And here is something I'm sure, most of you didn't know: 2014 saw the release of a documentary film called Above and Beyond. It was produced by Nancy Spielberg, the youngest sister of Steven Spielberg.
It documents the story of the handful of American, and other foreign nationals, that were veteran flyers in the service of various Allied forces in WWII, and went on to volunteer to the fledgling, ill-equipped Israeli Air Force, to help defend the new state during the 1948 Arab-Israeli War. It would be impossible to over-emphasize their importance and contribution, as it is widely believed that those few "foreigners", five to be exact, have changed the course of the so called War of Independence. One of those volunteers was Milton "Milt" Rubenfeld (1919 - 2004), a pilot who flew for the Royal Air Force and U.S. Army during World War II. He's none other than Paul Reubens' (Pee-wee Herman) father. Just thought some of you might find it interesting. Zeev From: MoPo List [mailto:mopo-l@LISTSERV.AMERICAN.EDU] On Behalf Of Michael Greenwood Sent: February-17-16 8:24 PM To: MoPo-L@LISTSERV.AMERICAN.EDU Subject: Re: [MOPO] PEE WEE'S BIG COMEBACK Agreed. I've watched Big Adventure twenty times at least...practically had it by memory at one time...and he is never creepy in any discernible fashion. I think Adrian doesn't like public masturbation and is possibly unable to see past that incident in the life or the creator of the character...but perhaps I'm wrong. Or he doesn't find that act funny. However, I can attest to the fact that some do and I will go so far as to say some future generations will still find it so. I love you (and all you do) Pee Wee! Keep on keeping on! You're a loner, a rebel! M _____ From: MoPo List <mopo-l@LISTSERV.AMERICAN.EDU <mailto:mopo-l@LISTSERV.AMERICAN.EDU> > on behalf of Kirby McDaniel <ki...@movieart.com <mailto:ki...@movieart.com> > Sent: Wednesday, February 17, 2016 7:31:45 PM To: MoPo-L@LISTSERV.AMERICAN.EDU <mailto:MoPo-L@LISTSERV.AMERICAN.EDU> Subject: Re: [MOPO] PEE WEE'S BIG COMEBACK I think it's clear by now that Adrian doesn't enjoy Pee Wee. Who knew that when I posted this rather interesting article from the Times Magazine that we were going to unearth all this. Adrian seems to have a very clear idea of what and who is funny and what and who isn't. But I think it's worth noting that what and who is funny morphs thru the years. In 1948, audiences thought that Dean Martin and Jerry Lewis were madly funny - and Paramount rejoiced as they kept stashing all that cash. Later the French almost enshrined Lewis as not only funny, but a serious auteur. Have you watched HOLLYWOOD OR BUST recently? I adore Monty Python, but you might get a yawn from more than a few post-millenials, who might not get what the big fuss was. And the Goon Show? Now that really is an antique. But nevertheless I appreciate them, and I adore Peter Sellers. But do you think that people would howl at A SHOT IN THE DARK today as they did at the Inwood Theater in Dallas when I first saw it. I doubt it. I think that Pee Wee (Paul Rubens) was not so much funny himself as he brought something entirely new to comedy. He saw people like George Lucas mining pop-culture gold and turning it into adventurous faux sci/fi. I think that he realized that all that pop-culture stuff could be sent up comically just as well. And he, and the ensemble he worked with, did just that extremely well, re-filtering childhood in America in the fifties in a way that mixed nostalgia and the absurd brilliantly. And I think that Netflix and Judd Apatow have a well placed bet that the American public will pay to watch him on Netflix go at it again. But I will say that the last thing I find Pee Wee is "creepy." Kirby On Feb 17, 2016, at 5:26 PM, Posteropolis <posteropo...@bell.net <mailto:posteropo...@bell.net> > wrote: Can I just chip in here and say I've never cared for Benny Hill? *ducks* But I loved The Goons. (US MoPoers start desperately googling "goons.") :) Dave _____ From: MoPo List [mailto:mopo-l@LISTSERV.AMERICAN.EDU] On Behalf Of Simon Oram Sent: February-17-16 5:54 PM To: MoPo-L@LISTSERV.AMERICAN.EDU <mailto:MoPo-L@LISTSERV.AMERICAN.EDU> Subject: Re: [MOPO] PEE WEE'S BIG COMEBACK There's no accounting for taste! Nomis Sent from my BlackBerry 10 smartphone. From: Michael Greenwood Sent: Wednesday, 17 February 2016 22:49 To: MoPo-L@LISTSERV.AMERICAN.EDU <mailto:MoPo-L@LISTSERV.AMERICAN.EDU> Reply To: Michael Greenwood Subject: Re: [MOPO] PEE WEE'S BIG COMEBACK Stop me if you've heard this one before but Adrian doesn't like Pee Wee Herman!!! He's certainly no Steve Martin or Richard Pryor but he's better than Chevy Chase. C'mon!! Plus, there were,like, six times as many people in the Pythons...hardly fair. M _____ From: MoPo List <mopo-l@LISTSERV.AMERICAN.EDU <mailto:mopo-l@LISTSERV.AMERICAN.EDU> > on behalf of Adrian Cowdry <00000029edc23ec7-dmarc-requ...@listserv.american.edu <mailto:00000029edc23ec7-dmarc-requ...@listserv.american.edu> > Sent: Wednesday, February 17, 2016 4:10 PM To: MoPo-L@LISTSERV.AMERICAN.EDU <mailto:MoPo-L@LISTSERV.AMERICAN.EDU> Subject: Re: [MOPO] PEE WEE'S BIG COMEBACK I saw Billy Connolly live four weeks ago - this is about the eighth time for me - Connolly is a comic god - his genius is that he is all about observation. Connolly has Parkinsons disease and also has had prostate cancer - both diagnosis on the same day - and yet he made us laugh about it. Paul Ruebens is unfunny he cannot compare to the likes of the Pythons, Ronnie Barker, Billy Connolly, Lee Evans all Brits or Chevy Chase, Dan Ackroyd, John Belushi, Steve Martin and the like all of the same era as Pee Wee. Pee Wee's great adventure was an embarresment...I saw it first time around in the US and all I saw was a creepy little guy taking cinema goers money. And now he is making some sort of come back - - it all comes down to a matter of taste - I predict his new film will do no business in Europe. Steve Carrel has to be one of the latest great talents on cinema screens and transcends international humour - he is a comic who deeserves his plaudits. We can all pick out favourites...Pee Wee is way down on the scale and is so unfunny... Believe me we have some who are just as bad in the UK - Frank Skinner for example - another one who thinks he is funny and possibly the worst is Russell Brand - he's about as funny as a fart in a space suit! This Never Happened to the Other Fella.... Adrian Cowdry jboh...@aol.com <mailto:jboh...@aol.com> -----Original Message----- From: Alan Adler <m...@charter.net <mailto:m...@charter.net> > To: MoPo-L <MoPo-L@LISTSERV.AMERICAN.EDU <mailto:MoPo-L@LISTSERV.AMERICAN.EDU> > Sent: Wed, 17 Feb 2016 19:39 Subject: Re: [MOPO] PEE WEE'S BIG COMEBACK Back in the late 1970's I apprenticed the troupe and was a manager for the Groundlings Theater in LA on Friday nights. Paul Reubens initiated a new character - a naive kid who just got off the bus - who in the storyline eventually evolved into a comic. All of LA was mythic and eye-opening to this character and he had a way of making you see the fairy tale of it all through his eyes. This was the first appearance of Pee-Wee and on successive Friday nights he would appear and hone the character - change things here or there - draw in the audience more and more - Until he finally put together Pee-Wee's Playhouse - the stage production - with other members of the Groundlings group - truly brilliant comic talents. The movies were fun, I thought - But, all I can say is that in person in those early days and through the development of Pee-Wee's stage show - I have seen few things funnier or laughed at fewer things harder that I did that show. Rubens would come out tossing candy to everyone, dancing on his tip toes, engaging the audience. I don't know what it was - but he definitely tapped something both mythic and absurd - a wonderful and unusual combination. Paul was always a very kind and gentle person, even quiet, and it was a shame he hit the Hollywood Babylon skids as he did. We all have our feet of clay - But in the old days - when it was fresh and never seen before - his act was nothing short of scream out loud riotous - you literally couldn't get the air out of your lungs fast enough. Jeez, I'd love to see something that funny once again! Alan _____ To unsubscribe from the MoPo-L list, click the following link: https://listserv.american.edu/scripts/wa-american.exe?SUBED1=MoPo-L <https://listserv.american.edu/scripts/wa-american.exe?SUBED1=MoPo-L&A=1> &A=1 _____ To unsubscribe from the MoPo-L list, click the following link: https://listserv.american.edu/scripts/wa-american.exe?SUBED1=MoPo-L <https://listserv.american.edu/scripts/wa-american.exe?SUBED1=MoPo-L&A=1> &A=1 _____ To unsubscribe from the MoPo-L list, click the following link: https://listserv.american.edu/scripts/wa-american.exe?SUBED1=MoPo-L <https://listserv.american.edu/scripts/wa-american.exe?SUBED1=MoPo-L&A=1> &A=1 _____ To unsubscribe from the MoPo-L list, click the following link: https://listserv.american.edu/scripts/wa-american.exe?SUBED1=MoPo-L <https://listserv.american.edu/scripts/wa-american.exe?SUBED1=MoPo-L&A=1> &A=1 _____ To unsubscribe from the MoPo-L list, click the following link: https://listserv.american.edu/scripts/wa-american.exe?SUBED1=MoPo-L <https://listserv.american.edu/scripts/wa-american.exe?SUBED1=MoPo-L&A=1> &A=1 _____ To unsubscribe from the MoPo-L list, click the following link: https://listserv.american.edu/scripts/wa-american.exe?SUBED1=MoPo-L <https://listserv.american.edu/scripts/wa-american.exe?SUBED1=MoPo-L&A=1> &A=1 _____ To unsubscribe from the MoPo-L list, click the following link: https://listserv.american.edu/scripts/wa-american.exe?SUBED1=MoPo-L <https://listserv.american.edu/scripts/wa-american.exe?SUBED1=MoPo-L&A=1> &A=1 Visit the MoPo Mailing List Web Site at www.filmfan.com ___________________________________________________________________ How to UNSUBSCRIBE from the MoPo Mailing List Send a message addressed to: lists...@listserv.american.edu In the BODY of your message type: SIGNOFF MOPO-L The author of this message is solely responsible for its content.
