NED KELLY & THE BUSHRANGERS ELITE ( film script)

Ned Kelly and the Bushrangers Elite (film script)
 

This is a film script based on the writing style of the two great Monty Python comedies, The Holy Grail and the Life of Brian.

There's been a few attempts at a comedy based on the life of Ned Kelly and they all stink for a variety of reasons. Mine may stink for other reasons.

So my script features Ned Kelly but I've chosen to make it a story about all the great Australian bushrangers., Ben Hall and Captain Starlight, Captain Thunderbolt and others. The segments are all ridiculous and senseless.

However it's dangerous territory going the "Python " route as "Python" sketch comedy is out of date and cannot is hard to replicate. My thoughts are that "Python" film comedy is not so out of date and can be replicated. It's not about copying anything , it's just about getting into that zone of nonsense-ness and hoping it works.

 The script is still a work in progress.

NEIL SIMON ( I'm not a big fan)

NEIL SIMON

Neil Simon started out writing the The Sid Caesar Show with greatest comedy writing team of all time which included Mel Brooks,Carl Reiner,  Larry Gelbart  and later on Woody Allen and these were the ones who went on to become household names. The show had a dozen or so other great comedy writers as well.

So Neil went on to write plays which became movies and the biggest one of the 60's was THE ODD COUPLE.  I can't sit through it, it's just two guys screaming at each other for 90 minutes. ( The Tv series is far more watchable)

In the 60's he also wrote BAREFOOT IN THE PARK. The film starred Robert Redford and Jane Fonda and was much better and had less screaming. But most of his other stuff was just unfunny screaming but he got accolades for it.

Finally around 1981 he wrote a film called MAX DUGAN RETURNS which was very good and he he followed it up with a few other good films like BRIGHTON BEACH MEMOIRS and BILOXI BLUES which were more subtle than his earlier work.

I read or heard him say once that he couldn't understand all the fuss about Woody Allen and that was just as successful. There was a big difference.

When he passed away Brooks, Reiner and Allen had very little to say about him or condolences which made me think he wasn't all that likeable.