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Taking a well-deserved bow

Generally I am not a great fan of self-congratulatory showbiz entertainment awards evenings, especially British ones, because as a nation we are too self-effacing to embrace the process with the unashamed brio and sense of elan required for them to ‘work’ as events. Our American cousins don’t have that drawback in their DNA and therefore tend to mount – and as onlookers wallow in – them with the unhinged lack of restraint that encourages collective glee and celebration.

Nevertheless, I shall be making an exception and tuning in to the BAFTA Awards tomorrow night purely to see Mel Brooks – one of the all-time greats – receive his fellowship award. I cannot help it – there’s something in his zany sense of humour that has always tickled my funny bone. I make no apologies for registering here that Blazing Saddles and The Producers are two of the movies that I will always try to catch if I come across them in the TV schedules.

In anticipation of Sunday’s occasion I cannot improve upon providing readers of this august organ with a link to this appreciation by Joe Queenan that appears on the website today of – THE GUARDIAN

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About Neil Rosen

Neil went to the City of London School and Manchester University graduating with a 1st in economics. After a brief stint in accountancy, Neil emigrated to a kibbutz In Israel. His articles on the burgeoning Israeli film industry earned comparisons to Truffaut and Godard in Cahiers du Cinema. Now one of the world's leading film critics and moderators at film Festivals Neil has written definitively in his book Kosher Nostra on Jewish post war actors. Neil lives with his family in North London. More Posts