MovieChat Forums > The Dick Van Dyke Show (1961) Discussion > Big Max Calvada

Big Max Calvada

posted 8 years ago by vitoscotti
12 replies | jump to latest

I've seen all the Dick Van Dyke episodes over the years. Couldn't remember "Big Max Calvada".
That tells me it's bad. Watched it now and it really was lame. This sitcom has a high % of great episodes.Sheldon Leonard with all his ties to classic sitcoms production just isn't a funny comedic actor. The cast regulars did the most they could to keep it afloat but it wasn't possible to save this stinker. Sue Casey made it worthwhile to see her beauty. There can't be more than a handful of bomb episodes for the show and that's not bad.

[–] FlushingCaps 8 years ago

I loved the Sheldon Leonard episode where he plays a gangster who hires Rob & Co. to write a monologue for his nephew. The way we saw Rob doing the sneezing bit in a way that was funny, then Kenny (the nephew) doing it showing a total lack of comedic talent was wonderful. The way the flunky had to check the hallway before Max could leave the room was funny. But the best parts were the way Max talked Rob and friends into doing whatever he wanted, without truly threatening, but with subtle intimidation. I've seen Leonard on other series and this was his funniest bit I ever saw.

One of the series best? No. But I thought it was a very funny episode.

Why don't we just shoot 'em down and be through with it?

[–] vitoscotti 8 years ago

Boy do we see the episode exactly opposite. Youre describing the one i dont like.

[–] dlynch843 8 years ago

There are some who don't like the Vito Scotti episode, but I thought that was very good. Vito was great as an eccentric painter. As for Big Max Calvada, I liked it--Kenny was so bad he was good. The idea of having a mafioso wife drinking a 'Black Rhinoceros' was perfect. She was attractive, quiet--and her only line was "He stinks". And I think this was the earliest mention of a mob boss who was in analysis.

[–] wheresjohnny 8 years ago

It's an okay episode, but I never got what was funny about a train conductor sneezing the names of towns.

[–] pjpurple-1 8 years ago

Well it WASN'T funny when Kenny performed it! That was the whole idea. Rob, Buddy and Sally wrote him a good act but he had no talent.

If you recall earlier when Rob was sneezing out the names, it was funny. That was the type of physical comedy Dick van Dyke excelled at doing. But as for Kenny, he needed to take his family's advice and go back to school!

[–] wheresjohnny 8 years ago

It wasn't a true comedy bit when Rob did it either.

[–] pjpurple-1 8 years ago

You're right. It wasn't exactly a knee slapper. I think the idea was to show how Rob could do physical stuff and even make sneezing seem (borderline) amusing. Kenny was just inept.

On a related note, Dick van Dyke was so great when Rob worked out all those physical bits that were going to be performed by Alan Brady. But there's no way I could ever picture Carl Reiner doing that type of physical comedy. He simply wasn't that type of performer. But I guess Alan Brady was...ha ha!

I'm not running down Carl Reiner's immense talent. No one was funnier than egomaniacal Alan Brady when he got on a rant. He played sophisticated, sarcastic nasty so funny. In some ways he reminds me of a softer, less nasty Louie de Palma. I mean, he was so nasty to his whole staff and no one ever quit or told him to stuff his show. (of course getting a steady paycheck tends to keep a person in line).

Wow, I got way off topic here...

[–] westegg 8 years ago

Stark, differing opinions are so inevitable. Myself, I can't stand the Vito episode; I thought the character was obnoxious. However, the Max Calvada episode is pretty classic stuff to me.

[–] kayteesouth 8 years ago

Everyone is entitled to their opinions but the Big Max Calvada is a criticality acclaimed episode and an audience favorite. Sheldon wasnt trying to be funny, he was playing a scary gangster.

[–] CarolTheDabbler (570) 2 years ago

Sheldon wasn't trying to be funny, he was playing a scary gangster.

It's one of those performances where it's hard to tell whether he's playing it straight or doing a parody. If it's straight, it's kinda cliche B-movie-ish, and if it's parody it's very subtle. I've always taken it to be something of a parody, though.

[–] [email protected] (5871) 2 years ago

Sheldon Leonard delivered his lines so perfectly. It was a tightrope he walked between parody and a guy who really took himself seriously.

When he explains that Kenny will be replacing the headliner at the Diamond Club because the performer, "Took sick (pause) next week", it was brilliant. Then Rob says that Kenny can't learn a whole act in a week and Max replies, "I guess his illness can be rescheduled". Makes me laugh every time I see it.

[–] CarolTheDabbler (570) 2 years ago

By the way, "Calvada" was the name of the show's production company -- it stood for CArl reiner / sheldon Leonard / dick VAn dyke / DAnny thomas -- the four partners.

The name was worked into at least one other episode, the one where Rob gets a motorcycle ("Br-rooom, Br-rooom"). In the "outdoor" scene where he encounters a bunch of other motorcycle riders, there's a sign painted on a wall saying "Drink Calvada."