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
