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By the way, I assume it’s not a spoiler to point out that Vincent is totally the villain here, and has nefarious something cooking with Mr. Papshmir? This isn’t the kind of film where the fun is in trying to figure out who the bad guys are. This is the kind of film where the fun is in watching Drebin try to figure it out for himself. Ludwig plots to throw Drebin off the scent by assigning his lovely assistant Jane (Priscilla Presley) to seduce him, but of course they fall in love. This, plus Drebin’s inability to justify his continued stalking of Ludwig, puts Drebin’s career in jeopardy. The bulk of story involves Drebin ruining lives and destroying public property every step of the way as he tries to uncover the plot ahead of the Queen’s arrival.

The result - in particular the film’s baseball-centric climax – is the kind of thing we need to make sure is in the time capsule millions of years from now, when aliens come to survey the ruins of our civilization. I’m not saying to leave out Hamlet or anything. Just…make sure The Naked Gun is in there, too. Don’t be a stupid, stupid wrong-person like I was. I have no idea what movie I was thinking of when I said “I’m not sure if I liked it,” but it wasn’t this one. Films like this are gems not just because they’re that well done, but because they just don’t make them like this anymore. Humor like this relies a lot on sight gags and wordplay, but the intelligence required to construct the gags and make them work is precisely what MAKES (most of) them work.

The other thing that makes it work is the hallmark of the Zucker/Abrahams/Zucker model, and that is the casting of credible dramatic leads. People have forgotten Nielsen’s previous life as a respected dramatic actor, so successful was he at humor. And not only is “Ricardo Montalban” literally the coolest name ever, but the man himself was without question the most distinguished actor ever to put on a white wig and shake his fist at William Shatner. Veteran actor George Kennedy capably takes over the role of Drebin’s boss Captain Hocken, Priscilla Presley holds her own, and to my knowledge OJ Simpson did not murder anyone. But while it’s safe to call this a serviceable cast, it’s strongest at the top, and the resultant comedy gold is worthy of the ages.

I’ve started keeping a list of requests, and some of them are films I also question. I think I’ll dive in, and maybe one or two films will change my mind. The rest I assume will make me Krull all over myself. As for The Naked Gun, I guess I owe an apology to Leslie Nielsen, Ricardo Montalban, David Mumpower, at least three baby pandas, and probably humanity in general. I’m not too big to admit when I was way out in left field, or in this case, somewhere out in the parking lot. But you know what? Rarely have I ever been happier to be completely, totally, idiotically wrong about something. Hey, it’s a growth process. In fact, I look forward to making a fool of myself again next week.

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