Slapstick (Of Another Kind) (1982)

A rich, beautiful couple give birth to deformed alien twins who, when their heads are together, are the smartest kids on the planet.

Director:

Steven Paul

Writers:

Kurt Vonnegut Jr. (novel), Steven Paul

Stars:

Jerry Lewis, Madeline Kahn, Marty Feldman

1 nomination.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Jerry Lewis	...	Wilbur Swain / Caleb Swain
Madeline Kahn	...	Eliza Swain / Lutetia Swain
Marty Feldman	...	Sylvester
John Abbott	...	Dr. Frankenstein
Jim Backus	...	President of the U.S.
Samuel Fuller	...	Colonel Sharp
Merv Griffin	...	Anchorman
Pat Morita	...	Ah Fong, the Chinese Ambassador
Virginia Graham	...	Gossip Specialist
Ben Frank	...	Quentin, the Handyman
Cheire Harris	...	Maria, the Maid (as Cherie Harris)
Robert Hackman	...	Study Hall Supervisor
Eugene Choy	...	Lum Fung
Ken Johnson	...	Horace
Peter Kwong	...	Chinese Astronaut

Storyline

Caleb Swain and his wife Lutetia are a rich couple deemed to be the most beautiful of all the beautiful people by the press. This changes when Lutetia gives birth to oversize, deformed twins named Wilbur and Eliza. Unknown to them, the twins are really an alien brother-and-sister team implanted in Lutetia to solve the world's problems. When they are apart they are not much smarter than a potted plant, but together they are an intellectual force to be reckoned with. Their closeness is put to the test when a series of events threatens to keep the twins apart. Mixed in with all this is a miniaturized Chinese ambassador who needs the twins' help to make a deal for the sale of gravity.

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Plot Keywords:

twins | alien | chinese | servant | ugliness | 

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Taglines:

Extra-terrestrials have never been this spaced-out before [DVD]

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Genres:

Comedy | Fantasy | Sci-Fi

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Certificate:

PG

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

March 1984 (USA)

Also Known As:

Slapstick of Another Kind

Company Credits

Technical Specs

Runtime:

84 min

Sound Mix:

Mono

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

The original 1982 cut of the movie featured a score by Michel Legrand. When the movie was re-edited and subsequently re-released in 1984, it was replaced with a more science-fiction-laced score by Morton Stevens (of Hawaii Five-O fame). A soundtrack LP was released containing on one side the score by Stevens and on the other side highlights of the score by Legrand.

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Goofs

The boom mic is visible in the scene where the staff at the mansion is attempting to cheer up Eliza after Wilbur is taken to military school (on full frame 1.33:1 prints; the prints cropped to 1.85.1 mask the boom out).

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Connections

Referenced in Morons from Outer Space (1985)

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Soundtracks

"Lonesome No More"
Lyrics by Kurt Vonnegut Jr. (as Kurt Vonnegut)
Music by Michel Legrand
Sung by Madeline Kahn

User Reviews

A comedy horror-

My review: 7 as a horror movie/0 as a comedy I have decided after viewing this again that it is a horror movie and not a comedy at all. It may be one of the most frighteningly grotesque movies I've ever seen. What adds in particular to this effect is the terrible lighting that makes every one look like they are made out of wax. I think this movie is so potently bad that its amazing, its not so bad its funny, its so bad its horrific- Its powerful! It reminds me of the terror of watching the Texas chainsaw massacre for the first time. Its gripping in its ugliness.

I have come to love movies like this though.

Its a masterful wreck but it has a center- the parables of loneliness between the two monster babies which in the context of this hurricane of horrors breaks through as strangely touching to me. I haven't read the story but thats what the movie is about, the touching relationship between a brother and sister (easily translatable to any relationship)who literally cannot function with out each other. The substance of that idea as crudely as it is expressed still holds up.

Watch it as a horror movie, sci-fi horror maybe? Its not funny, there are a lot of funny ideas though.

It features to me one of the most terrifying images I have ever seen. Jerry Lewis in full make up turns to the camera laughing like a goon, and he shakes the camera! I don't think I've ever seen that kind interaction with an audience in any movie ever- its nightmarish! It has an ugliness that literally grabs you and shakes you.

That is amazing.

Its a freak show, through and through but it has some heart.

Its slapstick of another kind, they weren't lying.

THE END myspace.com/jamesjajac