Probably no one in the crowd could have guessed what a sentimental value the film “Mr. Saturday Night” had for Billy Crystal and his guests — actor David Paymer and screenwriters Lowell Ganz and Babaloo Mandel. Last week, the Malibu Film Society (MFS) screening of the film as part of the “Guest Presenter Series” marked the first time Crystal had seen the movie with a live audience since its premiere in 1992.
Crystal brought his wife, daughter and son-in-law to the event.
“It was a really transcendent experience to watch this again after 20 years, especially with an audience,” Crystal said after the screening. “It looked beautiful, sounded great and I’ll always have that. I’m so proud of this movie. I think people tonight really responded to the movie and they felt it — they laughed and they cried.”
“Mr. Saturday Night,” which chronicles the rise and fall of fictional stand-up comedian Buddy Young, Jr., was co-written, produced, starred-in and directed by Crystal.
“I had such a passion to make this movie. I don’t think I’ve loved anything as much in my career as creating this movie with these guys,” Crystal told the audience.
When asked, “When did movies become more than just entertainment for you?” Crystal thought for a second and said, “Thursday.” The audience roared.
“This movie is almost 25 years old, and I can’t quite wrap my head around that, because I’m still removing makeup and glue from my neck,” Crystal joked. “It was a daunting experience. It was the first movie I directed … I spent 58 days in makeup out of a 72-day shoot.”
Crystal explained that the film’s main character was developed over a period of about eight years, and was based on comedians like Buddy Hackett and Red Buttons. He first introduced the character on his 1984 HBO special, “A Comic’s Line.”
“Buddy was a parody of an insult comic, and I really loved him — he was fun for me,” he said.
Crystal also played the Buddy character on “Saturday Night Live” (SNL), promoting Buddy’s fictional one-man show, “I’ve Got My Act Together and I’m Taking it Out on Everybody.” He said the sketch did very well. He then put Buddy on the SNL news desk as a restaurant critic, where he walked up to members of the live studio audience and insulted them, including Christopher Reeve, Waylon Jennings and Johnny Cash.
“It just killed and it was all improvised,” Crystal recounted.
A few years later, after Crystal’s success with the hit films “When Harry Met Sally” (1989) and “City Slickers” (1991), as well as playing parts in two movies directed by Rob Reiner, “Princess Bride” (1987) and “This is Spinal Tap” (1984), he was approached by Reiner about doing another film. Crystal came up with the idea of turning his “Buddy” character into a movie, and that’s how “Mr. Saturday Night” was born.
“The core of the relationship in the movie was the love story between two brothers,” Crystal said. Paymer played Crystal’s brother and received both Oscar and Golden Globe nominations for best supporting actor for his performance.
Paymer told the MFS audience that Crystal “upped my game as no other director has before or since, and I love him for it … this role changed my life.”
Ganz and Mandel have been writing together for over 40 years, collaborating on screenplays, including “Splash,” “Night Shift,” “City Slickers,” “Parenthood” and “A League of their Own.” It took them about a year to write “Mr. Saturday Night” with Crystal.
Even though Crystal won the Golden Globe for best actor for “Mr. Saturday Night,” he said, “It was a big pain for me that this movie didn’t work at the box office … Why didn’t it do better? I don’t think people wanted to see me old … and it didn’t look happy — it wasn’t a bright shiny comedy. And I don’t think it was released right … I don’t think we got our message out as to what the movie is really about.”
Crystal never stopped believing in the film and made a big reveal: “Right now, we’re in the middle of giving this movie a new life. It’s being reinvented as a musical on Broadway. We’re writing now, doing a whole new version, but it sets itself up beautifully to be funny, romantic and real.”
