After a brief trip to Twelfth Night, The Dick Van Dyke Show returns to Hamlet, the old standby for brief allusions to Shakespeare.
In this episode, Rob Petrie gives an interview—and the resulting article states unequivocally that Rob is the true genius behind The Alan Brady Show.
The letter is published—but with an additional note from the editor. In this clip. Rob is asked to read that to the other key players in the show:
You may have spotted the "doth protest too much" lifted from Gertrude's comment about the play-within-the-play. It's shorthand for "Well, yes, but there's something more going on here."
Again, I'm intrigued by the casual way it's worked in. The presumption is that the viewer will recognize the phrase's origins. Stanley Fish would, I suppose, have a lot to say about the way that reveals "The Implied Reader" (or Implied Viewer in this case).
Note: This episode represents a transitional stage in the portrayal of the character of Alan Brady. The original idea was never to have Alan Brady appear at all; this then became a resolve never to show Brady's face when he did appear in a scene. Later, he appears just as all the other actors do. At this point in the run, they are still making half-hearted attempts to avoid showing Alan's face. That explains the awkwardness of the blocking in the scene above.
Next up, a subtler use of Shakespeare!
Links: The Episode at IMDB.
Click below to purchase the entire run of the show from amazon.com
(and to support Bardfilm as you do so).
(and to support Bardfilm as you do so).
No comments:
Post a Comment