Comic actor Adam Sandler must be doing something right when the home-entertainment industry goes scrambling to resurrect as much of his early work as it can lay its greedy lunch-hooks on.
Never mind that Sandler has yet to make a film that lives up to his skills as a glib funnyman. The camera likes the guy, and that sheer underdog affability comes across in even Sandler's least efforts.Not that there's a whole lot beyond his "Saturday Night Live" work of recent years. But all of a sudden an impossibly obscure motion picture from the prehistory of Sandler's career has resurfaced as a cash cow.
The rediscovery of "The Unsinkable Shecky Moskowitz" - also briefly known as "Babes Ahoy!" - has, in turn, is enabling one small home-video label to compete head-to-head with a Hollywood megacorporation. MCA/-Universal Home Video is just now issuing "Billy Madison" (1995), Sandler's first name-brand star vehicle.
"The Unsinkable Shecky Moskowitz," which played sporadically during the latter 1980s, has been rechristened "Going Overboard" for this edition. It is a rough-edged picture, but one can only cheer Vidmark Entertainment on - if only for its opportunistic overconfidence. It requires arrogance to try riding the coattails of a better-heeled publicity blitz, but it also requires courage to play David vs. Goliath, especially when putting an actor into competition against himself.
"Going Overboard"/"The Unsinkable Shecky Mos-ko-witz"/-"Babes Ahoy!" was never actually released, although it might be said to have escaped long enough to play a few cheap-seats grind houses. Sandler has the title role, a luxury-cruise servant who wants to become a stand-up comedian. (Fort Worth actor Joe Gieb has a showy featured role as a prize-fight referee.)
Despite its R-rated rudeness, its rock-music score and an overall youth orientation - Sandler was about 20 when this was filmed - the film is pure Borscht Belt/vaudeville corn. Sandler's gags might as well have been written for Milton Berle, who incidentally has a cameo.
Flash forward to Sandler at 27, and you have "Billy Madison," a far slicker and more personally tailored picture. Far from the downtrodden nebbish of "Going Overboard," Sandler plays a spoiled rich jerk who finds himself ordered to repeat his formal education in only six months - starting with first grade - if he expects to inherit the family fortune.
A lightweight diversion at best, "Billy Madison" leans heavier on the romance (with Bridgette Wilson as Sandler's new third-grade teacher) than "Going Overboard" and relies less on gratuitous witticisms. Sandler is the co-writer here (with Tim Herlihy), and "Billy Madison" looks a whole lot like an escape hatch from a failing "Saturday Night Live."
But ask Sandler about strategy, and he'll come back with: "Career? Game plan?! Hey, I don't even know who I am, yet!"
The modesty is not false, for Sandler has known more duds than just "Shecky Moskowitz." Only last year, the rock-music comedy "Airheads" and the ensemble farce "Mixed Nuts" - both from major studios - flopped in theatrical play.
But Sandler has a savvier plan than he's likely to reveal. His next film, "Happy Gilmore," is in production; it is a similarly custom-tailored project.
"I guess if I've got a professional agenda, it's just to keep making people laugh," he said in a recent interview, as unsinkable as that early character Shecky Moskowitz. "'Cause I know how grateful I am to the people who have made me laugh, and I want to be able to keep doing that for other people."
NEW VIDEOS
PAUL BOWLES: THE COMPLETE OUTSIDER - As found in his words and music, composer-novelist Paul Bowles keeps his distance. So much so that after World War II, he and his wife Jane Bowles moved to Morocco, only to give birth to that African country's colony of artistic expatriates. Catherine Warnow and Regina Weinreich co-directed this documentary that tries but fails to get close to the author of "The Sheltering Sky." I'm sure he liked it that way. Unrated, 1993, First Run, $59.95. - Max McQueen (Cox News Service)
COLONEL CHABERT - Gerard Depardieu stars in this not-quite-supernatural misfire about a soldier, long presumed dead in battle, who suddenly returns to his old stomping grounds. Pretty much a retread of "The Return of Martin Guerre," a 1982 gem that also stars Depardieu (not to mention the 1993 Richard Gere knockoff called "Sommersby"). Anyway, this new version of an old yarn is no great shakes, but Depardieu is as commanding as ever. Unrated (adult situations and subject matter). - Michael H. Price (Fort Worth Star-Telegram)
THE BLUE KITE - Taiwanese director Tian Zhuangzhuang gives us one of the best films of the year. Recent Chinese films often sacrifice character for ideology, but this drama keeps the political personal. Great performances from Lu Liping and Pu Quanxin, bathed in gorgeous cinematography, create a masterpiece. In Mandarin, with English subtitles. - Michael Blowen (Boston Globe)
BING CROSBY COLLECTION - In his 45-year film career, Bing Crosby made scores of films. And not all of them were on "the road." Four more are now on video for the first time. "The Birth of the Blues" (1941) has Crosby, Mary Martin and Eddie "Rochester" Anderson in a struggling New Orleans jazz band. In "Rhythm on the Range" (1936), Bing rides the rodeo circuit with Frances Farmer, Martha Raye and Roy Rogers. "Waikiki Wedding" (1936) finds Crosby facing pineapples and volcanoes as he woos a mainland woman (Shirley Ross). Crosby shows his bedside manner in "Welcome Stranger" (1947) as a young doctor who covers for a sick, small-town doc (Barry Fitzgerald). Unrated, Universal, $14.98 each. - Max McQueen (Cox News Service)
DOCTOR WHO COLLECTION - Dr. Who fans are as diehard as Trekkies. Although the show is 30 years old now, videos of the British TV series still sell like crazy. Here are six more hit "Who" episodes: "The Daleks: The Dead Planet and The Expedition," "The Invasion," "The Silurians," "Terror of the Autons," "The Two Doctors," and "Vengeance on Varos." Unrated, CBS/Fox, $19.98 (two episodes per tape). - Max McQueen (Cox News Service)
THUNDER IN PARADISE 3 - Pro wrestler Terry "Hulk Hogan" Bollea and Chris Lemmon (Jack's son) topline this witty, however generic, self-parody about an attempt by fearless secret-agent operatives to undermine a drug-smuggling racket. Director Douglas Schwartz turns a modest budget into an asset with striking use of shooting locations; the leading men seem merely to be having fun with the roles without any concern as to whether they're "acting" or not. PG-13. - Michael H. Price (Fort Worth Star-Telegram)
THE GODZILLA COLLECTION - Godzilla has always been one of my favorite monsters. I think because unlike Dracula or the Wolf Man he couldn't hide in the closet or under the bed, and because you'd hear him if he was crashing through the neighborhood. That would give me time to run. Well, that's how I reasoned monster things as a child. Three Godzilla films are now making their video debut. At least they're good for a few inexpensive laughs. The new ones are: "Last Days of Planet Earth" (1981), "Rodano" (1956) and "War of the Gargantuas" (1970). And five previously released Godzilla romps have been reduced for sell-through. These include "Godzilla, King of the Monsters" (1956), "Godzilla vs. Monster Zero" (1970), "Godzilla vs. Mothra" (1964), "Godzilla's Revenge" (1971) and "Terror of Mechagodzilla" (1978). Paramount, $9.95 each. - Max McQueen (Cox News Service)
THE LIFE AND TIMES OF ALLEN GINSBERG - Jerry Aronson's documentary on poet Allen Ginsberg is available at sell-through for the first time. The poetic voice of the beat generation is interviewed as well as his peers, including Joan Baez, William Burroughs and Timothy Leary. Clips include footage of Jack Kerouac and Ginsberg's infamous appearance on "The Dick Cavett Show." Unrated, 1993, First Run, $29.95. - Max McQueen (Cox News Service)
LILIAS! YOGA FOR BETTER HEALTH - Lilias Folan has been a yoga mainstay on PBS for two decades. In the '90's, she's conquered video with her gentle approach to stretching and relaxing, yoga-style. Folan's latest 60-minute tape finds her concentrating on exercises that reduce stress. Unrated, 1995, Goldhill Home (1-800-321-4420, ext. 21), $19.95. - Max McQueen (Cox News Service)