My first big “showbiz” job was working local crew on a revival of Candid Camera with Dom DeLuise (The End) as the host. For nearly two months, we went to various parts of Raleigh surprising people with odd stunts that ended with Dom saying, “Smile, you’re on Candid Camera.” Even though I had the lowly job of production assistant, the crew was rather small and we were well treated. It was exciting to work with Dom even though Burt Reynolds didn’t show up to do a stunt with him. Dom was in the area because he was trying to lose pounds at the Duke Diet Center. There was only one rule on the set. No eating near Dom. You’d be fired if you were munching on lunch near him. Luckily nobody was sent home because we all wanted to support Dom in his quest. Dom’s career has always been about his weight issues which is why his first big starring film Fatso is so effective Fatso is coming out on Blu-ray on June 25. The film that featured Anne Bancroft as not just the star, but screenwriter and director while her husband Mel Brooks produced. Here’s the press release from Shout! Factory:
“GET THE HONEY!”
SHOUT SELECT PRESENTS
ANNE BANCROFT’S DELICIOUS COMEDY
FATSO
ON BLU-RAY™ JUNE 25
Los Angeles, CA – Fatso, the beloved 1980 comedy from Brooksfilms, starring Dom DeLuise (Blazing Saddles), and the only film written and directed by the legendary Anne Bancroft (The Graduate), will be bowing on Blu-ray™ on June 25 from Shout Select. The release features new interviews with producers Mel Brooks and Stuart Cornfeld, as well as film historian Maya Montañez Smukler, author of Liberating Hollywood – Women Directors and the Feminist Reform of 1970s American Cinema.
This boisterous, heartwarming comedy about a man caught between his health, his self-esteem and his appetite, highlights DeLuise’s genius for blending pathos and comedy. Bancroft’s deft direction brings to uproarious life the joys and struggles of our relationship with food.
All his life, Dominic DiNapoli (DeLuise) has found comfort in food. But when his sister Antoinette (Bancroft) implores him to stop eating himself into an early grave, Dominic begins bouncing from crash diets to the support group “Chubby Checkers” to all manner of binges in between. In the end, Dominic discovers that what he needs most is a steady diet of love — from his family, from a new and lovely neighborhood acquaintance … and most importantly, from himself.
Fatso is available for pre-order at Shoutfactory.com.
Special Features:
· “Looking back on Fatso” featurette with Mel Brooks and producer Stuart Cornfeld
· Interview with Maya Montañez Smukler, author of Liberating Hollywood – Women Directors and the Feminist Reform of 1970s American Cinema
