A recent event provides additional proof that Warner Archive DVD and Blu-ray releases are eternally relevant. The stories of the Munchkins harassing Judy Garland while filming "The Wizard of Oz" resurfacing a few weeks prompted acquiring the Archive 2011 DVD of the 1981 Chevy Chase/Carrie Fisher comedy "Under the Rainbow."
This hysterically un-PC film is very loosely based on the large numbers of midgets (the term 'little people" comes later in the '80s) who play the members of the Lollipop Guild creating havoc while in California to film "Oz."
The historical significance of "Rainbow" extends beyond setting it at the time of making "Oz." The early '80s are their own free-wheeling pre-PC era in which ethnic humor and other currently taboo topics are considered tasteless but are viewed in the proper context and do not ruin careers. A group of Asian tourists traveling as the Japanese Amateur Photographic Society (JAPS) and a "Dusseldwarf" joke regarding midget Nazi agent Otto Kriegling (Krofft star Billy Barty) provide strong senses of the primary humor of the film.
The following YouTube clip of a trailer for "Rainbow" is very true to the aforementioned spirit of this flick. The aforementioned context is required to appreciate the depicted humor.
The Culver City hotel where most of the action occurs is dead quiet when the owner (character actor Richard Stahl) leaves young and inexperienced nephew Henry Hudson (Adam Arkin) in charge. Mayhem soon erupts as the aforementioned foreign visitors seek refugee there, and the aforementioned group of 150 little people arrive en masse without the knowledge of Hudson. Of course, Hudson is being strictly required to maintain order "or else" in the absence of his uncle.
These events coincide with Secret Service agent Bruce Thorpe (Chase) arriving with visiting royalty (character actor Joseph Maher and large and small screen goddess Eve Arden) for a reserved stay. Their contributions to the hilarity include The Duke having warranted paranoia regarding an assassination attempt and the Duchess refusing to wear her glasses despite being as blind as a proverbial bat. Particularly dark humor regarding this couple both shows the purpose of a dog and makes one hope that all canines go to Heaven.
Initial hilarity regarding Kriegling relates to his assignment to rendez-vous with a Japanese agent at the hotel. The aforementioned presences of the disoriented shutter bugs and the plethora of film extras greatly hinders the attempt to pass on secret information. That document ending up in the wrong or right hands depending on your perspective creates more comic mayhem as Kriegling attempts damage control.
The Fisher character is the true innocent in all this and also provides the common thread. Studio employee Annie Clark is essentially assigned the role of den mother without any clue regarding the numerous little problems that she will face. She also lacks the foresight of the audience regarding the course of her relationship with Thorpe.
The worlds of our main characters collide when a comedy of un-PC errors result in Clark coming into possession of the top secret information and subsequently enlisting the aid of Thorpe. The small actors with small roles fully get in the action as they show that patriots come in sizes.
The inevitable big chase in "Rainbow" pays awesome homage to the 1974 Mel Brooks film "Blazing Saddles." This scene somewhat takes our players from their reel world to the real world of 1938 in a manner that remains very true to the manic antics of the inhabitants of Munchkin Country,
The genuine finale brings things home with a more apt film homage. A sampling of two suggests that the feeling regarding this are more contentious than the appropriateness of watching actors who make Michael J. Fox seem like a basketball player literally swing from chandeliers and generally act worse than Dartmouth frat boys on Spring Break.
One view is that the epilogue is surprising and stays true to the heart of "Rainbow." The other perspective is that the writers take the easy way out. Either way, you will be left smiling.
Anyone with questions or comments regarding "Rainbow" is strongly encouraged to email me; you also can connect on Twitter via @tvdvdguy.
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