My Favorite Year



"I'm not an actor, I'm a MOVIE STAR!"

- Alan Swann (Peter O'Toole)

A 1982 comedy set in New York City during the 1950s, My Favorite Year is the story of Benjy Stone (played by Mark Linn-Baker), a comedy writer on the King Kaiser (Joseph Bologna) Variety Show, who is tasked with keeping his childhood hero, Alan Swann (Peter O'Toole), sober enough to perform that week. In addition to this daunting task, a union boss objects to the show's Parody of him, and has plans to stop the show. Hilarity Ensues.

The film is is a highly fictional account of when Errol Flynn guest starred on Your Show Of Shows, and the characters are almost all based on Real Life people.

My Favorite Year contains examples of the following tropes:
"Benjy: Is that what you do?
 * Actually Pretty Funny - King Kaiser's producer, Leo Silver is not happy to get that response when reading the following from the newspaper: "In response to the question, 'What were you doing in Central Park, in Bethesda Fountain, at 1 in the morning, naked?', Swann replied, 'The back stroke.'"
 * Alcohol Hic - Swann
 * All Part of the Show - The studio audience think King Kaiser getting beat up by Rojek's men and Alan swinging to the rescue are all part of the show.
 * The Alcoholic - Swann, played for both laughs and drama, depending on the scene.
 * Big Damn Heroes - Swann pulls off one of these in typical swashbuckling style during the finale.
 * Blessed With Suck - Swann and Benjy have the following exchange after Swann gives Benjy advice on how to woo a woman:

Swann: No. I don't have that luxury. The women who are interested in me know exactly who I am and what they want, and nine times out of ten, they get it.

Benjy: That's some curse.

Swann: You'd be surprised. You see, no matter what I do, I can never fulfill their expectations."

"Stockbroker #1: [looking over the edge of the balcony] I think Alan Swann is beneath us!
 * Broken Pedestal - Benjy grows disgusted with many aspects of Swann's behavior, especially his minimal contact with his daughter. Swann does redeem himself at the end, though.
 * Cannot Tell a Joke - K.C. Dowling. Her attempt to repeat back the joke Benjy tells her is hilarious for all the wrong reasons.
 * Chivalrous Pervert - Swann is this, quite often. When told the restroom he's blundered into is "for ladies only," he briefly loses the chivalrous part, unzips his trousers, and replies, "So is this, madam, but every now and again I have to run a little water through it."
 * Composite Character - Benjy is a combination of a young Mel Brooks (who executive produced the film), and a young Woody Allen, who both wrote for Your Show Of Shows around this time.
 * Crazy Awesome - Swann takes the reputation based on his characters and makes it work. Twice.
 * Cursed With Awesome - Benjy thinks that Swann's reputation as a ladykiller is this. Swann feels it's more Blessed With Suck.
 * The Dulcinea Effect - As a result of his personality, Swann is either particularly prone to this, or feels he is expected to be and just runs with it.
 * Gentleman Adventurer - Swann plays these in all of his movies, and does his best to live up to the image in his public appearances.
 * ~Hey, It's That Guy!~ - Benjy is Cousin Larry and his girlfriend sang at the Paradise.
 * The movie was directed by Quark. No....not that one.
 * Swann dances with Old Rose at the restuarant.
 * Hollywood Costuming - Subtly (and not-so-subtly) lampshaded. The portrayal of swashbucklers in classic film is spot on, and cranked Up to Eleven for the Variety Show finale. Also, King Kaiser's costume in the Union Boss sketch.
 * Ignorant of the Call - Alan Swann continually insists that he's not the hero he plays in the movies, that he's just a man and a flawed man at that, and he gets really mad at people who insist otherwise... but he doesn't hesitate to rush in to save the day when the time comes.
 * I Need a Freaking Drink - Swann (are we seeing a pattern here?)
 * Jerkass - Sy Benson.
 * Literal Metaphor - During the gatecrashing scene, the following exchange takes place between two bystanding stockbrokers:

Stockbroker #2: Of course he's beneath us. He's an actor!

Stockbroker #1: No! I think Alan Swann is beneath us right now!"

"Alfie: You sure you want the Stork Club, Mr. Swann?
 * The Mafia - Union boss Karl Rojek is portrayed as a a mob boss on the King Kaiser show in this style. Given his reaction, it's as heavily implied as it can be without flat-out saying so that he is one.
 * The Musical - There was a musical adaptation starring Tim Curry as Alan Swann
 * Noodle Incident - It's never explained just exactly what happened at the Stork Club.

Swann: It's been a year and a half. Surely they've repaired the wall of the bandstand by now."

"Swann: Damn you! I'm not an actor, I'm a movie star!"
 * Quick Nip - Swann conceals liquor everywhere.
 * Performance Anxiety - Swann is upset to learn that The King Kaiser Show is broadcast live in front of an audience.

"Swann: I haven't performed in front of an audience for twenty-eight years! I played a butler! I had one line!
 * Roman a Clef
 * Rousing Speech - When Swann confesses to being afraid to meet face to face, Benjy gives him one of these.
 * Studio Audience - The Variety Show is broadcast live in front of an audience, much to Swann's dismay.

brief pause

Swann: I FORGOT IT!"

"Benjy: Let's not do this - it's too dangerous!
 * Tag Along Actor - A movie actor prepares for his roles by imitating real people. In one scene he's sitting in on a discussion between a Mafia don and some movie exec, and the don is getting irritated by the actor constantly imitating his mannerisms.
 * This Is Reality - Swann's plan to gatecrash a party in a skyscraper's penthouse by rapelling down from the roof leads to this exchange:

Swann: Nonsense! It worked perfectly well in "A Slight Case of Divorce"!

Benjy: That was a movie! This is real life!

Swann: What is the difference?"


 * Very Loosely Based On a True Story
 * Weird Al Effect - We see a lot of footage of Swan from one of his movies that is obviously The Adventures of Robin Hood with the serial numbers filed off. Its title in this picture? Defender of the Crown (pre-dating the video game by 4 years, this is where Cinemaware took the title from).