Can You Hear The Laughter? coming to cable

[caladon]

According to the cable guide, the cable channel Decades will be showing "Can You Hear The Laughter? The Story Of Freddie Prinze" this Tuesday (check your local listings for specific times.) It will be shown several times during the day.

[Cheryl Harrell]

Wish we go that channel. I had the vhs of this but I think it got lost after my late hubby Mike passed in 2009.

[Babalu]

I know that I saw it when it was on originally. I don't think that I liked it very much and looking at the IMDB reviews not many people did. It was a network TV movie and very sanitized.

[treky]

yea, I remember watching it when it first aired back in 79 0r 80 (I think it was on CBS) and that was my impression of it, too.

[TMC]

Can You Hear the Laughter (1979)

Can You Hear the Laughter is based on Peter S. Greenberg’s 1977 Playboy article titled Good Night Sweet Prinze, which was adapted for television by Dalene Young (Dawn: Portrait of a Teenage Runaway) and it concentrates on the comedian’s heavy drug and depression problems. It is true that Prinze became one of the most infamous tragedies in Hollywood history, but he was also a delightful performer with a knack for showcasing stereotypes as inherently goofy, which took some of the sting out of them. Laughter concentrates on Prinze’s fall rather than his rise, and by hanging in the darker realm it does a grand disservice to Prinze, because it makes him seem utterly forgettable through the film’s blandness.

The bright spot of Laughter is the cast, who put a lot of heart into their portrayals. Ira Angustain (The White Shadow) is a dead ringer for Prinze whom he idolized. In a 1979 interview with The St. Petersburg Times Angustain said, “When I heard they were going to do a movie about his life, I wanted the part more than anything else.” The California born Mexican American actor even joked with People Magazine in 1979, “Of course I had to learn a New York Puerto Rican accent for the part.” Angustain won the role over such Hollywood big names as Erik Estrada (!) and he does his best, but the character itself is rather one-sided. Randee Heller (SOAP) was especially good as Freddie’s kind secretary Carol, as was actor-turned-director Kevin Hooks who played Freddie's friend Nate.

However, Freddie’s mother, Maria Pruetzel was not pleased with Angustain and when referring to his imitation of Freddie’s standup, she said he was a “disaster.” She also felt the movie delved only into the darkness of Freddie’s life and she told The Calgary Herald that, “he took drugs, he was depressed. But they should have showed him going to his doctor sometimes trying to get help.” Freddie’s parents were actually omitted from the film, which made Maria feel like they were attempting to portray Freddie as “a kid brought up in the streets.” There is very little recreated footage of Chico and the Man as well, and Art Carney’s brother Fred took on the small role of Jack Albertson in the movie.

[TMC]

Originally Posted by treky

yea, I remember watching it when it first aired back in 79 0r 80 (I think it was on CBS) and that was my impression of it, too.

There were apparently, LOTS of inaccuracies in this film: Where were his parents in the film? The way he met his wife was wrong, the routine he did on his first Carson show was inaccurate, the way he met his manager was wrong, the way he committed suicide was wrong, he did it in front of his business manager.

It's been said that Freddie used a Walther .380 caliber handgun to shoot himself, but (granted it's hard to get a clear look given the age of the movie and the literal darkness in the scene) it appears used a bigger sized handgun in Can You Here the Laughter?

[smittykins]

I spotted an inaccuracy in the “Close-Up” posted above—far from being “poverty-stricken,” Freddie mentioned in an interview that his family was “pretty much middle-class.”

[TMC]

Originally Posted by smittykins

I spotted an inaccuracy in the “Close-Up” posted above—far from being “poverty-stricken,” Freddie mentioned in an interview that his family was “pretty much middle-class.”

Something Streaming This Way Comes: "Can You Hear the Laughter? - The Story of Freddie Prinze"

As far as the accuracy of everything portrayed within, it’s based on a Playboy magazine article entitled "Good Night Sweet Prinze" by Peter S. Greenberg, but it was made without the input of Prinze’s mother or widow, so it’s clearly not the whole story.

[DJM77]

Originally Posted by TMC

Something Streaming This Way Comes: "Can You Hear the Laughter? - The Story of Freddie Prinze"

I just finished watching the movie. As always with biopics, I wonder how much of the things that were portrayed in the movie actually happened in real life. In particular, did Freddie really threaten to kill his stand in? I wouldn't be surprised if he did.

Interesting that we got about one second of a commercial starring Beverly Archer at the 0:06 mark.

[TMC]

Originally Posted by DJM77

I just finished watching the movie. As always with biopics, I wonder how much of the things that were portrayed in the movie actually happened in real life. In particular, did Freddie really threaten to kill his stand in? I wouldn't be surprised if he did.

Interesting that we got about one second of a commercial starring Beverly Archer at the 0:06 mark.

Freddie did, at least according to Jimmie Walker, try to kill John Travolta. So I would hardly be surprised if he actually did threaten to kill his stand-in.

[DJM77]

Originally Posted by TMC

Freddie did, at least according to Jimmie Walker, try to kill John Travolta. So I would hardly be surprised if he actually did threaten to kill his stand-in.

I was already aware of Jimmie's story about Freddie and John Travolta. That's why I wouldn't be surprised if Freddie had threatened to kill his stand in. Freddie was a very troubled soul and I'm sure that a lot of it had to do with his drug problem.

[TMC]

The latest episode (8/21/22) of Reelz Channel's Autopsy: The Last Hours of... will examine Freddie Prinze's death.

[70s show watcher]

for those of you who have not seen it i have to say that it is well acted dispte a so so script but as for the way the events were portrayed you areally have to take the whole movie with a grain or 2 of salt