Musings from Puflet Palace

Musings from Puflet Palace

Well, the dogs that Mervyn mentioned will be arriving soon. There were actually only four of them, but in a confined space this always seems a lot more. You know the kind of thing ... 'Mummy, is five a lot?' 'Well it is if you're talking about elephants in your living room'...
The space was even more confined because there were so many people for Christmas dinner - 19 in all - including most of the immediate family plus spouses and offspring. Though any mealtime when we were all living at home seemed like the feeding of the 5,000. Maybe that's why we had sardines on toast so often.

And then, a couple of days ago, we went to see 'The Producers'. Now, I haven't seen the original version of this masterpiece, but the central premise, that a couple of producers make a movie that is an intentional flop in order to pocket the sponsorship money, seemed to be mirrored in some respects by the movie itself. And I don't mean their wonderful 'Springtime for Hitler'! It was Mel Brooks' first film (apparently it was due to Peter Sellers, who loved it, that critics took a serious look at it). One of the producers starts off as an accountant, and a choreographed scene in which the accounting machines are a crucial part of the rhythm section features in the early part of the film. Later, the little old ladies (of whom there were hundreds) with their zimmer frames provide a charming routine. The pigeons in their loft make their contribution, too. All of which seems to me to be just as unlikely material for a Broadway Hit as the goose-stepping dancing Hitlers.

And after all, it was a Broadway Hit about an ostensible Broadway Flop - and sends up showbiz as much as it sends up the Third Reich!

CAS