R.I.P., Comic Genius

Briefly saying "screw it" to an unreasonable workload by trying to catch up a bit with the outside world, I learned of the death of Kenneth Mars, at 75.

No matter how many times I watch this, it's an unfailing source of belly laughs, as well as awe at Mars' brilliant performance.

Roy Edroso marked the news here.

Just a couple weeks ago, I was reading Roy's piece on wingnut observance of Reagan's birthday, and laughing at gems like the tag lines:

The Reagan you loved! The Reagan you knew! The Reagan with a song in his heart!

In noting Mars' passing, Roy linked to Roger Ebert on "The Producers." Mars will always be remembered for his contribution to that amazing movie, and his death inevitably brings back memories of repeat viewings.

Ebert notes that

... David Ehrenstein traces the first use of the phrase "creative accounting" to "The Producers," and Bialystock and Bloom make it into a fine art. "Hello, boys!" says Max, plopping down next to his safe and patting the piles of money.

This led me to look for the Ehrenstein review:

When a film can boast of inventing terms like "creative accounting" and that all-time catch-phrase "When you’ve got it, flaunt it!" it’s more than a mere success. The Producers is a modern comedy classic.

Besides the sadness of losing a great talent, it's sobering to realize how the 1968 movie is from another, very distant world. I clearly remember its crooks—loveable as they may have been—landing in jail for their misdeeds.

Edroso again: this post today on connections to be made among some other news stories—

As conservatives denounce schoolteachers who seek to preserve their collective bargaining rights, it's good to be reminded by Matt Taibbi that the banksters who wrecked the economy have been let off scott free and then some by the government.