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The Altman/Keillor Show
November 2, 2006

They won’t be taking it on the road anytime soon, but Robert Altman and Garrison Keillor make a damned good comedy team.

The duo appeared at the Museum of Television and Radio in New York City this past Tuesday to discuss “Radio and A Prairie Home Companion,” in conjunction with the film’s Oct. 10 DVD release from New Line. Having collaborated on the film and done a number of subsequent interviews together, the pair clearly have each other’s rhythms down and thus got into numerous comic disagreements, frequently trumping each other’s deadpan quips in front of the appreciative MTR audience.

Despite the fact that Keillor is the humorist of the duo, Altman’s irreverent attitude towards his own (and Keillor’s) work clashed nicely with Keillor’s more serious appreciation of their accomplishments. As he does on the DVD commentary for Prairie, Altman seemed bent on demystifying the filmmaking process, laying much of the praise at the feet of his performers — thus explaining, if there was ever any doubt, why he is considered an “actor’s director.” Though contradicted heavily by the exquisitely shot clips from Prairie included in the evening’s presentation, Altman maintained, “I just sat and watched and let it occur… whatever [the actors] did was what the movie was…”

Keillor, clad in a tuxedo, sneakers and bright red socks, stepped into the breach and seriously answered the film- and writing-student “process” questions posed by the audience and moderator Ron Simon, the MTR curator.

Although the film remained the central topic of discussion, the most fascinating section of the evening was a reflection by both men on their radio “heroes.” Altman’s chose radio drama scripter Norman Corwin, and spoke of his first encounter with the now-96-year-old radio legend — whom he first met when the old gent came out of his Los Angeles home to yell at the production crew of The Player. A beautifully eloquent clip from Corwin’s legendary end-of-WWII broadcast “On a Note of Triumph,” was counterbalanced by audio and video segments from Keillor’s pick, the awesomely deadpan, wildly inventive comedy team Bob and Ray. The evening never once turned sentimental — both Altman and Keillor wouldn’t have tolerated that — but the pair’s discussion of the ways in which radio shaped them as artists was the one point both gentlemen turned serious.

The DVD release was not commented upon by either man (although a part of the making-of featurette was shown), nor was the theatrical fate of Prairie (which was critically lauded but was not a box-office success). At the prompting of a questioner, Altman commented on the films of his that have tanked at the box office, saying that he understood why they hadn’t attracted audiences, but that “I love them all as they are, as they wound up.” Keillor got a big laugh by responding in his extremely dry tone that he views his work and is “filled with regret.” It’s only fitting that the radio guy kept having the last word at a radio seminar.--contributed by Ed Grant

Posted by Laurence Lerman on November 2, 2006 | Comments (0)