Directed by: John Cleese, Charles Crichton
Starring: John Cleese, Jamie Lee Curtis, Kevin Kline, Michael Palin
Trivia: John Cleese's character name, Archie Leach, was Cary Grant's real name (Archibald Leach). John named his character himself as a tribute because they were born in towns near to each other.
Trivia: The actress who played Archie's daughter Portia is also John Cleese's real-life daughter.
Trivia: The 'chips up the nostrils' scene was deleted from some American television stations as it was deemed as insensitive to individuals with mental impairments.
Plot hole: Shortly after the robbery, Kevin Kline and Jamie Lee Curtis get together in a little flat and Kline calls the police from a landline to tell them who committed the robbery. In England this would immediately lead the police to the flat from which the call was made, and the person reporting the robbery would be the first person the police would want to find and speak to. Otto has handed it to them on a plate. (00:12:29)
Otto: Don't call me stupid.
Wanda: Oh, right, to call you stupid would be an insult to stupid people! I've known sheep that could outwit you. I've worn dress with higher IQ's. But you think you're an intellectual, don't you, ape?
Otto: Apes don't read philosophy.
Wanda: Yes they do, Otto, they just don't understand it. Now let me correct you on a couple things, okay? Aristotle was not Belgian. The central message of Buddhism is not "every man for himself." And the London Underground is not a political movement. Those are all mistakes, Otto, I looked them up.
Question: So what was John Cleese saying in Russian?
Answer: Archie indeed recites the second and third strophes from Lermontov's poem, "The Prayer." "There is a might inspiring Each consecrated word, That speaks the inconceivable And holy will of God. The heavy load slips from my heart, Oppressing doubt takes flight, The soul believes, the tears break forth, And all is light, so light!"
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Answer: John Cleese was reciting the poem "Molitva" by Mikhail Lermontov. He learned and memorized it phonetically and has admitted that he had no idea what the words actually meant.
Angela Brown