34.560 --> 0:18:38.320
<v Speaker 2>He said, because the money was in the light comedies.

0:18:40.640 --> 0:18:43.040
<v Speaker 1>So I think that you know life through food and

0:18:43.119 --> 0:18:47.680
<v Speaker 1>through your family and to your grandparents, and coming here

0:18:47.840 --> 0:18:50.359
<v Speaker 1>to do this home and memories.

0:18:50.840 --> 0:18:56.679
<v Speaker 2>Food at the River Cafe still is literally some of

0:18:56.720 --> 0:19:00.800
<v Speaker 2>the best. And and I've eaten and some really restaurants,

0:19:00.840 --> 0:19:01.040
<v Speaker 2>you know.

0:19:01.200 --> 0:19:05.280
<v Speaker 1>And when I came here, I told Danny, remember Danny

0:19:05.320 --> 0:19:08.199
<v Speaker 1>the chef, And I said I was coming to see you,

0:19:08.320 --> 0:19:10.760
<v Speaker 1>and he said, you know, I once made a risotto

0:19:10.960 --> 0:19:13.199
<v Speaker 1>for mel and he came up to the past and

0:19:13.240 --> 0:19:17.159
<v Speaker 1>he said, Danny, you made that risotto. You should be

0:19:17.200 --> 0:19:21.480
<v Speaker 1>proud of yourself. And it was so something, so meaningful

0:19:21.520 --> 0:19:23.199
<v Speaker 1>because you didn't say I'm proud of you, and you

0:19:23.280 --> 0:19:25.720
<v Speaker 1>said you should be proud of yourself. So I'd like

0:19:25.760 --> 0:19:28.240
<v Speaker 1>to end this by saying, mel Brooks, you should.

0:19:28.040 --> 0:19:29.240
<v Speaker 2>Be proud of you.

0:19:28.800 --> 0:19:31.160
<v Speaker 1>I love you, No, thank you,