Read on Twitter
In July of 2012, @MrPeytonReed and I hosted a "Summer of 1982" series at the @newbeverly. & #39;82 is generally considered the summer that made "summer movies" a thing, so it held a special place in both of our hearts - especially Peyton& #39;s because he& #39;s much older than me.
When we made our list of double features, the one film we were most excited about was DEAD MEN DON& #39;T WEAR PLAID: Carl Reiner& #39;s rarely screened black-and-white spoof of & #39;40s noir shot by Michael Chapman, costume designed by Edith Head and scored by Miklós Rózsa.
We reached out to Reiner and @SteveMartinToGo for a Q&A: Reiner was unavailable and the former was on tour with his bluegrass band. But at the last second, through third-party intervention, we got Reiner.
Reiner showed up to the screening an hour early. I hastily closed out at El Coyote, and bolted over to the theater. For a solid half-hour, Peyton and I got to do an impromptu Q&A with one of our comedy heroes.
Eventually the audience filed in, and it was time to do the Q&A, at which point @troniks asked me if we needed chairs. I hadn& #39;t thought of that. Most New Bev Q&As were done w/ folks leaning against the lip of the stage. Also, most New Bev Q&As weren& #39;t done w/ ninety-year-old men.
We scrambled and found three chairs: a plastic chair, a folding chair and a creaky wooden chair older than Carl. They were lined up next to each other in front of the screen. It was a sorry looking display.
Finally, we introduced Carl to a standing ovation. He rose from his seat, acknowledged the applause, then raised his hand to silence the crowd.
Sans microphone, he said, "I just want you all to know... I told them I wouldn& #39;t appear tonight unless they provided us with three *completely* different chairs." Brought the house down.
The Q&A was wonderful. He told amazing stories. He trash-talked Ronald Reagan (the studio wanted to insert the then-POTUS into the film, and he refused b/c of RR& #39;s disgraceful behavior during HUAC). And he was just as excited as we were to watch DEAD MEN... projected in 35mm.
Basically, everything you& #39;ve heard about Carl Reiner is true. He was a kind man, a funny man and a fiercely principled man. And a great visual artist. We were blessed to have him.
