Friday Night Double Feature: Remembering Harvey Korman

We lost a major comedic talent this week with the death of Harvey Korman. The actor and comedian entertained audiences for fourty years on television and in movies, working both behind the scenes and in front of cameras. If comedy has royalty, Korman would be the jester. Even among the elite names of his trade, Korman stood out.

A lot of Korman’s work was on television, outside the boundaries of a Friday Night Double Feature. The most notable of his work was alongside Tim Conway, Vicki Lawrence, and Carol Burnett on “The Carol Burnett” show, where Korman and Conway continually attempted to crack each other up. Conway once said he doesn’t think he and Korman ever said a serious word to each other. Korman also made his voice known on The Flinstones where he voiced the shark-jumping Great Gazoo. Thankfully the little green guy didn’t make it into the live action movies, but Korman still lent his voice (and eventually his face) to those adaptations.

For those who are willing to go through ill-gotten means, supplement this pair of comedic gems with Korman’s appearance on The Star Wars Holiday Special. Korman was a pretty substantial part of the regrettable television special, playing three separate roles throughout the two hours. Since George Lucas doesn’t want the special released you’ll have to track down an illicit copy, but it’s worth it for a few more laughs.

Thanks for all the laughter over the years Harvey. We’ll miss you.

Blazing Saddles

Without argument, Korman’s best film work was when he teamed up with Mel Brooks for 1974’s cowboy spoof Blazing Saddles. Although Korman’s appearances in other Brooks’ films are hilarious, none of them pop quite as well as the classic Blazing Saddles. As Hedey Lamar (that’s Headly!), Korman made the villain just as interesting and important a part as Clavon Little and Gene Wilder’s heroes. In fact, half the draw of the movie is watching the heroes overcome the schemes Hedley comes up with just so you can watch him scheme again. Korman made the character work against intelligent adversaries, his own moronic sidekicks, and even a pie fight, with a constant frustration that you can’t help but laugh at. With villains like this, who needs a good guy to keep you entertained?

Dracula: Dead and Loving It

Although it doesn’t quite live up to the other joint ventures with Brooks and Korman, Dracula represents a movie from later in Korman’s career. Unfortunately, Korman takes a back seat in the film with a supporting role. It’s a shame that Leslie Nielsen had to step in as Dracula. I always imagined Korman could have done a pretty good job with that role if he was given the chance. Still, Korman gets a few good moments, mostly playing the straight man to other people’s punchlines. In particular his scenes with Peter MacNicol’s Renfield are some of the highlights of the movie for me. It may be MacNicol who earns the laughs in the scene, but, as with most comedic duos, he couldn’t have done it without a perfect straight man to play off of.

Korman Remembered: High Anxiety (2006), Herbie Goes Bananas, History of the World: Part I, Trail of the Pink Panther, The Flinstones, Radioland Murders, Jingle all the Way

Enjoy our Double Feature suggestions? and maybe we’ll use them in a future column.