Main Cast: Billy Crystal, David Paymer, Julie Warner, Helen Hunt, Mary Mara, Jerry Orbach
Release Year: 1992
Country: US
Run Time: 118 minutes
MPAA Rating: R
Plot
Comedian Billy Crystal made his directorial debut with this biography of fictional comedian Buddy Young Jr. (portrayed by Crystal himself), whose self-destructive tendencies prevent him from rising to top of the show business ladder during his five-decade career. ~ Jason Ankeny, All Movie Guide
Review
Epic in scope and incredibly ambitious, Billy Crystal's directorial-debut has plenty of good qualities, but is ultimately an exercise in self-indulgence and biting off more than he can chew. Serving as writer, director, producer, and star, Crystal can't exactly avoid shouldering the lion's share of the blame either. What could have been a complex character study of a fictional comic legend instead gets bogged down by Crystal's amateurish directing and insatiable need to showcase himself. There's a good movie in there somewhere, though. Most likely it lies in the supporting characters. If Crystal had the ability to give up more screen time to David Paymer, Jerry Orbach, or Helen Hunt, he might not have ended up with such an uneven film. On the whole, Paymer's performance and the fact that the film remains sporadically interesting despite its flaws render Mr. Saturday Night worthy of at least a peek. ~ Matthew Tobey, All Movie Guide
Ron Silver - Larry Meyerson; Sage Allen - Mom; Jason Marsden - Buddy - Age 15; Michael Weiner - Stan (Age 18); Jackie Gayle - Gene; Carl Ballantine - Freddie; Slappy White - Joey; Jerry Lewis - Himself; Michael Ben-Edward - Fat Guy in Audience; Julius Branca - Stage Manager; Lonnie Burr - TV Show Dancer; Josh Byrne - Abie - Age 6; Marinela Cimpoeru - Acrobat; Bert Copello - Sullivan A.D.; Randy Crenshaw - "Buddy Buddy" Singer; Lindsay Crystal - Screaming Girl; Costin Cszimas - Acrobat; Ben Diskin - Stan - Age 9; Randy Doney - TV Show Dancer; Voinea Dumitru - Acrobat; Edith Fields - Woman in Commercial; Phil Foreman - Uncle Julius; Kay Freeman - Mrs. Gimbel; Cantor Chayim Frenkel - Cantor at Funeral; Jerry Gadette - Stage Hand; Larry Gelman - Mr. Gimbel; Liz Georges - Script Girl; Joe A. Giamalva - TV Show Dancer; Adam Goldberg - Eugene Gimbel; Gary Grossman - Backstage Man; Hartley Haverty - Susan-Age 6; Conrad Janis - Director; Birl Johns - TV Show Dancer; Eugene Kaufmann - Old Man; Moira Kelly; Peter Kim - 1st Korean; Richard Kind - Reporter; Geoff Koch - "Buddy Buddy" Singer; Steve Kravitz - Young Comic; Steve Lively - "Buddy Buddy" Singer; Rick Logan - "Buddy Buddy" Singer; Mark Lonow - Producer; Jan Lucas - Karen (Casting Director); Howard Mann - Stage Manager; Richard Mehana - Sidney; Maria A. Ferrari Olivo - Fat Guy's Wife; Greg Paik - 2nd Korean; Tim Russ - A.D.; Joey Shea - MC; Talbot Perry Simons - Man at Catskills; Adrian Smertcov - Acrobat; Shadoe Stevens - Fred; Daniel Tisman - Reece; Alberto Toledano - Apacke Dancer; Irving Wasserman - Uncle Moe; William Wendell - Announcer; William Yamadera - Japanese Client; Lowell Ganz - 1st Writer; Miranda Garrison - Apacke Dancer; Babaloo Mandel - 2nd Writer; Marc Shaiman - Lucky Zinberg; Bob Yerkes - Acrobat; Joe Mays; Pam Dixon; Will Jordan - Ed Sullivan
Credit
Carol Wood - Art Director, Peter Schindler - Co-producer, Ruth Myers - Costume Designer, Julie A. Bloom - First Assistant Director, Billy Crystal - Director, Kent Beyda - Editor, Lowell Ganz - Executive Producer, Babaloo Mandel - Executive Producer, Marc Shaiman - Composer (Music Score), Peter Montagna - Makeup, Albert Brenner - Production Designer, Donald Peterman - Cinematographer, Billy Crystal - Producer, Kathe Klopp - Set Designer, Dave Kelsey - Special Effects, Billy Crystal - Screenwriter, Lowell Ganz - Screenwriter, Babaloo Mandel - Screenwriter
Mr. Saturday Night is a 1992 film that marks the feature film directorial debut of actor Billy Crystal. The film focuses on the rise and fall of Buddy Young Jr. (played by Crystal), a stand-up comedian. Crystal produced and co-wrote the screenplay with the writing duo Babaloo Mandel and Lowell Ganz. It was filmed from 1991 to 1992 and released on September 23, 1992, by Columbia Pictures.
Mr. Saturday Night tells the fictional story of the rise and fall of stand-up comedian Buddy Young Jr. and his brother and manager, Stan (played by David Paymer). Through a series of flashbacks, the movie traces the brothers from childhood entertaining their family in the living room, through Buddy Young's early days in the Catskills, where he meets his future wife (Julie Warner), to hitting the big time with his own television show. Then as the once popular comic is past his prime, it chronicles his self-destructive behavior while an agent (Helen Hunt) attempts to get him work and the toll it takes on the comic's relationships with his family.
Box office performance
The film performed poorly at the U.S. box office. According to boxofficemojo.com it grossed less than $14 million.
During the Academy Awards the next year, Crystal hosted. When announcing the nominees for Best Film of 1992 during the opening, Crystal added his movie to the list, immediately afterwards adding the line, "I just wanted to see how it feels."
