Matilda

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A boxer, a fighter, a kangaroo!
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Meet Matilda, America's first kangaroo hero, and look who's in his corner.
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Elliott Gould, Roy Clark, Harry Gaurdino, Clive Revill, Karen Carlson, and Robert
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Mitchum as Parkhurst. You'll love Matilda.
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It has Debbie and Pat Boone singing out.
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Matilda, what a knockout!
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We're not talking about actors.
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We mean a real monster.
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I Brought her back. She'll live and I'll get her another body.
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I know they're gonna catch me, but don't let anyone see me like that.
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Please, Doctor! Help me!
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Biologically speaking, it's a primary importance that man should want to mate.
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Hey, that’s for sure!
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You don't get all your kicks from surfing, do you?
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We want to be free to ride our machines without being hassled by the man.
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And we want to get loaded.
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You think you're gonna make a slave of the world?
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I'll see you in hell first!
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The American International Podcast.
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Are you ready?
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Welcome oe and all to the American International Podcast.
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I'm Cheryl Lightfoot.
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And I'm Jeff Markin.
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And in this episode, we're climbing into the ring to do battle with a boxing brute, a pouched
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pugilist, a oustabout 'roo, that marsupial marauder from down under.
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That's right folks, we're talking about Matilda from 1978.
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Matilda was directed by David Mann from a screenplay by Albert S. Ruddy and Timothy
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Galfas, based on the novel “Matilda" by Paul Gallico.
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It was produced by Albert S. Ruddy for Melvis SImon Productions and American international
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Pictures.
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Matilda stars Elliott Gould as Bernie Bonelli, Clive Revill as Billy Baker, Harry Guardino
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as Uncle Nono, Roy Clark as Wild Bill Wildman, Karen Carlson as Kathleen Smith, Art Metrano
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as Gordon Baum, Lionel Stander as Pinky Schwab, also starring Roberta Collins as Tanya
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Six, Larry Pennell as Lee Dackerti, Gary Morgan as Matilda, Robert Mitchem as Duke Parkhurst,
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Frank Avianca as Hood number one, and Lenny Montana as Hood number two.
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Matilda opens with establishing shots of New York City landmarks as the insipid ballad
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When I'm with You, I'm Feeling Good plays over the credits.
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This is a tame love song sung by the father-daughter duo of Pat and Debbie Boone.
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As a child's chorus of La La's to go in the background and it's really obnoxious.
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And unfortunately we are not hearing it for the last time.
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As the montage of New York City continues, we closed it on a bridge and we see a man riding
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a bike over said bridge and he rides it to the pub that he runs.
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Not sure what the name of the pub is but there is a boxing kangaroo on the sign.
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He stops to say hello by honking at it.
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And then he smiles and invices to join him inside.
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He turns to the camera and says that he wants to talk to us and that we should follow him.
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So we do.
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We go in the pub.
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We have no choice.
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Yes.
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Well we had a choice of not to watch this movie.
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We go into the pub with him.
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He tells us his name is Billy Baker.
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He did business as the kid.
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He was the Walter White champ of the British Isles.
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He explains that he owns this pub and there are pictures of fighters adorning the walls.
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The one picture is displayed in a place of honor behind the bar.
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It's a picture of a guy in a kangaroo suit wearing boxing gloves.
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Billy tells us that this is the greatest fighter who he ever stepped in the ring with by his
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reckoning.
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And he says that if God created man and beast and he gave Matilda the most extraordinary talent.
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So as far as he's concerned, this is a real kangaroo.
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He's going to maintain that illusion for the rest of the movie.
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He tells us that most ex-fighters and a destitute can't even afford a drink let alone own a pub.
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But it's all down to Matilda that he has this nice place.
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And though nobody asks, Billy is going to tell us the whole story.
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It flashed back of course.
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He remembers the story as if it were yesterday.
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He and Matilda arrived in New York times were hard and they were hungry.
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Yeah, they're on a crowded New York City sidewalk where people are lining up for the 55
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hot dogs and the 25 cent pretzels being sold by a vendor with a card on the street.
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Matilda goes for the hot dog cart vendor and the cart ends up getting knocked over.
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Billy does tell us that they're new in town.
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They don't have much money and they're hungry.
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Apparently Matilda is a big fan of hot dogs.
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The site of a guy in a kangaroo suit hopping around New York causes a year riot.
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Authorities are called in and Matilda is taken away to a dog jail.
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Billy is giving the paperwork.
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So he has to figure out how to get Matilda out of the pound.
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So naturally he turns to variety for help and there he spots an ad for a promoter that says
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book with Bernie.
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Though he's off to see a man about a marsupial.
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It was me only hope he says.
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Now in the office of Pinkie Schwab, manager of Boxers, he's on the phone and eating a sandwich.
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Also in the room is Lee Dockardy, fighter.
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Pinkie is telling the person on the phone that Lee don't give no exhibitions until
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he's over that kind of money.
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All while corn beef dribbles out of his mouth.
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He needs them to agree to triple the money before he leave and consider talking to him again.
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So I guess the fine people of Toledo missed out on that.
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The phone rings again and this time Bernie who I guess was there the whole time takes the
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call.
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He's trying to sell the collar with an act that sounds pretty outlandish.
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He stands up and says sure he's got a knife act.
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How about this man's blindfolded, a girl spinning on a wheel, flaming torches at the end
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of the knives and ends with a American flag overhead.
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The color hangs up.
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He loved it, Bernie announces.
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Pinkie says that's the most ridiculous act he's ever heard of and who would even conceive
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of a knack like that.
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I guess Bernie would.
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So the two of them start to bicker while Lee Dockardy watches.
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Pinkie is married to Bernie's sister and took Bernie in when they were orphaned and obviously
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gave him a job too but he really has a low opinion of Bernie.
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Pinkie wants Bernie to give up on showbiz booking.
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It's passé because boxing is where it's at.
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Bernie rises Pinkie for still trying to book boxing gigs.
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Lee Dockardy looks alarmed but Pinkie assures him that America still loves him.
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Bernie says if that's the case.
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Why is it Pinkie booked him a fight in a year then?
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He says Lee Dockardy has been and he has a newspaper article by Duke Parker's The Local
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Sportswriter to prove it.
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Lee Dockardy is a little concerned to hear this mostly because he's not really good at
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anything else.
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But Pinkie tells him there's nothing to worry about that the guy in the paper doesn't know
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what he's talking about.
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Before this fascinating argument can continue, there's a knock on the door.
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The door opens and Billy Baker enters.
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The three of them stared him as he gives his name into brief resume.
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Upon hearing that Billy Baker was a former boxing champion, Pinkie says he's not hiring
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seconds.
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Billy says he came here to speak with Bernie Benelli.
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Bernie says he doesn't handle boxers, he books acts.
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And Billy says he hasn't act.
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Him and Matilda.
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You box a woman, ask Bernie?
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No, Matilda is a he and a room.
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This does not compute for Bernie.
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Maybe it's the Aussie slang.
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So Billy has to say that Matilda is a kangaroo.
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Bernie says he's not looking for animal acts right now.
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Maybe next year.
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Billy says it's not just an act.
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Matilda is the greatest boxer in the world.
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Nobody has ever lasted more than two rounds with him.
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And now Pinkie has the opening he's been waiting for to res Bernie about his potential critter
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client.
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Lee mentions that he has some kangaroo slippers.
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And Pinkie tells him that he has a whole kangaroo suit while Billy resumes his pitch.
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At this point, Pinkie has had enough amusement and he and Lee leave.
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Billy pulls on a wallet photo with Matilda and hands it to Bernie, telling him to look
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at those eyes so full of love and Billy explains that Matilda is in a dog jail now.
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And it's like a Sunday Billy.
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In fact, Matilda is all Billy's got in the world.
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Bernie says he wishes he could help, but he can't even help himself these days.
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He offers Billy the half-mascaded sandwich that Pinkie left behind, but Billy declines
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this treat.
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He can eat while Matilda's in jail starving.
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So next we see Bernie and Billy exiting a cab.
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The driver tries to collect the fare, but Bernie tells him to keep it running.
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They'll be right back.
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And then Billy and Bernie go to the front counter of the pound.
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Billy says he's looking for his kangaroo.
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The guy at the desk sarcastically says he'll have to go check.
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They get a lot of kangaroos around here.
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They're not taking them very seriously, but Billy's persistence and sincerity gets the officer
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to make a call to the back to see if Matilda got gassed yet.
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Billy looks sick at hearing this, but then a woman from the ASPCA arrives and says that
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in the worst-case scenario Matilda would have been sent to the zoo.
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"But Matilda isn't a wild animal," says Billy.
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She also harrangs the officer for being self-flip with these people who obviously love their
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animal.
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Bernie introduces himself to the woman.
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She tells him that she's Kathleen Smith from the ASPCA.
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Then another attendant comes from the back and tells them to come and take their kangaroo.
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He laid out one of the other attendants, knocked him out cold.
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Billy says that Matilda wouldn't hurt anybody.
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He was just playing.
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He loves to box.
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Over the scene of them leaving the pound, Billy narrates that things were looking up at this
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point until Bernie invited Kathleen to watch Matilda box.
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Kathleen then went bonkers.
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So we see Billy leading Matilda back to the cab.
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As Kathleen chases after Bernie, she says she can't allow them to go through with this.
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Bernie pulls her aside and says he's always respected people who respect animals, but she has gone
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too far and is budding into its marsupial affairs.
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Bernie tells her that she's missing something from her life and that's why she's such a do-gitter.
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As for the cabie, he doesn't want Matilda in his cab, but Bernie pushes a $50 bill into
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his breast pocket.
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The cabie says he's been waiting for over an hour with the meter running.
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"What are you complaining about making money?
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That's just the tip," says Bernie.
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The cabie tells Billy that if she makes a mess, they're cleaning it up.
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Billy assures him that Matilda is as clean as he is and he can hold his water like a camel.
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They all get into the cab as Kathleen stares, stewing from the sidelines.
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And they all arrive at a boxing gym where Bernie tells Donnie you the owner that Matilda is
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the greatest fighter that ever hopped.
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Donnie he says, "Sparry me the hooi."
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He likes them so he's going to let him do his little demonstration.
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So Billy takes the ring with Matilda.
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The bell rings and Billy immediately takes a punch to the face and falls.
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Seeing this, Bernie decides he needs to make a phone call.
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Then a challenger enters the ring to take on Matilda.
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Bernie calls one of his clients to tell him that the knife throwing act is out.
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But good news, he's got an act with a kangaroo.
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Yeah, yeah, yeah.
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It's a boxing kangaroo.
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As his conversation goes on, a second challenger enters the ring, then a third and a fourth.
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And they all get laid out.
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By now Bernie tells the man on the phone that the kangaroo has had six straight knockouts.
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His act is weighted G. There's something for everybody.
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And he's offering $500 to anyone who can last two regulation rounds against his kangaroo.
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And of course he has the money.
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And they'll be right there.
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Now we're back in the cab where the cabie who will find out is named Gordon tells them
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that he's going to call his friend Duke Parker's to plug their act.
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He was the sports writer who wrote that article about lead-occurty.
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And apparently he's friends with Gordon who's always calling him to deliver some tips.
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You'd be surprised at what you hear in a cab.
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Bernie thinks this is fate.
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Any cab could have stopped, but Gordon's cab is the one that did.
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Yes, Gordon, if you'd like to work with them, you don't 5% of Matilda.
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Gordon's not interested in business.
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That's why he drives a cab.
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But Bernie tells him this isn't business.
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It's show business.
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Gordon pauses, smiles into the rear view, puts on a pair of sunglasses, removes his hat,
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and honks his horn twice.
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He's in.
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The first stop is at a lounge.
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So Bernie can visit his finance here.
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He goes in, naves some flowers from a display, advertising the singer at the bar, and then goes
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over to the piano to present them to the woman singing there.
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I couldn't tell if they were an item or not.
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They seem to be romantically entangled, but maybe not.
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But anyway, he's got good news for her the big time.
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Tellsery, just got her a gig on the coast.
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That is good news, but she really wants a gig on the west coast.
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He also says they call him a loser, but not anymore.
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The gods have smiled on them.
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They have Matilda, and he has so much faith in Matilda.
232
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He has no problem accepting $500 from Tanya.
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He announces his intention to take a $500 advance on her pay to fund this promotion.
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Tanya, questions this, but Bernie assures her everything is fine.
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She'll have two points on Matilda, and next stop for her is Hollywood.
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He tries to take off before she can fully register what he said, but he notices Lee Dockardy
237
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is sitting at a bar nearby.
238
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Tanya tells Bernie he comes in every day to watch her sing.
239
00:12:00,040 --> 00:12:03,920
Bernie tells Tanya to be nice to him, and that she's going out with him tonight.
240
00:12:03,920 --> 00:12:05,920
Then he whispers further instructions to her.
241
00:12:05,920 --> 00:12:09,960
Then Bernie jogs back to the cab and tells the others that they just need a license from
242
00:12:09,960 --> 00:12:11,600
the boxing commissioner.
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00:12:11,600 --> 00:12:15,400
Wild Bill Wildman Gordon says there's no way that O'Caughboy is going to be giving him
244
00:12:15,400 --> 00:12:17,000
a boxing license.
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00:12:17,000 --> 00:12:19,520
Bernie tells him to just stop at a western store first.
246
00:12:19,520 --> 00:12:20,760
He'll take care of the rest.
247
00:12:20,760 --> 00:12:22,880
And now we're in Wild Bill Wildman's office.
248
00:12:22,880 --> 00:12:25,480
This is Roy Clark of Heahafame.
249
00:12:25,480 --> 00:12:30,080
Bernie is sporting a ridiculous western get up, lying to Bill about, hailing from Arizona
250
00:12:30,080 --> 00:12:31,480
just outside Wickenburg.
251
00:12:31,480 --> 00:12:34,480
Bernie further lies by omission about the license that they need.
252
00:12:34,480 --> 00:12:38,760
Bernie tells Wild Bill that this will be a match of Billy's experience versus Batilda's
253
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strength.
254
00:12:39,760 --> 00:12:40,760
He's strong, huh?
255
00:12:40,760 --> 00:12:41,760
As Wild Bill.
256
00:12:41,760 --> 00:12:46,000
Batilda is an animal, but Wild Bill thinks that Billy doesn't look up to the task of fighting
257
00:12:46,000 --> 00:12:47,000
someone like that.
258
00:12:47,000 --> 00:12:49,200
And besides, what's with the name Batilda?
259
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Funny name for a boy.
260
00:12:50,520 --> 00:12:53,440
Bernie replies that Batilda is all boy.
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Wild Bill says that with a name like Batilda, he must have been fighting all his life.
262
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Unless he's strange, Wild Bill says, which is code for gay.
263
00:13:01,600 --> 00:13:02,600
Or a kangaroo.
264
00:13:02,600 --> 00:13:04,280
I don't think that entered his mind.
265
00:13:04,280 --> 00:13:05,720
He now read a carnival.
266
00:13:05,720 --> 00:13:09,240
Duke the writer in Gordon the Caby arrived outside the tent where a big painting of a boxing
267
00:13:09,240 --> 00:13:10,920
kangaroo adorns a panel.
268
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Duke thinks this looks preposterous, but they go inside.
269
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They take seats.
270
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Bernie is already there, and we see Tanya is there too, with Lee Dockardy.
271
00:13:19,040 --> 00:13:23,120
The ringside announcer says that there was a $500 reward for anyone going up against
272
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Batilda.
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00:13:24,120 --> 00:13:27,960
Upon hearing the mention of $500, Tanya looks over at Bernie.
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Mine, she mouths.
275
00:13:29,480 --> 00:13:33,240
Bernie gives her an okay settle, and Tanya nods and crosses her fingers.
276
00:13:33,240 --> 00:13:37,120
Lee mumbles that this is all fake, so Tanya nudges him to do something about it.
277
00:13:37,120 --> 00:13:39,120
So Lee stands up and yells, it's a setup.
278
00:13:39,120 --> 00:13:43,720
The ringside announcer asks if that's a challenge, and Lee says, you bet it is.
279
00:13:43,720 --> 00:13:47,960
Billy looks a bit alarmed at the heavyweight champion of the world, is the first contender.
280
00:13:47,960 --> 00:13:51,640
Billy rushes to apologize to Batilda, but there's no need to fret.
281
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Once the fight begins, she knocks Lee out with a single punch.
282
00:13:54,840 --> 00:13:56,920
And Duke is very excited to write this story.
283
00:13:56,920 --> 00:13:57,920
It still is preposterous.
284
00:13:57,920 --> 00:14:02,280
And then Billy tells us through voiceover that what no one knew was that Lee Dockardy
285
00:14:02,280 --> 00:14:06,000
was owned by a mob boss named Uncle Nono.
286
00:14:06,000 --> 00:14:07,360
Uncle Nono has his own theme.
287
00:14:07,360 --> 00:14:11,520
It's like the theme to the Godfather, but kind of played inside out.
288
00:14:11,520 --> 00:14:13,320
Just different enough to not get sued.
289
00:14:13,320 --> 00:14:15,520
Uncle Nono is not happy.
290
00:14:15,520 --> 00:14:19,760
He's reading a newspaper account of the fight to his fellow mobsters of whom he is the boss,
291
00:14:19,760 --> 00:14:20,760
of course.
292
00:14:20,760 --> 00:14:22,640
And then Pinky turns up to the meeting and takes a seat.
293
00:14:22,640 --> 00:14:26,160
Nono singles out Pinky, who was supposed to have been keeping an eye on Dockardy, and
294
00:14:26,160 --> 00:14:27,400
keeping him out of trouble.
295
00:14:27,400 --> 00:14:30,720
And it was his brother and a lost stunt that got Dockardy's name in the papers in a bad
296
00:14:30,720 --> 00:14:31,720
light.
297
00:14:31,720 --> 00:14:33,880
And then he apologizes, saying, what was he supposed to do?
298
00:14:33,880 --> 00:14:37,440
Then he gives a sob story about how his brother-in-law is so pathetic, he felt sorry for him, but
299
00:14:37,440 --> 00:14:39,120
don't know if there's a one who hear that.
300
00:14:39,120 --> 00:14:41,240
He tells his hoods to just take care of it.
301
00:14:41,240 --> 00:14:45,160
Yeah, if this happens again, all their kids are going to be orphans, he says.
302
00:14:45,160 --> 00:14:50,560
So Pinky and some thugs go to Pinky's office where Bernie is sitting on his desk on the
303
00:14:50,560 --> 00:14:51,560
phone.
304
00:14:51,560 --> 00:14:53,800
The thugs pick up Bernie's desk and put it out in the hallway.
305
00:14:53,800 --> 00:14:55,800
And then they pick up Bernie and put him out in the hallway.
306
00:14:55,800 --> 00:14:57,120
They threaten him.
307
00:14:57,120 --> 00:15:00,640
And Bernie takes their threats rather well, advising them to be nice, Raywold and Dockardy
308
00:15:00,640 --> 00:15:02,320
have a rematch with Matilda.
309
00:15:02,320 --> 00:15:04,720
Pinky shows out that there never was a match to begin with.
310
00:15:04,720 --> 00:15:06,720
That was just a publicity stunt you dreamed up.
311
00:15:06,720 --> 00:15:08,120
Then Pinky warns Bernie.
312
00:15:08,120 --> 00:15:10,880
To be careful, he's getting the wrong people's mad.
313
00:15:10,880 --> 00:15:12,040
And he returns to his office.
314
00:15:12,040 --> 00:15:14,960
And the mob guys leave and Bernie just sits there in the hallway.
315
00:15:14,960 --> 00:15:17,240
They say they didn't set him on fire like they threatened.
316
00:15:17,240 --> 00:15:20,360
The next day, Gordon tries Bernie to the newspaper office.
317
00:15:20,360 --> 00:15:21,720
They both go in.
318
00:15:21,720 --> 00:15:24,960
Dock Parkress has summoned Bernie, but Bernie doesn't know why.
319
00:15:24,960 --> 00:15:29,360
Bernie goes into Dock's office and Dock has Bernie if he knows who owns lead-acquery.
320
00:15:29,360 --> 00:15:31,840
Pinky Schwab and a couple of other guys says Bernie.
321
00:15:31,840 --> 00:15:35,640
Pinky Schwab is one rung below a moron says Dock.
322
00:15:35,640 --> 00:15:38,800
He tells Bernie that Dockardy is owned by Uncle Nono, the gangster.
323
00:15:38,800 --> 00:15:41,480
Dock wants to get him out of boxing to clean up the game.
324
00:15:41,480 --> 00:15:43,120
And he has a proposition for Bernie.
325
00:15:43,120 --> 00:15:44,960
Right now Bernie's got a circus act.
326
00:15:44,960 --> 00:15:48,960
But if he can get Dockardy in the ring with Matilda, it's worth a million bucks.
327
00:15:48,960 --> 00:15:52,680
In the meantime, Bernie can book the fights and Dock will write the stories.
328
00:15:52,680 --> 00:15:55,200
But there's one other thing that Bernie needs to take care of.
329
00:15:55,200 --> 00:15:57,920
Kathleen Smith at the ASPCA.
330
00:15:57,920 --> 00:16:00,280
She's taking them to court to stop the fight.
331
00:16:00,280 --> 00:16:02,880
Bernie promises that she's already taken care of.
332
00:16:02,880 --> 00:16:06,400
So next Gordon drives Bernie to Kathleen's block.
333
00:16:06,400 --> 00:16:09,080
Bernie exits the cab with six dogs in tow.
334
00:16:09,080 --> 00:16:12,560
He walks them down the street just as Kathleen exits her building, walking her dog.
335
00:16:12,560 --> 00:16:16,040
Bernie says he walks his dogs here every day, but he's never seen her here before.
336
00:16:16,040 --> 00:16:17,320
And he loves his animals.
337
00:16:17,320 --> 00:16:18,840
They're all straight as he's adopted.
338
00:16:18,840 --> 00:16:22,000
But Kathleen isn't impressed nor is she falling for this ruse.
339
00:16:22,000 --> 00:16:26,080
Then Bernie tells her that Matilda is like family to him.
340
00:16:26,080 --> 00:16:29,000
You don't exploit family, says Kathleen.
341
00:16:29,000 --> 00:16:31,440
No one's exploiting anyone, says Bernie.
342
00:16:31,440 --> 00:16:33,800
You think you can teach a kangaroo to fight?
343
00:16:33,800 --> 00:16:36,440
It's like the human sex drive he awkwardly explains.
344
00:16:36,440 --> 00:16:41,480
They box and we, well, you know, he awkwardly hits on her by asking how tall she is, but
345
00:16:41,480 --> 00:16:43,280
Kathleen's not going to play along with this.
346
00:16:43,280 --> 00:16:44,840
Her injunction is going to stand.
347
00:16:44,840 --> 00:16:47,200
There's no way Matilda is going to fight again.
348
00:16:47,200 --> 00:16:51,520
Kathleen turns to go back inside, but spins around again when she hears Bernie yell "ow."
349
00:16:51,520 --> 00:16:53,360
He claims one of the dogs bit him.
350
00:16:53,360 --> 00:16:55,840
Kathleen runs down the check on him, taking off his shoe.
351
00:16:55,840 --> 00:16:59,760
And she's disappointed to see that the fight hasn't drawn blood.
352
00:16:59,760 --> 00:17:01,800
And she calls his legs ugly.
353
00:17:01,800 --> 00:17:06,360
Gordon is down the street standing beside his cab, laughing at this display.
354
00:17:06,360 --> 00:17:08,680
She says she's thrilled to be battling against him.
355
00:17:08,680 --> 00:17:11,640
Then she tosses his shoe at Gordon for one of the dogs to fetch.
356
00:17:11,640 --> 00:17:13,320
Gordon and one of the dogs go to retrieve it.
357
00:17:13,320 --> 00:17:18,040
As Bernie and the dogs make their way back to the cab, Gordon hands Bernie his shoe.
358
00:17:18,040 --> 00:17:20,920
Bernie says that Kathleen will have a difficult time keeping up with them.
359
00:17:20,920 --> 00:17:24,520
Bernie will book Matilda State to State and she'll have to file an injection to stop them
360
00:17:24,520 --> 00:17:25,520
in each one.
361
00:17:25,520 --> 00:17:28,240
Any S. Gordon if he's ever considered selling his cab.
362
00:17:28,240 --> 00:17:29,240
Now we're on the road.
363
00:17:29,240 --> 00:17:33,280
Gordon's apparently sold his cab because he's driving a custom Ford van decked out with
364
00:17:33,280 --> 00:17:36,320
a bubble top and Matilda's face, application to the side.
365
00:17:36,320 --> 00:17:40,340
Billy tells us we have voice over that they spent six months criss-crossing the country for
366
00:17:40,340 --> 00:17:41,340
small matches.
367
00:17:41,340 --> 00:17:44,640
Hal Assi, Tuscaloosa, Indianapolis, whatever.
368
00:17:44,640 --> 00:17:48,200
They had seven fights and Matilda caled every opponent.
369
00:17:48,200 --> 00:17:52,440
It was tiring, but Bernie always made sure they ate well at least.
370
00:17:52,440 --> 00:17:56,560
Or at least eight because of this stop their epic donalds.
371
00:17:56,560 --> 00:18:00,040
Gordon's in picking up the order while Matilda entertains children in the parking lot.
372
00:18:00,040 --> 00:18:01,360
Little product placement here.
373
00:18:01,360 --> 00:18:05,920
And now we're at the Cow Palace in Oklahoma where Kathleen is covering up fight posters
374
00:18:05,920 --> 00:18:11,160
with stickers reading do not attend this atrocity and save the creatures of God.
375
00:18:11,160 --> 00:18:12,760
Bernie sees her and goes over to her.
376
00:18:12,760 --> 00:18:14,320
Hello he says.
377
00:18:14,320 --> 00:18:15,320
Kathleen turns to face him.
378
00:18:15,320 --> 00:18:17,840
Did you really think you could stop me by leaving New York?
379
00:18:17,840 --> 00:18:21,640
Bernie who's pulling off the stickers from the posters as they talk says he called to say
380
00:18:21,640 --> 00:18:23,320
to buy but her line was busy.
381
00:18:23,320 --> 00:18:25,960
He asked her if she came all this way just to see him.
382
00:18:25,960 --> 00:18:27,720
Don't flatter yourself she says.
383
00:18:27,720 --> 00:18:31,400
I came here to play an injunction to stop this fight, but it failed.
384
00:18:31,400 --> 00:18:34,040
She says she hears the next fight is in Los Angeles.
385
00:18:34,040 --> 00:18:35,600
Bernie confirms this and asks why.
386
00:18:35,600 --> 00:18:40,000
Though my brothers the boxing commissioner for the state of California she says with a smile
387
00:18:40,000 --> 00:18:41,360
and she turns to leave.
388
00:18:41,360 --> 00:18:42,720
And now she's in her hotel room.
389
00:18:42,720 --> 00:18:47,000
Outside her room, Bernie pays off the room service waiter and delivers the food to
390
00:18:47,000 --> 00:18:49,360
Kathleen's room himself.
391
00:18:49,360 --> 00:18:51,800
Bernie stays behind after parking the cart in her room.
392
00:18:51,800 --> 00:18:56,520
She comes out of the bathroom in her robe and in rage tries to get him to get out.
393
00:18:56,520 --> 00:18:59,480
He offers flattery and wine but she's not accepting either.
394
00:18:59,480 --> 00:19:01,960
Bernie says that he was hoping they could just be friends.
395
00:19:01,960 --> 00:19:04,800
Then Bernie tells her that when women come out of the shower they're supposed to look
396
00:19:04,800 --> 00:19:06,520
pretty but they never do.
397
00:19:06,520 --> 00:19:08,600
But she does.
398
00:19:08,600 --> 00:19:10,600
He pours some champagne and takes a sip.
399
00:19:10,600 --> 00:19:12,560
Nice but friendly he says.
400
00:19:12,560 --> 00:19:14,520
He forces the glass into her hand.
401
00:19:14,520 --> 00:19:17,120
She dashes the champagne in his face.
402
00:19:17,120 --> 00:19:20,800
And then he assaults her with a kiss and now she's livid.
403
00:19:20,800 --> 00:19:22,960
Nice but friendly he says again.
404
00:19:22,960 --> 00:19:24,360
She almost blows her top.
405
00:19:24,360 --> 00:19:28,000
She hates him more than she's ever hated anyone she see.
406
00:19:28,000 --> 00:19:30,960
She slaps him so he kisses her again.
407
00:19:30,960 --> 00:19:32,760
It's great but it's not friendly.
408
00:19:32,760 --> 00:19:35,640
He said the same thing three times.
409
00:19:35,640 --> 00:19:36,960
And he assaulted her twice.
410
00:19:36,960 --> 00:19:40,320
He sits down on the sofa and she asks why he's there.
411
00:19:40,320 --> 00:19:44,320
Is it her beauty or the fact that her brother is the boxing commissioner?
412
00:19:44,320 --> 00:19:46,040
Why not both ask Bernie?
413
00:19:46,040 --> 00:19:49,360
He tries to encourage her to spare some sympathy for Billy.
414
00:19:49,360 --> 00:19:51,120
Even though he's not an animal.
415
00:19:51,120 --> 00:19:54,920
Billy was on his way to the poor house and that means something to Bernie.
416
00:19:54,920 --> 00:19:58,480
Kathleen isn't moved so Bernie throws his shoe at her telling her to send her the bill
417
00:19:58,480 --> 00:19:59,480
for it.
418
00:19:59,480 --> 00:20:00,640
Then he storms out.
419
00:20:00,640 --> 00:20:04,320
He stops in the hallway and realizes he now has to walk around with only one shoe.
420
00:20:04,320 --> 00:20:07,920
He looks like his three toes on his feet.
421
00:20:07,920 --> 00:20:10,440
Like pre-henself feet like a sloth.
422
00:20:10,440 --> 00:20:15,600
In a room Kathleen contemplates Bernie's shoe with a smile or some reason.
423
00:20:15,600 --> 00:20:19,520
Meanwhile Nuno's hoods are setting up an elaborate trap for Matilda.
424
00:20:19,520 --> 00:20:22,720
The argue amongst themselves is they check that they have room in the trunk of their car.
425
00:20:22,720 --> 00:20:27,200
They have a net they have to get into place and they do this arguing the entire time.
426
00:20:27,200 --> 00:20:31,080
Then when Gordon comes by with Matilda, one of the hoods knocks Gordon over the head.
427
00:20:31,080 --> 00:20:33,880
The net is dropped over Matilda and one of the hoods.
428
00:20:33,880 --> 00:20:36,760
Matilda starts pummeling the hood so the others make a plan.
429
00:20:36,760 --> 00:20:38,320
They lift the net to let him out.
430
00:20:38,320 --> 00:20:40,360
Leaving the kangaroo trapped.
431
00:20:40,360 --> 00:20:42,920
But it doesn't work as planned and Matilda gets out and punches on everyone.
432
00:20:42,920 --> 00:20:50,600
[Music]
433
00:20:50,600 --> 00:20:54,840
Now we're at the bout at the cow palace where the announcer introduces Matilda,
434
00:20:54,840 --> 00:20:56,680
healing from Sydney, Australia.
435
00:20:56,680 --> 00:20:59,400
They promise 10 rounds of heavyweight boxing,
436
00:20:59,400 --> 00:21:02,800
where Matilda is fighting the number two ranked heavyweight in the world.
437
00:21:02,800 --> 00:21:04,520
Cowboy Jones.
438
00:21:04,520 --> 00:21:06,120
The bell rings the match starts.
439
00:21:06,120 --> 00:21:08,520
Cowboy Jones is knocked out and the fight is over.
440
00:21:08,520 --> 00:21:10,000
And there was much rejoicing.
441
00:21:10,000 --> 00:21:11,800
Yeah.
442
00:21:11,800 --> 00:21:15,160
Yeah, these fights are not worth the money that you pay to get in.
443
00:21:15,160 --> 00:21:17,480
They last all of two seconds.
444
00:21:17,480 --> 00:21:19,400
And now we're in California.
445
00:21:19,400 --> 00:21:22,360
Billy Warren's Bernie to not upset Kathleen's brother.
446
00:21:22,360 --> 00:21:24,360
They really need this fight.
447
00:21:24,360 --> 00:21:27,960
So Bernie goes into the commissioner's office to meet with him.
448
00:21:27,960 --> 00:21:31,080
The commissioner, Payne Smith, thinks this has to be a joke.
449
00:21:31,080 --> 00:21:34,760
Bernie tells him that Matilda is licensed in 10 states and is won every fight,
450
00:21:34,760 --> 00:21:36,440
including won against lead-occurty.
451
00:21:36,440 --> 00:21:39,320
He thinks he's the serious contender for the boxing crown.
452
00:21:39,320 --> 00:21:42,760
But Payne says that Bernie's circus act isn't welcome in the state of California.
453
00:21:42,760 --> 00:21:46,120
Bernie leaves in a huff, telling Payne that he doesn't own the world.
454
00:21:46,120 --> 00:21:49,000
He returns to the van, allowing not to be stopped.
455
00:21:49,000 --> 00:21:52,040
He tells the others that they should take him to Herman Kaplan,
456
00:21:52,040 --> 00:21:53,960
his friend in the advertising business.
457
00:21:53,960 --> 00:21:56,040
And then without boring us with another scene,
458
00:21:56,040 --> 00:21:59,880
we find out that Bernie sold Herman on a TV show featuring Matilda
459
00:21:59,880 --> 00:22:02,280
versus Cyclone Roberts in the studio.
460
00:22:02,280 --> 00:22:06,200
And they all happily pile into the van to make it happen, I guess.
461
00:22:06,200 --> 00:22:09,240
Now we're back with Uncle Nono and he's educating his hoods.
462
00:22:09,240 --> 00:22:11,800
He has a board with a picture of a man in a kangaroo.
463
00:22:11,800 --> 00:22:14,840
He points out that they both have two legs and he has more of the hoods,
464
00:22:14,840 --> 00:22:16,120
what the difference is.
465
00:22:16,120 --> 00:22:18,440
And one of the notices that the kangaroo has a tail.
466
00:22:18,440 --> 00:22:20,680
Nono says that's right.
467
00:22:20,680 --> 00:22:24,200
And what that means is the kangaroo has an advantage in balance.
468
00:22:24,200 --> 00:22:27,400
So we once them to go to Los Angeles and cut off the kangaroo's tail.
469
00:22:27,400 --> 00:22:29,960
All the goons are gobsmacked by this mission.
470
00:22:29,960 --> 00:22:32,920
And now we're with Bernie still grousing about Kathleen and her brother.
471
00:22:32,920 --> 00:22:35,240
As they park at the hotel, they talk amongst themselves,
472
00:22:35,240 --> 00:22:39,640
and we find out that they're going to be on network television broadcast all across the country.
473
00:22:39,640 --> 00:22:42,440
And I'm trying to figure out how this happened.
474
00:22:42,440 --> 00:22:45,000
Bernie goes back to his room and finds a box there.
475
00:22:45,000 --> 00:22:47,880
He opens it and finds a new pair of shoes with a note for him.
476
00:22:47,880 --> 00:22:51,080
It's from Kathleen saying she's sorry she's ruined his big night,
477
00:22:51,080 --> 00:22:54,200
but hopes he won't hold it against her and that he will join her for dinner.
478
00:22:54,200 --> 00:22:57,800
Other it was women's shoes though, so I don't understand that.
479
00:22:57,800 --> 00:23:01,560
So Bernie calls Billy and tells him that he's on his own for dinner.
480
00:23:01,560 --> 00:23:04,680
Kathleen's feeling guilty, so Bernie's gonna go upstairs and make her feel
481
00:23:04,680 --> 00:23:05,880
even more guilty.
482
00:23:05,880 --> 00:23:08,600
Up in Kathleen's room, she invites Bernie in,
483
00:23:08,600 --> 00:23:11,720
and it looks like her eyes are filled with loathing,
484
00:23:11,720 --> 00:23:13,320
but she offers him food and drink.
485
00:23:13,320 --> 00:23:15,800
She seems surprised at his seemingly cow demeanor.
486
00:23:15,800 --> 00:23:18,280
He play acts that he's lost everything.
487
00:23:18,280 --> 00:23:21,240
He's trying to get her sympathy and apparently it works.
488
00:23:21,240 --> 00:23:23,080
In ways that I find disgusting.
489
00:23:23,080 --> 00:23:26,120
She offers him some fruit and he declines saying that he has a headache,
490
00:23:26,120 --> 00:23:28,200
and then a neck ache, and then a back ache.
491
00:23:28,200 --> 00:23:31,640
So she massages him in all the affected areas.
492
00:23:31,640 --> 00:23:34,920
She keeps trying to cheer him up, telling him that he's great at what he does,
493
00:23:34,920 --> 00:23:37,560
that he really kept her running trying to keep up with him.
494
00:23:37,560 --> 00:23:39,160
He moans that she couldn't understand.
495
00:23:39,160 --> 00:23:42,120
Everyone was depending on him, and he's let them down,
496
00:23:42,120 --> 00:23:44,120
but she continues to try to comfort him.
497
00:23:44,120 --> 00:23:45,000
So he lets her.
498
00:23:45,000 --> 00:23:46,680
Yeah, she kisses him.
499
00:23:46,680 --> 00:23:47,640
Gross.
500
00:23:47,640 --> 00:23:50,840
Now the van parks behind the TV station.
501
00:23:50,840 --> 00:23:53,400
Two of the goons, who I'll call Goon 1 and Goon 2,
502
00:23:53,400 --> 00:23:57,400
are waiting with an axe so they can cut off the tail of the kangaroo.
503
00:23:57,400 --> 00:24:00,040
When Bernie and Billy and Matilda come by,
504
00:24:00,040 --> 00:24:03,160
Goon 1 stops them, asking for an autograph for his kid.
505
00:24:03,160 --> 00:24:06,520
They pull out an autograph book, a giant ink pad,
506
00:24:06,520 --> 00:24:10,440
and Matilda dips his fake paw in the ink,
507
00:24:10,440 --> 00:24:14,600
and then barely touches the autograph book with his popper.
508
00:24:14,600 --> 00:24:18,280
While they're distracted, the other hood swings the hatchet over his head,
509
00:24:18,280 --> 00:24:20,040
which hits a ladder on a van.
510
00:24:20,040 --> 00:24:21,640
The head of the hatchet breaks off,
511
00:24:21,640 --> 00:24:25,320
flies over, and hits Goon 1 in the head, knocking him out.
512
00:24:25,320 --> 00:24:27,560
Then Matilda turns, when swings his tail,
513
00:24:27,560 --> 00:24:29,320
knocking down Goon 2.
514
00:24:29,320 --> 00:24:31,080
Then Billy and Bernie walk in Matilda,
515
00:24:31,080 --> 00:24:32,440
half toward the TV station,
516
00:24:32,440 --> 00:24:34,280
and then the wiser about the attempted maiming.
517
00:24:34,280 --> 00:24:38,360
Now we're in the studio, and apparently Matilda is not there for a sporting event.
518
00:24:38,360 --> 00:24:43,560
He's in a skit, and Billy tells us that this was his national television debut as well.
519
00:24:43,560 --> 00:24:47,400
He's on screen, very obviously reading from a badly placed cue cart.
520
00:24:47,400 --> 00:24:50,440
In the scene, Matilda is reunited with Mr. and Mrs. Hardy,
521
00:24:50,440 --> 00:24:52,760
who rescued Matilda when he was just a Joey,
522
00:24:52,760 --> 00:24:56,520
and maybe he can pay them back by boxing against Cyclone Roberts.
523
00:24:56,520 --> 00:25:00,040
The only notable thing about this scene is that the grandmother on Mark and Mindy,
524
00:25:00,040 --> 00:25:01,080
plays Mrs. Hardy.
525
00:25:01,080 --> 00:25:06,920
And we go to the booth where two technical directors are cursing their career choices.
526
00:25:06,920 --> 00:25:10,120
One of them leaves a room in disgust.
527
00:25:10,120 --> 00:25:11,960
But there are at least two people watching the show.
528
00:25:11,960 --> 00:25:14,040
We see that Kathleen is watching from her room,
529
00:25:14,040 --> 00:25:16,680
and Uncle Nono is watching in his office.
530
00:25:16,680 --> 00:25:18,760
And they actually do stage a fight.
531
00:25:18,760 --> 00:25:20,520
So that's what they're watching at this point.
532
00:25:20,520 --> 00:25:23,000
And of course, Cyclone Roberts is easily KO'd.
533
00:25:23,000 --> 00:25:25,880
Kathleen throws something through her TV screen,
534
00:25:26,440 --> 00:25:31,560
as good number one makes like Tommy Wazoo and Chuck's Uncle Nono's TV out the window at his
535
00:25:31,560 --> 00:25:32,360
behest.
536
00:25:32,360 --> 00:25:36,520
So Bernie and Billy and all return to New York and visit Duke Parkhurst.
537
00:25:36,520 --> 00:25:38,840
Duke tells them he has good news and bad news.
538
00:25:38,840 --> 00:25:42,040
The good news is that the championship fight in Reno is on.
539
00:25:42,040 --> 00:25:44,920
The bad news is they're working for free.
540
00:25:44,920 --> 00:25:47,400
Duke explains that the person will have to go to charity.
541
00:25:47,400 --> 00:25:49,400
It's the only way it could agree to make the fight happen.
542
00:25:49,400 --> 00:25:54,680
Bernie and Billy are upset, but Parkhurst is serious about catching Uncle Nono.
543
00:25:54,680 --> 00:25:58,040
He tells them that after this fight, all their winnings will be theirs.
544
00:25:58,040 --> 00:25:59,800
But it has to go down this way.
545
00:25:59,800 --> 00:26:01,400
Bernie thinks Parkhurst planned this.
546
00:26:01,400 --> 00:26:04,840
Knowing that Bernie would be dumb and greedy enough to fall for this trip.
547
00:26:04,840 --> 00:26:06,520
But then they let Billy decide.
548
00:26:06,520 --> 00:26:09,560
Billy defers to Bernie, who agrees to do it Duke's way.
549
00:26:09,560 --> 00:26:12,680
So Bernie tells Parkhurst he's going to wait about the fight of the century.
550
00:26:12,680 --> 00:26:15,480
And now we have a training montage.
551
00:26:15,480 --> 00:26:16,280
Times two.
552
00:26:16,280 --> 00:26:19,720
This will be Matilda's toughest fight and lead activities as well.
553
00:26:19,720 --> 00:26:23,320
And we see both Matilda and lead activity training for the big day.
554
00:26:23,320 --> 00:26:24,600
Yeah, they're in the mountains.
555
00:26:24,600 --> 00:26:29,400
And it looks like there's just a brief scene of the hoods training as well.
556
00:26:29,400 --> 00:26:31,080
Like running around in tracksuits.
557
00:26:31,080 --> 00:26:33,160
There's some nice scenic vistas here.
558
00:26:33,160 --> 00:26:37,720
And now Bernie goes to visit Matilda, who is apparently sleeping in a barn while all the rest of them
559
00:26:37,720 --> 00:26:39,320
have nice warm beds.
560
00:26:39,320 --> 00:26:40,680
Matilda can ride in a cab.
561
00:26:40,680 --> 00:26:42,360
Why can't Matilda sleep in a house?
562
00:26:42,360 --> 00:26:45,080
Bernie asks Matilda a bunch of existential questions.
563
00:26:45,080 --> 00:26:51,160
Like why such a weird looking creature is imbued with so much boxing talent?
564
00:26:51,160 --> 00:26:54,520
Then he says that for the first time in his life, Bernie is a winner.
565
00:26:54,520 --> 00:26:56,120
And it's all because of Matilda.
566
00:26:56,120 --> 00:26:57,720
And then he just leaves him there alone.
567
00:26:57,720 --> 00:27:00,920
Then we see Bernie walking from the barn through the woods and
568
00:27:00,920 --> 00:27:02,680
Nono's goons surround him.
569
00:27:02,680 --> 00:27:03,880
They take him to their car.
570
00:27:03,880 --> 00:27:06,120
Are we going for a ride as Bernie?
571
00:27:06,120 --> 00:27:08,280
And they drive him to see Uncle Nono.
572
00:27:08,280 --> 00:27:12,760
If Uncle Nono's going to have a one-on-one with Bernie in an enormous conference room.
573
00:27:12,760 --> 00:27:14,920
The other two goons are way in the back.
574
00:27:14,920 --> 00:27:16,200
You probably can't hear.
575
00:27:16,200 --> 00:27:21,000
Nono offers Bernie a contract so that he can only dockety after the fight.
576
00:27:21,000 --> 00:27:21,960
It's already been signed.
577
00:27:21,960 --> 00:27:25,720
But the catch is that Bernie has to sign over Matilda to Nono.
578
00:27:25,720 --> 00:27:28,280
Bernie says no deal.
579
00:27:28,280 --> 00:27:31,560
Didn't Nono suggest that they might play a visit in the middle of the night
580
00:27:31,560 --> 00:27:33,560
and knock off Matilda and the enlistment.
581
00:27:33,560 --> 00:27:35,560
But Bernie calls Nono's bluff.
582
00:27:35,560 --> 00:27:37,320
He doesn't think Nono is that stupid.
583
00:27:37,320 --> 00:27:39,000
He couldn't handle the heat if they did that.
584
00:27:39,000 --> 00:27:40,920
Nono likes the cut of Bernie's jib.
585
00:27:40,920 --> 00:27:41,960
And offers him a job.
586
00:27:41,960 --> 00:27:45,240
He owns 45 different companies of varying legality.
587
00:27:45,240 --> 00:27:46,760
But Bernie's not interested.
588
00:27:46,760 --> 00:27:48,840
Boxing is his hobby, not his vocation.
589
00:27:49,560 --> 00:27:52,280
Nono has one of the goons take Bernie back to his house.
590
00:27:52,280 --> 00:27:53,960
But tells the other one to call his bookie.
591
00:27:53,960 --> 00:27:56,840
They haven't bet $1 million on Matilda tomorrow.
592
00:27:56,840 --> 00:27:59,080
Now it's the night of the championship fight.
593
00:27:59,080 --> 00:28:02,200
Limels arrive at the venue and a large crowd is in attendance.
594
00:28:02,200 --> 00:28:05,080
They say it's Harris and Reno Nevada, but it's actually not.
595
00:28:05,080 --> 00:28:06,280
We'll talk about that later.
596
00:28:06,280 --> 00:28:08,520
Duke Parker is there and he's sitting ringside.
597
00:28:08,520 --> 00:28:10,280
And Nono's side is up to him.
598
00:28:10,280 --> 00:28:12,040
And he asks Duke who he likes.
599
00:28:12,040 --> 00:28:15,400
The injury of my last column has Duke, Matilda and two.
600
00:28:15,400 --> 00:28:17,560
He asks Nono if he's got any money on the fight.
601
00:28:17,560 --> 00:28:19,560
Nono says no. He doesn't gamble.
602
00:28:19,560 --> 00:28:22,840
In the dressing room, Billy has a confession.
603
00:28:22,840 --> 00:28:24,680
He's been hiding something from the others.
604
00:28:24,680 --> 00:28:26,520
And it's about kangaroos and boxing.
605
00:28:26,520 --> 00:28:29,240
What they didn't know is that if a kangaroo gets hit,
606
00:28:29,240 --> 00:28:30,680
they'll stop fighting.
607
00:28:30,680 --> 00:28:32,600
So whoever gets the first punch wins.
608
00:28:32,600 --> 00:28:34,680
This is how kangaroos naturally fight.
609
00:28:34,680 --> 00:28:36,600
And up until now, they've been lucky.
610
00:28:36,600 --> 00:28:38,360
No one's ever landed a punch on Matilda.
611
00:28:38,360 --> 00:28:41,320
You knew that the others, cowboy Jones and cyclone rabbits,
612
00:28:41,320 --> 00:28:42,280
were washed up fighters.
613
00:28:42,280 --> 00:28:45,000
And Matilda even fought Lee Dachery before.
614
00:28:45,000 --> 00:28:46,600
But yet had a few drinks that night,
615
00:28:46,600 --> 00:28:49,080
Billy has worried since now Dachery has been training
616
00:28:49,080 --> 00:28:50,280
and is in peak form.
617
00:28:50,280 --> 00:28:52,600
He's afraid he's going to tear Matilda apart.
618
00:28:52,600 --> 00:28:54,040
Everyone looks concerned.
619
00:28:54,040 --> 00:28:55,400
But there's nothing they can do about it
620
00:28:55,400 --> 00:28:56,680
because it's time for the fight.
621
00:28:56,680 --> 00:28:58,600
The challenger Matilda has announced.
622
00:28:58,600 --> 00:29:00,200
Parker says to no one in particular,
623
00:29:00,200 --> 00:29:02,200
"I love that animal, fighting machine."
624
00:29:02,200 --> 00:29:05,480
The champion also enters the arena.
625
00:29:05,480 --> 00:29:08,120
We see Kathleen is in the audience, too.
626
00:29:08,120 --> 00:29:10,520
In the ring, referee George Lotka asks
627
00:29:10,520 --> 00:29:12,040
if Matilda understands the rules.
628
00:29:12,040 --> 00:29:15,080
Billy assures the ref that Matilda was trained
629
00:29:15,080 --> 00:29:16,840
under the Marker's of Queensborough rules.
630
00:29:16,840 --> 00:29:17,880
So the fight begins.
631
00:29:17,880 --> 00:29:19,720
The bell rings.
632
00:29:19,720 --> 00:29:21,560
Matilda gets a few early hits in.
633
00:29:21,560 --> 00:29:22,760
The referee has to pull him apart
634
00:29:22,760 --> 00:29:25,240
when Matilda's big feet step on Dachery's.
635
00:29:25,240 --> 00:29:26,680
Matilda gets another punch in,
636
00:29:26,680 --> 00:29:28,520
nearly sending Dachery through the ropes.
637
00:29:28,520 --> 00:29:29,720
The referee begins to count,
638
00:29:29,720 --> 00:29:32,280
but Dachery is up at eight, and they face off again.
639
00:29:32,280 --> 00:29:33,560
Yeah, it's all Matilda here.
640
00:29:33,560 --> 00:29:35,400
Dachery can't seem to land a punch.
641
00:29:35,400 --> 00:29:37,480
We see Tanya in the audience cheering for Lee
642
00:29:37,480 --> 00:29:38,680
as the fight resumes.
643
00:29:38,680 --> 00:29:40,360
And Matilda knocks Dachery down again.
644
00:29:40,360 --> 00:29:42,200
The referee starts to count.
645
00:29:42,200 --> 00:29:43,720
Dachery is saved by the bell.
646
00:29:43,720 --> 00:29:45,400
Both fighters go to their respective corners
647
00:29:45,400 --> 00:29:46,600
to wait for round two.
648
00:29:46,600 --> 00:29:49,640
The bell rings, and in round two Matilda is still dominating.
649
00:29:49,640 --> 00:29:52,120
Matilda knocks Dachery literally out of the ring,
650
00:29:52,120 --> 00:29:55,000
but he climbs back in just some time for the end of the round.
651
00:29:55,000 --> 00:29:58,200
Parker's comments that Dachery is the first to ever make it to round three.
652
00:29:58,200 --> 00:30:01,400
And round three begins Matilda's still wailing on Dachery.
653
00:30:01,400 --> 00:30:04,120
He lands a punch on him just as he's adjusted his mouth gear.
654
00:30:04,120 --> 00:30:06,440
Parker's wonders what's keeping Dachery going.
655
00:30:06,440 --> 00:30:08,680
The crowd, who was previously rooting for Matilda,
656
00:30:08,680 --> 00:30:09,720
turns on him.
657
00:30:09,720 --> 00:30:11,240
They start booing Matilda.
658
00:30:11,240 --> 00:30:13,320
Matilda again knocks Dachery to the floor,
659
00:30:13,320 --> 00:30:15,080
and once again he's saved by the bell.
660
00:30:15,080 --> 00:30:17,720
Parker says that Dachery doesn't even know where he is.
661
00:30:17,720 --> 00:30:19,800
No way he'll make it through a fourth round.
662
00:30:19,800 --> 00:30:21,800
Nearby, Uncle Nuno smiles.
663
00:30:21,800 --> 00:30:23,800
The Dachery is being examined by a doctor.
664
00:30:23,800 --> 00:30:26,040
Apparently he's healthy enough to get back in the ring.
665
00:30:26,040 --> 00:30:27,720
He seems determined in this round.
666
00:30:27,720 --> 00:30:29,880
In the fourth round, Dachery gets in a punch,
667
00:30:29,880 --> 00:30:31,480
hitting Matilda in the gut.
668
00:30:31,480 --> 00:30:32,360
Matilda freezes.
669
00:30:32,360 --> 00:30:35,960
This is the first for Matilda, who just stands there looking hurt.
670
00:30:35,960 --> 00:30:37,880
Kathleen jumps up, alarmed.
671
00:30:37,880 --> 00:30:40,280
The rough signal is Dachery to resume fighting.
672
00:30:40,280 --> 00:30:43,080
So Bernie loves the white towel of surrender into the ring,
673
00:30:43,080 --> 00:30:44,280
thus ending the fight.
674
00:30:44,280 --> 00:30:46,920
The Dachery is still the heavyweight champion of the world.
675
00:30:46,920 --> 00:30:47,880
Phew.
676
00:30:47,880 --> 00:30:48,840
That was close.
677
00:30:48,840 --> 00:30:51,160
Billy jumps into the ring to cover Matilda,
678
00:30:51,160 --> 00:30:53,000
and Duke Parker stays in shock.
679
00:30:53,000 --> 00:30:54,600
This is not the story he wanted to write.
680
00:30:54,600 --> 00:30:57,320
Tanya embraces Dachery,
681
00:30:57,320 --> 00:30:59,400
and for some reason Kathleen jumps into the ring
682
00:30:59,400 --> 00:31:01,400
to declare her love for Bernie.
683
00:31:01,400 --> 00:31:01,960
Look.
684
00:31:01,960 --> 00:31:04,040
And Duke Parker explains through voice over
685
00:31:04,040 --> 00:31:06,120
that the crowd didn't like seeing one of their kind
686
00:31:06,120 --> 00:31:07,880
being pummeled by another species,
687
00:31:07,880 --> 00:31:09,560
and that's why they turned on Matilda.
688
00:31:09,560 --> 00:31:11,240
But now they're back on team Matilda
689
00:31:11,240 --> 00:31:12,600
because he lost to a human.
690
00:31:12,600 --> 00:31:15,400
Matilda goes to hug Dachery as the crowd cheers,
691
00:31:15,400 --> 00:31:18,200
and the band plays the Australian national anthem,
692
00:31:18,200 --> 00:31:20,280
and Matilda hops back to the locker room.
693
00:31:20,280 --> 00:31:21,320
And now we're back at the pub,
694
00:31:21,320 --> 00:31:23,240
so Billy can wrap up this ridiculous story.
695
00:31:23,240 --> 00:31:24,760
[laughs]
696
00:31:24,760 --> 00:31:27,320
He tells us that Bernie is now handling lead Dachery.
697
00:31:27,320 --> 00:31:29,080
Piquit Schwab is Bernie's assistant,
698
00:31:29,080 --> 00:31:31,560
and Bernie and Kathleen are married with four kids.
699
00:31:31,560 --> 00:31:34,120
Duke Parker says one of a bunch of awards for writing,
700
00:31:34,120 --> 00:31:35,960
and Gordon Baum is now Vice President
701
00:31:35,960 --> 00:31:38,360
of the William Morris Agency in Los Angeles.
702
00:31:38,360 --> 00:31:41,160
Tanya is singing in Las Vegas and still dating Dachery.
703
00:31:41,160 --> 00:31:42,840
Uncle Nono adopted Matilda,
704
00:31:42,840 --> 00:31:45,320
and then bought a small Central American country
705
00:31:45,320 --> 00:31:47,320
where he raises ruse with his family.
706
00:31:47,320 --> 00:31:49,720
Billy says they were all the nicest people in the world,
707
00:31:49,720 --> 00:31:51,800
and that's exactly the way it happened.
708
00:31:51,800 --> 00:31:52,440
Truly.
709
00:31:52,440 --> 00:31:53,800
He tells us to hold tight.
710
00:31:53,800 --> 00:31:55,000
He'll be right back.
711
00:31:55,000 --> 00:31:57,960
He grabs a Joey, Jr., spawn of Matilda,
712
00:31:57,960 --> 00:32:00,120
and tells him Uncle Bernie will be coming in a minute,
713
00:32:00,120 --> 00:32:02,280
and Bernie and Kathleen and their kids arrive in a car
714
00:32:02,280 --> 00:32:03,800
to take this young kangaroo.
715
00:32:03,800 --> 00:32:05,320
Billy hands Bernie the Joey,
716
00:32:05,320 --> 00:32:06,920
telling him that he's had his milk,
717
00:32:06,920 --> 00:32:09,320
and that the kids get to give him a mini-Mr. Goodbart.
718
00:32:09,320 --> 00:32:11,080
Bernie tells Billy they'll have him back soon
719
00:32:11,080 --> 00:32:12,520
after they drop off the kids.
720
00:32:12,520 --> 00:32:13,880
They're going to take Jr. to the gym.
721
00:32:13,880 --> 00:32:15,160
He's got training to do.
722
00:32:15,160 --> 00:32:18,280
Kathleen tells him it's inhuman to do that to a baby kangaroo.
723
00:32:18,280 --> 00:32:20,920
But Bernie tells her that this isn't just any kangaroo.
724
00:32:20,920 --> 00:32:22,040
Remember who his father was?
725
00:32:22,040 --> 00:32:25,720
They drive off as a single red balloon escapes
726
00:32:25,720 --> 00:32:27,720
one of the kids' grasps and flies away.
727
00:32:27,720 --> 00:32:31,080
Billy turns to us as the horrible theme song starts up
728
00:32:31,080 --> 00:32:32,760
and says, "Life's grand, isn't it?"
729
00:32:32,760 --> 00:32:36,120
We watch the balloon soar away as the boon sing
730
00:32:36,120 --> 00:32:38,280
their love song over the end credits,
731
00:32:38,280 --> 00:32:40,040
and that's the end.
732
00:32:40,040 --> 00:32:48,680
Welcome back to the American International Podcast
733
00:32:48,680 --> 00:32:51,240
where we're talking about Matilda from 1978.
734
00:32:51,240 --> 00:32:53,480
Red Kill Day of the Los Angeles Times
735
00:32:53,480 --> 00:32:55,080
interviewed producer Albert Ruddy
736
00:32:55,080 --> 00:32:57,960
for an article published October 8, 1977,
737
00:32:57,960 --> 00:33:00,120
saying he was ready to announce a new movie,
738
00:33:00,120 --> 00:33:03,480
writing, "Instead, the conversation turned to kangaroos,
739
00:33:03,480 --> 00:33:05,240
I've become quite an expert on kangaroos,"
740
00:33:05,240 --> 00:33:06,120
Ruddy said.
741
00:33:06,120 --> 00:33:07,080
Kill Day continued.
742
00:33:07,720 --> 00:33:09,720
Even as we spoke, somewhere in New Jersey,
743
00:33:09,720 --> 00:33:11,800
a kangaroo that ready who has under contract
744
00:33:11,800 --> 00:33:12,760
was busy training.
745
00:33:12,760 --> 00:33:14,360
"What's the kangaroo's name?"
746
00:33:14,360 --> 00:33:15,400
Kill Day asked.
747
00:33:15,400 --> 00:33:18,040
Ruddy answered, "I don't know what the hell he's called.
748
00:33:18,040 --> 00:33:19,320
We're going to call him Matilda."
749
00:33:19,320 --> 00:33:21,880
Ruddy told Kill Day it's a marvelous story
750
00:33:21,880 --> 00:33:23,720
with wonderful capper-esque touches.
751
00:33:23,720 --> 00:33:26,520
The kangaroo is a total innocent, a great character.
752
00:33:26,520 --> 00:33:29,000
In another article by Kill Day headlined,
753
00:33:29,000 --> 00:33:32,680
"A man behind the kangaroo" published in late November 1977,
754
00:33:32,680 --> 00:33:34,760
Kill Day said that when Matilda was announced,
755
00:33:34,760 --> 00:33:37,240
producer Albert S. Ruddy promised the role of Matilda
756
00:33:37,240 --> 00:33:39,160
would be played by a genuine kangaroo.
757
00:33:39,160 --> 00:33:42,040
And that ready was, quote, "naturally disinclined"
758
00:33:42,040 --> 00:33:44,200
to publicize the fact that much of the time,
759
00:33:44,200 --> 00:33:47,320
Matilda will actually be played by a kangaroo impersonator.
760
00:33:47,320 --> 00:33:49,720
That actor was Gary Morgan, who told Kill Day,
761
00:33:49,720 --> 00:33:52,920
quote, "They are going to use a real kangaroo exclusively,
762
00:33:52,920 --> 00:33:55,000
but approve virtually untrainable.
763
00:33:55,000 --> 00:33:57,640
Then they decided to use a fighter, but he couldn't cut it.
764
00:33:57,640 --> 00:33:59,320
I just happened to know the stunt coordinator
765
00:33:59,320 --> 00:34:00,760
and I got an audition.
766
00:34:00,760 --> 00:34:03,480
I just put on the suit and jumped around and did some stick."
767
00:34:03,480 --> 00:34:05,400
Morgan also told Kill Day that the suit,
768
00:34:05,400 --> 00:34:08,120
which cost $30,000, was not made for comfort.
769
00:34:08,120 --> 00:34:10,920
There's no air exchange and it's very cumbersome.
770
00:34:10,920 --> 00:34:12,760
The head is controlled by electronics.
771
00:34:12,760 --> 00:34:15,480
For close-ups, they can control the eyes and ears.
772
00:34:15,480 --> 00:34:17,000
There is no peripheral vision,
773
00:34:17,000 --> 00:34:19,320
so everything has to be completely choreographed.
774
00:34:19,320 --> 00:34:21,800
He went on to say that he wanted the audience to like Matilda,
775
00:34:21,800 --> 00:34:23,320
despite his prowess in the ring.
776
00:34:23,320 --> 00:34:27,000
This kangaroo is such a good fighter, the audience could hate him.
777
00:34:27,000 --> 00:34:29,880
I'm trying to show that he doesn't realize he's hurting anyone.
778
00:34:29,880 --> 00:34:33,400
I'm also trying to show that there's real love between the kangaroo and his trainer.
779
00:34:33,400 --> 00:34:37,320
Half of the $5 million budget was provided by Melvin Simon Productions.
780
00:34:37,320 --> 00:34:40,200
TV rights were sold to CBS for $2.5 million.
781
00:34:40,200 --> 00:34:42,200
Foreign sales were $1.6 million,
782
00:34:42,200 --> 00:34:45,160
and AIP paid an advance of $1.8 million.
783
00:34:45,160 --> 00:34:51,720
This added up to $5.9 million, meaning that Simon made a profit of $450,000.
784
00:34:51,720 --> 00:34:54,200
In an interview with Loveboat actor Gavin McLeod,
785
00:34:54,200 --> 00:34:56,520
published December 25, 1977,
786
00:34:56,520 --> 00:34:59,720
McLeod said that he was in contention for a role in Matilda.
787
00:34:59,720 --> 00:35:01,160
It's a show for the whole family,
788
00:35:01,160 --> 00:35:03,720
and that's the kind of thing I like to do, he said.
789
00:35:03,720 --> 00:35:07,640
Marilyn Back wrote in her column, published October 19, 1977,
790
00:35:07,640 --> 00:35:12,920
that Matilda producer, Al Rady, "wanted Tony Toneel to leave the side of Captain Darryl,
791
00:35:12,920 --> 00:35:16,520
long enough to play the female lead in the film about a boxing kangaroo."
792
00:35:16,520 --> 00:35:18,760
But she KOed the suggestion.
793
00:35:18,760 --> 00:35:21,320
"Hallum is Jack Anderson, wrote in his syndicated column,
794
00:35:21,320 --> 00:35:25,400
published in September of 1977, that first brother Billy Carter had been off
795
00:35:25,400 --> 00:35:27,320
of the role of a taxi driver in the film.
796
00:35:27,320 --> 00:35:29,400
But similar Lee turned down the role,
797
00:35:29,400 --> 00:35:32,200
saying it was not quite the right vehicle for his debut."
798
00:35:32,200 --> 00:35:36,760
The casting of he Haas star Roy Clark was announced on December 29, 1977.
799
00:35:36,760 --> 00:35:39,080
According to the blurb quote,
800
00:35:39,080 --> 00:35:44,440
"Clark plays a whacked out arizonaan who sets Matilda on the road toward a world champion fight.
801
00:35:44,440 --> 00:35:47,160
In another column published after the movie's release,
802
00:35:47,160 --> 00:35:51,080
Clark told Country Music columnists Bill Hans that his performance was, quote,
803
00:35:51,080 --> 00:35:52,200
"Not a big deal.
804
00:35:52,200 --> 00:35:55,800
You can tell Reynolds, Redford, and Newman, they ain't got anything to worry about."
805
00:35:55,800 --> 00:36:00,200
Filming from Matilda took place in part in New York City, beginning in early November and running
806
00:36:00,200 --> 00:36:06,200
through December of 1977. A wire photo in the November 2nd, 1977, New York record showed a scene
807
00:36:06,200 --> 00:36:11,640
from rehearsals for the film, where live-reveled tries to stop Matilda, identified as stuntwoman Kay Bailey,
808
00:36:11,640 --> 00:36:16,200
and attacking a hot dog vendor as other New Yorkers stared. According to the photo's caption,
809
00:36:16,200 --> 00:36:19,480
an actual kangaroo would be playing the part when filming began.
810
00:36:19,480 --> 00:36:24,760
"According to the Detroit Free Press, a real kangaroo named Wemma was used in some scenes.
811
00:36:24,760 --> 00:36:30,280
Wemma weighed 195 pounds in, quote, "pack such a mean punch that a stand-in had to be used in the
812
00:36:30,280 --> 00:36:35,400
boxing scenes." I call BS on that one. Some of Matilda scenes were shot in Reno, Nevada,
813
00:36:35,400 --> 00:36:39,960
at the Washu County Fairgrounds and other locations. According to the Nevada State Journal,
814
00:36:39,960 --> 00:36:45,000
the championship fight scene was filmed on Friday, November 11, beginning at 8 a.m. at Reno's Centennial
815
00:36:45,000 --> 00:36:50,840
Coliseum. Filming was expected to last until 6 p.m. Jimmy Lennon, longtime fight announcer,
816
00:36:50,840 --> 00:36:55,480
served in the same capacity in the film, as did George Lacka, a former boxer, turned ring official,
817
00:36:55,480 --> 00:36:59,720
who played the referee. Bredy when answered Don Dunphy, known locally as the voice of boxing,
818
00:36:59,720 --> 00:37:04,520
was also there for the shoot. Reno Mayor Bruno Manacucci also played a part in the movie.
819
00:37:04,520 --> 00:37:09,000
And coming from the same article, the producers invited Reno Residence age 25 and up,
820
00:37:09,000 --> 00:37:15,160
in appearance, if not in actuality, to dress elegantly and fill the seats. Instead of paying the extras,
821
00:37:15,160 --> 00:37:20,360
associate producer Paul Sapinakis told the journal that the first 2000 attendees would receive a
822
00:37:20,360 --> 00:37:24,680
souvenir t-shirt and everyone would have the chance to win prizes like a microwave oven,
823
00:37:24,680 --> 00:37:29,880
color TV, or water bed. He said, "Some of the people who come here will appear on camera.
824
00:37:29,880 --> 00:37:33,000
We can't say which ones because the camera will catch them in the background."
825
00:37:33,000 --> 00:37:36,040
In the Nevada State Journal article about the scenes film there,
826
00:37:36,040 --> 00:37:39,560
the need of powers watched Morgan as the fight scene was being filmed,
827
00:37:39,560 --> 00:37:43,880
writing that while Elliott Gold was munching peanuts between takes, in the middle of the
828
00:37:43,880 --> 00:37:49,160
Coliseum's floor, the kangaroo was using a hairdryer, grabbing gulps of air from an oxygen mask,
829
00:37:49,160 --> 00:37:53,800
and using a hairdryer to pan himself. Morgan was trying to keep his cool and a kangaroo suit
830
00:37:53,800 --> 00:37:58,680
heated even more by hot movie lights. Heavyweight boxer Jerry Cory was scheduled to play
831
00:37:58,680 --> 00:38:03,320
him a tilde's opponent in the Reno scenes, according to powers, but was dropped from the film after
832
00:38:03,320 --> 00:38:06,600
getting his face bruised in a fight in Las Vegas the previous weekend.
833
00:38:06,600 --> 00:38:12,440
Power said Cory's replacement wasn't known yet, but an article published Sunday November 13th
834
00:38:12,440 --> 00:38:17,160
named Larry Penel as the other fighter in the ring. Robert Appluxick of the New York Daily News
835
00:38:17,160 --> 00:38:21,080
interviewed Larry Dorn, a public relations representative, located in Los Angeles,
836
00:38:21,080 --> 00:38:26,520
about the blatant product placement in Matilda. In the film, ringside beverage vendors walked around
837
00:38:26,520 --> 00:38:32,200
with trays adorned with the Pepsi logo and Matilda advertises a water bed. Dorn told Placick that he
838
00:38:32,200 --> 00:38:37,480
gets products from companies and uses it to decorate sets, thus saving movie producers money on props.
839
00:38:37,480 --> 00:38:42,440
Let'sick wrote, "Whether anyone profits is less discernible, the party line is that no one
840
00:38:42,440 --> 00:38:46,760
connected with the film gets paid over or under the table, that the filmmakers are just glad to have
841
00:38:46,760 --> 00:38:51,880
someone say than the effort and expense of finding their props." Elliott Gould told Linita Powers in
842
00:38:51,880 --> 00:38:56,520
her article about the Reno shoot quote, "This is the first G-rated movie I've had an opportunity
843
00:38:56,520 --> 00:39:00,760
to be in. I have three children and they'd like them to see me in something on screen that they
844
00:39:00,760 --> 00:39:05,160
would enjoy and not be frightened of. I like the script, the book, the people I work with,
845
00:39:05,160 --> 00:39:10,760
and my part." Gould also said he loved the city of Reno because of the sky, the mountains, and the
846
00:39:10,760 --> 00:39:15,880
air. Matilda was released on June 22nd, 1978, and was waited G for general audiences.
847
00:39:16,520 --> 00:39:21,960
To promote the movie, AIP sent a man in a kangaroo costume on Robert Mitchem's press tour for the film.
848
00:39:21,960 --> 00:39:27,480
Holm Ness Maryland backwrote, Mitchem's secretary entered to announce that Matilda had arrived.
849
00:39:27,480 --> 00:39:33,240
Behind his aid could be seen a team of photographers that had publicists for AIP and an actor
850
00:39:33,240 --> 00:39:38,200
hit an inside a kangaroo costume. Mitchem had agreed to pose for pictures to hype the release of
851
00:39:38,200 --> 00:39:43,880
Matilda. And as he lumbered to his feet, Mitchem mumbled all part of the job, Mitchem told
852
00:39:43,880 --> 00:39:48,680
back that he hadn't seen Matilda yet and didn't know if it was good or bad. Whoever knows how a picture
853
00:39:48,680 --> 00:39:53,720
turns out anyway, he asked before mentioning his work in the big sleep and how the movie's post-production
854
00:39:53,720 --> 00:39:58,920
edits had changed the story. "If my contributions to the film can be altered after the fact,
855
00:39:58,920 --> 00:40:02,360
why should I feel responsibility towards movies I make?" he asked.
856
00:40:02,360 --> 00:40:08,200
AIP sent a kangaroo to Kalmas List Smith to promote Matilda. She wrote, "What does one do with a
857
00:40:08,200 --> 00:40:12,280
five-foot stuff kangaroo called Matilda when American International Pictures sends it to one's
858
00:40:12,280 --> 00:40:16,680
two-room New York City apartment to help promote Elliot Gould's new movie? Will the children
859
00:40:16,680 --> 00:40:20,760
in the psychiatric division at Bellevue are now having more fun with it than you were truly did?"
860
00:40:20,760 --> 00:40:25,640
box office magazine recommended a tie-in with the Berkeley Books Paperback novel of Matilda
861
00:40:25,640 --> 00:40:31,880
and to mention the pet and Debbie Boone's soundtrack song. I would not do that. Taglines for Matilda
862
00:40:31,880 --> 00:40:38,040
include America Love's a Winter. "Meet Matilda, the boxing kangaroo. He's got a good love took,
863
00:40:38,040 --> 00:40:42,440
a fast-right jab, and in his corner are four of the craziest characters you'll ever meet."
864
00:40:42,440 --> 00:40:47,640
All he wanted was two chocolate bars, a glass of milk, and a shot at the title.
865
00:40:47,640 --> 00:40:51,480
"You'll laugh and cheer at the funniest knockout comedy of the year. It's all about the
866
00:40:51,480 --> 00:40:54,920
about-some-of-foxy-boxy kangaroo who thinks he's rocky."
867
00:40:54,920 --> 00:40:59,320
The New York Daily News review blurb said, sitting through this insipid movie about a boxing
868
00:40:59,320 --> 00:41:03,800
kangaroo is enough to make anyone hopping Mat. "Box office magazine wrote in their review that
869
00:41:03,800 --> 00:41:07,560
"shoulder may like to see the daffy doings and older folk might come to see Robert Mitchem,
870
00:41:07,560 --> 00:41:11,880
Elliot Gold and Harry Gardino. Only a small child would be fooled in the believing Matilda is
871
00:41:11,880 --> 00:41:17,480
played by a real kangaroo." Raymond Lowry in the Raleigh North Carolina news and observer set of Matilda,
872
00:41:17,480 --> 00:41:22,200
quote, "Pleasure abounds every time Matilda hops out to ring center and lays out a human
873
00:41:22,200 --> 00:41:27,960
opponent as neatly as an undertaker. Between Bouts, Sob, there are a few pleasures in the movie,
874
00:41:27,960 --> 00:41:33,400
all his foolishness which hasn't the saving grace of humor. If Matilda were a real rue,
875
00:41:33,400 --> 00:41:39,320
maybe we might have succumbed to her or rather his charm. But he is ersatz, like Kong and the
876
00:41:39,320 --> 00:41:44,600
jaw sharks, and it's hard to go ape over a kangaroo costume inhabited by a juvenile actor."
877
00:41:44,600 --> 00:41:48,600
Tom Sullivan in the New York Jersey Herald News called Matilda "hopping bad,"
878
00:41:48,600 --> 00:41:52,040
saying Radio City Music Hall has bound up with perhaps the worst,
879
00:41:52,040 --> 00:41:56,920
dreary-est piece of work to come along in a kangaroo's age. It must have been evident to a man
880
00:41:56,920 --> 00:42:01,560
like Reddy, if not director Daniel Mann, that nothing was working after the first few days of filming,
881
00:42:01,560 --> 00:42:06,520
but all hands platted the disaster to its completion, and somehow managed to get Sam Arcoff
882
00:42:06,520 --> 00:42:10,360
and American International Pictures to release it. A review published by the New York Times
883
00:42:10,360 --> 00:42:15,400
News Service countered the New Jersey reviewer saying, quote, "The real test of a good children's
884
00:42:15,400 --> 00:42:20,120
movie as far as most parents are concerned is that it not only be clean and thought in language,
885
00:42:20,120 --> 00:42:23,720
but that they can watch it without screaming with boredom or embarrassment."
886
00:42:23,720 --> 00:42:27,960
Matilda, playing at the natural habitat for such pictures, Radio City Music Hall,
887
00:42:27,960 --> 00:42:32,680
passes this test so well that despite its g-rating, it can't really be considered a run-of-the-mill
888
00:42:32,680 --> 00:42:38,200
children's picture. This is the kind of movie Radio City was built for, and seriously needs to survive.
889
00:42:38,200 --> 00:42:43,160
It is better than most similar efforts mechanically cranked out these days by the Disney studios.
890
00:42:43,160 --> 00:42:48,120
"Geney Rasbussen" and the Nevada State Journal wrote, "Once you accept the idea of a kangaroo
891
00:42:48,120 --> 00:42:52,600
fighting for the heavyweight championship, you should be able to enjoy this lightweight comedy tale."
892
00:42:52,600 --> 00:42:56,840
The film has nothing weighty around its mind than the screenplay's final thought. Life is grand,
893
00:42:56,840 --> 00:43:01,400
isn't it? And said, the film is also weak in thought and incredible characters.
894
00:43:01,400 --> 00:43:06,680
Cardino and his henchmen are presented as Mafia Morons, sending the film back 20 years to the
895
00:43:06,680 --> 00:43:12,600
deaths of Italian stereotype jokes. "Mike Mayo, writing for the Ronaug Times called Matilda,
896
00:43:12,600 --> 00:43:17,640
a nice whimsical little fable, saying, 'It's all handled with a very light touch, just the right
897
00:43:17,640 --> 00:43:22,920
amount of silliness. After all, how serious can it get when Matilda is blatantly a man in a kangaroo
898
00:43:22,920 --> 00:43:28,280
suit?' The movie works mainly because of Rebels' presence. He is our occasional narrator,
899
00:43:28,280 --> 00:43:33,960
speaking directly to the camera, and manages to give his part in endearing vulnerability and innocence."
900
00:43:33,960 --> 00:43:38,840
Mark Alverson in the Sacramento Union said Matilda provides some pleasant and hoagie entertainment
901
00:43:38,840 --> 00:43:43,800
for the whole family. The film throws a few unexpected punches, but don't expect too much.
902
00:43:43,800 --> 00:43:48,840
The script by Timothy Galpher and producer Albert S. Ruddy is flimsy and more amusing than really
903
00:43:48,840 --> 00:43:54,040
funny, and the costume worn by the human kangaroo stand-in is disappointingly tacky. It seems to be
904
00:43:54,040 --> 00:43:59,320
pieced together from remnants found on a plan with the Apes set. Rod Humphreys in the Sydney Morning
905
00:43:59,320 --> 00:44:04,360
Union wrote Matilda, the coronable movie that was supposed to make Australian TV journalist Michael
906
00:44:04,360 --> 00:44:10,520
Willisie a Hollywood star, was released in the United States this week. The reviews have not been good,
907
00:44:10,520 --> 00:44:15,240
and it is reported that the actors are not too keen to publicize the picture. Willisie was
908
00:44:15,240 --> 00:44:19,880
embarrassed when the Sydney afternoon press made his Hollywood debut front page headlines last year.
909
00:44:19,880 --> 00:44:25,160
He will be even more embarrassed when his film is released in Australia. Willisie apparently
910
00:44:25,160 --> 00:44:29,960
had a brief cameo as an audience member during the championship fight. Robert W. Butler in the Kansas
911
00:44:29,960 --> 00:44:36,040
City Times called Matilda a "stalt-of-finally mediocre film." In a way, it's like a no-hitter game.
912
00:44:36,040 --> 00:44:39,720
The tension mounts as the film's conclusion draws near, and you wonder whether this alleged
913
00:44:39,720 --> 00:44:43,080
comedy is ever going to anchor genuine laugh out of you before the curtain comes down.
914
00:44:43,720 --> 00:44:48,520
And finally, David Maas, a 14-year-old junior high student, wrote a review for the Charlotte
915
00:44:48,520 --> 00:44:54,200
Observer and said, "I found most of the dialogue corny and most of the character's ridiculous.
916
00:44:54,200 --> 00:44:58,280
Even the kangaroo suit looked fake. While I found parts of the movie ridiculous,
917
00:44:58,280 --> 00:45:03,080
my little brother, who is six, found them funny. If I recommended this film to anyone, it would be kids
918
00:45:03,080 --> 00:45:04,200
from 5 to 10."
919
00:45:11,400 --> 00:45:16,520
Hey Jeff, I think that last review kind of summed up my feelings on this movie. I don't think this movie
920
00:45:16,520 --> 00:45:21,880
was made for me. But it did kind of surprise me to find out that this was supposed to be a kids'
921
00:45:21,880 --> 00:45:27,640
movie. Doesn't have that feel. It's way to G, and it kind of plays a lot like the movies that
922
00:45:27,640 --> 00:45:33,080
Disney was putting out at this time in the mid-late 70s, and they put in a lot of really bad comedies
923
00:45:33,080 --> 00:45:38,680
that aren't finally remembered. Yeah, I can remember a few, I guess I forgot a bunch of them,
924
00:45:38,680 --> 00:45:43,480
but stuff like the strongest man in the world with Kurt Russell. I was thinking more like the Shaggy
925
00:45:43,480 --> 00:45:48,760
DA with Dean Jones. Yeah, I don't think I watched that one. But I don't know, it's a movie about
926
00:45:48,760 --> 00:45:52,920
fighting and there's drinking and I don't know. There's mobsters in it. Yeah, there's mobsters,
927
00:45:52,920 --> 00:45:58,440
there's fighting, there's drinking. How is this a kids movie? Well, there's monsters in it, but they're
928
00:45:58,440 --> 00:46:05,800
more comedic than, say, the godfather. Well, comedic without being funny. Well, yeah, I mean,
929
00:46:05,800 --> 00:46:11,000
there are morons and there play to be morons. And it was funny to me, but I don't know if it was
930
00:46:11,000 --> 00:46:16,040
supposed to be as funny as it was. I mean, obviously that was played to be funny. And it was one of the
931
00:46:16,040 --> 00:46:22,520
few things I did get a kick out of in this movie was. Oh, well good for you. It was cartoonish.
932
00:46:22,520 --> 00:46:28,040
They were acting was cartoonish. Well, it was. And I think they had to be because they're acting
933
00:46:28,040 --> 00:46:32,520
with this guy in a kangaroo suit and having to play it straight. Yeah, I think that would have
934
00:46:32,520 --> 00:46:38,280
been the most difficult part for me being on set. Oh, sure. That's a kangaroo. So I left a lot, but
935
00:46:38,280 --> 00:46:42,440
I don't think once that a part that was supposed to be intentionally funny mostly is just every time
936
00:46:42,440 --> 00:46:47,640
little tilde hopped because I've taken this guy's in there and people are acting like this is a
937
00:46:47,640 --> 00:46:52,280
real kangaroo or they just don't know the difference. Well, I got a big laugh when I noticed that the
938
00:46:52,280 --> 00:46:58,120
headpiece of Matilda's costume was just casually draped over the body where you could see where it
939
00:46:58,120 --> 00:47:03,000
joins together. I don't know why they didn't put more effort into this at least make the suit kind
940
00:47:03,000 --> 00:47:09,080
of realistic. Make the kangaroo a little bigger. The kangaroo was one of the shortest characters.
941
00:47:09,080 --> 00:47:13,800
Yeah, this is another one of those movies and I've asked this before is who is the audience for
942
00:47:13,800 --> 00:47:18,520
this movie? Well, according to the 14 year old kid, it's his little brother. I can't even see it
943
00:47:18,520 --> 00:47:23,160
holding a kid's interest for as long as this movie is. It's about 90 minutes. And Matilda really
944
00:47:23,160 --> 00:47:27,720
doesn't have a lot of screen time. And that's got to be the only thing that would interest a kid
945
00:47:27,720 --> 00:47:31,880
because Elliot Gould isn't that interesting to kids. I don't think. No, and here he's not
946
00:47:31,880 --> 00:47:38,840
interesting to me. In fact, I think it was and maybe this is the 2026 me saying this, but he assaults
947
00:47:38,840 --> 00:47:44,520
Kathleen. He kisses her against her will and it's just gross. That was the 70s people did that all
948
00:47:44,520 --> 00:47:50,040
the time. I guess, but yeah, I don't want to see it. And somehow she fell in love with him despite
949
00:47:50,040 --> 00:47:55,320
him being a pathetic liar who harms animals. Yeah, the plot seems a little complicated for a kid
950
00:47:55,320 --> 00:48:00,520
to follow. I don't think kids are stupid. I think kids can be smart, but I don't think that they
951
00:48:00,520 --> 00:48:05,320
would necessarily have the attention span for this kind of a film. I wouldn't have at that age.
952
00:48:05,320 --> 00:48:10,280
And I was that age when this movie came out. Yeah, because it's about the world of boxing,
953
00:48:10,280 --> 00:48:15,640
the world of promotion. It's a lot of adult concepts here. And I don't know how you can dumb it
954
00:48:15,640 --> 00:48:19,960
down for kids, pardon the expression. I don't mean make it dumber. I just mean make it more
955
00:48:19,960 --> 00:48:25,560
palatable to an audience group don't have jobs. I guess the one scene that did make me laugh is
956
00:48:25,560 --> 00:48:32,680
when they were doing that stupid skit in the studio with Matilda and Billy and the two people,
957
00:48:32,680 --> 00:48:39,400
the hardies and the people in the control room, the technical operators were just like not having it.
958
00:48:39,400 --> 00:48:43,880
One of them is like banging his head on the counter and the other one just leaves and
959
00:48:43,880 --> 00:48:49,080
I mean, I used to have that same job and I definitely understand that feeling when you
960
00:48:49,080 --> 00:48:53,080
forced to watch something that you just can't bear. Well, I used to have that same job too.
961
00:48:53,080 --> 00:48:59,000
But today the funniest part was the class where No No is pointing out the differences between a man
962
00:48:59,000 --> 00:49:03,000
and the kangaroo and we didn't go into a lot of detail in description, but I do recommend that
963
00:49:03,000 --> 00:49:08,920
scene because it's very cartoony and very amusing. Yeah, he puts little dots under each appendage.
964
00:49:08,920 --> 00:49:15,080
He tries to simplify it for the idiots he has working for him and they do eventually get it kind of,
965
00:49:15,080 --> 00:49:18,440
they do realize that they have to cut off the tail so that they have an equal number of dots.
966
00:49:18,440 --> 00:49:23,480
That's kind of horrifying in itself though when you cut off a kangaroo's tail, I imagine that's
967
00:49:23,480 --> 00:49:29,080
a fatal wound. You're not just snapping off a fingernail. Well, a kangaroo does use the tail
968
00:49:29,080 --> 00:49:34,760
to help him balance. So it would be crippling at the very least. Yeah, I get the physics of it,
969
00:49:34,760 --> 00:49:41,720
but it just seems unnecessarily violent. If obviously they were dealing with an actual kangaroo and
970
00:49:41,720 --> 00:49:47,320
they had landed a blow which they didn't. Physicist cartoon. I don't know. Like I said, this might
971
00:49:47,320 --> 00:49:53,400
have been a movie for somebody, but it definitely wasn't a movie for me. I can't even get any whimsy out
972
00:49:53,400 --> 00:49:58,920
of it, any charm. The only thing that's remotely charming is the character of Billy. When I think
973
00:49:58,920 --> 00:50:04,200
is amazing about this film is that it exists and everybody plays it more or less straight. I mean,
974
00:50:04,200 --> 00:50:09,000
the mafia guys are supposed to be the fumes, but all the characters around this supposed to
975
00:50:09,000 --> 00:50:15,560
kangaroo who's obviously a guy dressed up are playing it straight and it's unintentionally funny just
976
00:50:15,560 --> 00:50:22,920
because of that. Yeah, Robert Mitchum. I love this animal. I mean, where was he at in his career
977
00:50:22,920 --> 00:50:28,600
that he had to take this role in 1978? Well, it would have been two days work tops for him. Yeah.
978
00:50:28,600 --> 00:50:33,160
Probably just one. So it was probably wasn't that big a deal. You didn't have to play a buffoon.
979
00:50:33,160 --> 00:50:37,640
I guess he had that going for him. I don't know. Just the more I watched this movie,
980
00:50:37,640 --> 00:50:42,440
more I regretted seeing it at all. It's just so bizarre that throughout the entire film,
981
00:50:42,440 --> 00:50:46,520
nobody suggests that that might just be a guy dressed up in a kangaroo suit.
982
00:50:46,520 --> 00:50:51,800
Yeah. Everyone's been this is an actual kangaroo and that's probably the hardest part to swallow
983
00:50:51,800 --> 00:50:58,120
with the whole film. The mass delusion of it all. I mean, it's a kangaroo with a tail that doesn't
984
00:50:58,120 --> 00:51:04,120
fold or bend sitting in the back of a car. How does kangaroo sit in a car with that tail that
985
00:51:04,120 --> 00:51:08,360
can't take it off? It did make it easier once they got the van though because he had that bubble top.
986
00:51:08,360 --> 00:51:14,760
So he can't just head through it. All right. I did laugh at that too, but it's not a joke. It was
987
00:51:14,760 --> 00:51:20,280
supposed to be a joke. The vast majority of the laughs here are not intentional. Every time that guy
988
00:51:20,280 --> 00:51:25,960
hops, I pushed it down to the laughter. But I've struggling to figure out where the intentional
989
00:51:25,960 --> 00:51:31,480
laughs are. Can you even identify where it was supposed to be a joke? I think it's the mafia guys
990
00:51:31,480 --> 00:51:35,960
are probably the only part. They're supposed to be the comic relief in the film because they're so
991
00:51:35,960 --> 00:51:41,160
broad and cartoony. Yeah. They're not funny though. I think it had an interesting cast though.
992
00:51:41,160 --> 00:51:45,880
This is Elliott Gold's first real family movie. He did a couple of Disney movies after this.
993
00:51:45,880 --> 00:51:51,320
He didn't devil and max devil and with Bill Cosby. And the last play of Noah's Ark. So he was
994
00:51:51,320 --> 00:51:56,440
trying to do more g-weighted material because there was a time in the 70s when he heard somebody say
995
00:51:56,440 --> 00:52:01,720
that Elliott Gold was his own genre film for a short while there. The bedroom comedy.
996
00:52:01,720 --> 00:52:06,760
Probably. And we have Art Matrano as Gordon Baum and Lenny Montana as the
997
00:52:06,760 --> 00:52:12,360
taller of the two main hoods. And they would both appear one year later in Andy Sideris 7.
998
00:52:12,360 --> 00:52:17,800
We really like that movie. That movie was a lot of fun. Yeah. And I love fun. He was just good
999
00:52:17,800 --> 00:52:23,480
number two here. But in seven he was the Guna. All right. I remember art Matrano, but I didn't
1000
00:52:23,480 --> 00:52:29,320
remember. Yeah. I like that movie. I would much rather have watched that again. I do really think
1001
00:52:29,320 --> 00:52:34,040
this was better than any of the Disney movies that came out. Like one of the reviewers said.
1002
00:52:34,040 --> 00:52:41,000
Like the Shaggy DA. What was the one about the cat? The calf monitor space. The calf monitor space.
1003
00:52:41,000 --> 00:52:44,920
Oh, I like the calf monitor space. It was a real cat, right? It was. It was. It was. It was.
1004
00:52:44,920 --> 00:52:50,760
Going to cut suit. Yeah. I don't have a lot to say about this movie because I just kind of sat
1005
00:52:50,760 --> 00:52:55,880
there loathing it while being occasionally amused by the ridiculousness of it. Well, I think the
1006
00:52:55,880 --> 00:53:01,480
ridiculousness of it is the only reason to watch it because it's not because it's a good movie. It's not.
1007
00:53:01,480 --> 00:53:08,120
No, but it was soon eclipsed by another movie called Matilda that came out almost two decades later
1008
00:53:08,120 --> 00:53:13,800
based on the role Dal Book from 1988. So now when you look it up, that's what comes up. Yeah,
1009
00:53:13,800 --> 00:53:17,880
it makes this one a little more difficult to research. All right, Jeff. Let's lay a grade on this
1010
00:53:17,880 --> 00:53:23,640
turkey using our AIP scale where a is awesome. I is intermediate and p is pathetic. How do you rate
1011
00:53:23,640 --> 00:53:30,280
Matilda? Well, this movie has a lot going against it. There's a guy in a kangaroo suit and nobody's
1012
00:53:30,280 --> 00:53:36,520
acknowledging that this is a kangaroo suit. There's a lot of awkward product placement, a lot of it.
1013
00:53:36,520 --> 00:53:41,160
In a movie that's supposed to be for kids, there's a very strange love story going on.
1014
00:53:41,160 --> 00:53:46,680
And it's got a complicated plot that I don't think kids are really ready to handle yet.
1015
00:53:46,680 --> 00:53:53,160
involving mobsters and gambling and rules and regulations. So it's probably deserving of a P.
1016
00:53:53,160 --> 00:53:59,320
But I did enjoy it a little more than that. I think I'm going to raise it up to an eye. It's
1017
00:53:59,320 --> 00:54:04,440
probably really more than it deserves. And you're looking at me like I'm making a hard one mistake.
1018
00:54:04,440 --> 00:54:11,160
But I left I left not with this movie. I left at this movie and I enjoyed it enough. It's not
1019
00:54:11,160 --> 00:54:14,120
what I'm going to be in a hurry to watch again. But I'm still going to give it an eye. I think people
1020
00:54:14,120 --> 00:54:19,720
should check it out just to see something watchable how bad it could still be. So what's your take, Cheryl?
1021
00:54:19,720 --> 00:54:25,960
Well, the only reason I would watch this movie is if I were having a bad movie watching party.
1022
00:54:25,960 --> 00:54:30,360
And you wanted to watch something that was really dumb and that everyone could make fun of and
1023
00:54:30,360 --> 00:54:35,640
everyone could go, "Ha ha ha, look at the guy in the kangaroo suit." And if that were my criteria,
1024
00:54:35,640 --> 00:54:40,920
I'd definitely give it an eye because you could do better, but you could do worse. At least it's a movie
1025
00:54:40,920 --> 00:54:47,800
and it was competently made. But I don't know. I don't see this as a kids movie. I don't see this as a
1026
00:54:47,800 --> 00:54:54,200
grown-up movie. I just don't see where it's places in the world. And I just don't like it. I don't like
1027
00:54:54,200 --> 00:54:59,000
that they claim that there's supposed to be a real kangaroo in some scenes and there is not,
1028
00:54:59,000 --> 00:55:06,680
except for the Joey at the end. There's no WAMO who weighs 195 pounds in long shots. It's man in the
1029
00:55:06,680 --> 00:55:12,360
kangaroo suit all the way. So that feels like a bit of bait and switch. And it's kind of a dumb
1030
00:55:12,360 --> 00:55:17,160
decision. You're going to make a movie about a kangaroo and you can't use a real kangaroo at least
1031
00:55:17,160 --> 00:55:22,600
part of the time. It's just ridiculous. I didn't like the love story between Bernie and Kathleen.
1032
00:55:22,600 --> 00:55:30,680
It was very unearned. Bernie is a terrible hero. And no one else in this movie, except for Billy,
1033
00:55:30,680 --> 00:55:35,720
is probably the only likable character in the whole thing. So even if I wanted to give it an eye
1034
00:55:35,720 --> 00:55:41,160
if you're being a competently made movie, I can't bring myself to do it. There's just nothing good
1035
00:55:41,160 --> 00:55:46,360
about it. Unless, like I said, at the beginning of this speech, you just want to watch a dumb movie
1036
00:55:46,360 --> 00:55:52,520
and have all your friends laugh at it. In that case, I got your movie. But otherwise, don't bother.
1037
00:55:52,520 --> 00:55:58,680
I'm giving it a P. It's true that if this movie was made today, the kangaroo would be CGI, 100%.
1038
00:55:58,680 --> 00:56:04,280
Well, kangaroo jack action. But I don't think the movie would play any better. It would need a
1039
00:56:04,280 --> 00:56:10,920
total rewrite and update. Yeah, they have to pick a lane. Kids movie or adult movie, not a little bit
1040
00:56:10,920 --> 00:56:15,320
of something for each that excludes the other. Well, if you're enjoying what we're doing here on
1041
00:56:15,320 --> 00:56:20,280
American International podcast, we've built a companion website that really takes things to the next level.
1042
00:56:20,280 --> 00:56:24,680
It's not just a landing page. It's an ever growing digital archive dedicated to the full history
1043
00:56:24,680 --> 00:56:29,080
and output of American international pictures. We're working film by film to create a comprehensive
1044
00:56:29,080 --> 00:56:33,720
resource featuring original posters, press books, lobby cards, and detailed write-ups that could
1045
00:56:33,720 --> 00:56:38,360
each release into context. How it was marketed, how it was received, and where it fits within the
1046
00:56:38,360 --> 00:56:43,640
AIP story. It's a long-term project and we're building it out piece by piece. But the idea is simple
1047
00:56:43,640 --> 00:56:49,080
to create the kind of centralized, visually rich AIP archive that we've always wished existed
1048
00:56:49,080 --> 00:56:53,080
and to make it available to anyone who shares an interest in these films for both the casual fan
1049
00:56:53,080 --> 00:56:58,280
or a deep dive researcher. And you can find all that at aippod.com. Well, now that we've been
1050
00:56:58,280 --> 00:57:04,120
KOed by a man in a kangaroo costume, I mean Matilda, the boxing kangaroo, it's time to throw in the
1051
00:57:04,120 --> 00:57:08,920
towel and end this episode. For the American International Podcast, I'm Cheryl Lightfoot. And I'm Jeff
1052
00:57:08,920 --> 00:57:15,080
Markin and we'll meet you at the drive-in. Follow the American International podcast on Instagram
1053
00:57:15,080 --> 00:57:21,720
and Letterbox at aip_pod and on Facebook at facebook.com/AmericanInternationalPodcast
1054
00:57:24,920 --> 00:57:29,800
The American International podcast is produced and edited by Jeff Markin, a man whose mind is
1055
00:57:29,800 --> 00:57:35,080
distorted by hatred and Cheryl Lightfoot. A girl hungry for too many things.
1056
00:57:35,080 --> 00:57:48,760
The American International Podcast is part of the Pop Culture Entertainment Network.
1057
00:57:48,760 --> 00:57:58,760
[MUSIC]