In this screw loose screwball comedy, Mel Brooks is on a roll. Bernardo (Ezio Greggio) "opens" for Mel Brooks with his memorable parking lot shtick, then...
Elderly Guido Puccini has a large "natural" foods factory in Italy. When he suffers a severe heart attack he summons his inept and browbeaten son, Bernardo, to his bedside. He tells Bernardo that in WWII, a statue fell on him, pinning him to the ground in battle. An American soldier, Jake Gorden, removed the statue and helped Puccini get away and survive. Now Puccini wants Bernardo to go to America, get Jake, and bring him back to Italy so Puccini can see him once more before he dies. He intends to give Jake half the company out of gratitude for Jake's having saved his life.
Dutifully, Bernardo sets off to America. He finds Jake in a mental institution.
That's only the start of the insanity as Bernardo tries to get Jake to Puccini's bedside before the old man dies.
Okay, a number of the jokes and gags are pretty shopworn. We even swipe Herbert Lom's famous facial and eye tics. But what the heck! It's such a pleasure to watch Mel Brooks in action, and his buddy Ezio Greggio keeps up in excellent fashion. Between them, they came up with a sort of buddy film that will keep you rolling in laughter at the zaniness.
Elderly Guido Puccini has a large "natural" foods factory in Italy. When he suffers a severe heart attack he summons his inept and browbeaten son, Bernardo, to his bedside. He tells Bernardo that in WWII, a statue fell on him, pinning him to the ground in battle. An American soldier, Jake Gorden, removed the statue and helped Puccini get away and survive. Now Puccini wants Bernardo to go to America, get Jake, and bring him back to Italy so Puccini can see him once more before he dies. He intends to give Jake half the company out of gratitude for Jake's having saved his life.
Dutifully, Bernardo sets off to America. He finds Jake in a mental institution.
That's only the start of the insanity as Bernardo tries to get Jake to Puccini's bedside before the old man dies.
Okay, a number of the jokes and gags are pretty shopworn. We even swipe Herbert Lom's famous facial and eye tics. But what the heck! It's such a pleasure to watch Mel Brooks in action, and his buddy Ezio Greggio keeps up in excellent fashion. Between them, they came up with a sort of buddy film that will keep you rolling in laughter at the zaniness.