Name: Christopher Reeve on Letterman, March 1, 1982
Uploaded: 2017-05-07T02:38:24.000Z
Description: Watch the stand-up comedy video 'Christopher Reeve on Letterman, March 1, 1982' from Don Giller on Comedy Buff. Published 2017-05-07. Transcript available.

Watch the stand-up comedy video 'Christopher Reeve on Letterman, March 1, 1982' from Don Giller on Comedy Buff. Published 2017-05-07. Transcript available.

Hi there.
Welcome back to the show and or extravaganza.
You know, Christopher Reeve literally zoomed to fame in the movies Superman and
the sequel Superman II,
but his acting career is taking new turns.
His latest film is an adaptation of the Broadway hit Death Trap,
in which he is playing a very peculiar character.
Would you please welcome Christopher Reeve?
Thank you very much for being here.
Pleasure.
I saw Death Trap.
Now, the character is peculiar, and it seems to me, having seen Superman and
also Death Trap,
that this may have been the more difficult of the two characters to play.
Anything there?
I tell you what, everybody thinks that I'm trying to make a departure from
Superman,
as though it was something that I have to apologize for,
that's something I have to try to get away from.
Superman is something that's a very important part of my life,
that I'm very grateful for, and it changed everything.
But I'm not trying to get away from it.
I'm not trying to prove a point to anybody.
I'm not saying, hey, public, you know, take a hike.
I'm really an actor, you know.
It's, uh, Superman, in an odd sort of a way, was harder to do than Death Trap,
where I have, you know, fabulous director, and, you know, Sidney Lumet directed,
and Michael Caine and Diane Cannon,
and long speeches, and, uh, plenty of time to shoot it.
So, in a way, there's a lot to really sink your teeth into.
In Superman, I was standing out there, you know, really looking silly.
And I had to make something out of it, you know.
So, Superman was a triumph against the odds, really,
whereas Death Trap is, you know, right on the money, sort of a pop fly, really.
Do you, do you, um, you do sound a little defensive about the fact that you...
What, who, me?
Huh?
Uh, but, uh, it must, it must be both a plus and minus to knowing that
for a generation of people now, until something else happens,
you're going to be Superman.
And I don't, by something else happens, I mean when you decide to quit making
films.
Get arrested, or, yeah, something like that.
No, if I never did anything else in show business,
I would be proud to say that I played that movie and made some people happy
with it.
However, having said that, um, I would probably, if I couldn't get a job,
I would still act someplace, you know, move to, you know, Hoboken
and then start a community theater or something like that.
You know, not quite the same thing, but nearly.
And, um, it is, it is not something I have to apologize for.
Fortunately, what happens in the business, if you do a movie like that,
and if you have a stage training, which I do,
the first thing that happens is the industry.
You know, the Sidney Lumets and the, you know, the big directors say,
does the guy have potential?
Then the public says, is he interesting?
And then the media says, how do we label him?
You know, and that happens to presidents, it happens to murderers,
it happens to actors, supermen, whatever.
Everyone's got a label right away.
So I'm no exception to this rule.
Yeah. People, that's right, they, they do not rest until someone
or something has been categorized so they can be, uh, reacted to or dealt with.
I saw Rich Little do a thing on the Carson show the other night,
which just cracked me up.
And it's a perfect comment on how the media labels people right away.
He was asked to do, uh, presidents in one word.
And he said, uh, so he said, say Lyndon Johnson.
He just went, barbecue.
And immediately you knew from the whole thing.
I can't imitate it what he did, but you knew from a whole thing of,
you get an image of the man out there cooking steaks
and pulling the dog by the ears and, you know, you have a whole thing.
Or cooking the dog and pulling steaks by the ears, yeah.
And he did a thing, he said, what for Gerald Ford?
But Gerald Ford, he just went, whoops.
And, uh, I just think it shows that it doesn't matter who you are.
Uh, why does Time Magazine, for example, call everybody by capital letters?
You know, actor so-and-so, fated film star so-and-so, 77, you know?
A, a, a label and an age right away.
So they're not ganging up on me, is what I'm trying to say.
Uh, I'm stricken sitting here next to you by how-
You are?
Yeah.
Yes, I can help.
Uh, by how young a person you are.
Well, I guess you knew that, though, didn't you?
I was, uh, have you always, have you always been this young,
or is there something that happened recently?
Yeah, yeah, that's, but you are a very young man.
It's called a silly haircut, is really what it is.
You know, I get those occasionally.
Yeah, I don't do it.
You go in looking like yourself, you come out like a duck.
Yeah, excellent.
Yeah, not that you look like a duck, mind you.
But, uh, there ought to be a law.
I've been called worse.
Uh, federal legislation, uh, on haircuts.
Well, we have to interrupt you for a second.
But we'll be back to talk more about haircuts
with Christopher Reeve right after this.
Welcome back to the show.
Christopher Reeve is here.
I alluded to, uh, I guess your newest motion picture,
Death Trap, which I saw.
And, uh, we have some film of the film.
Film of the movie.
Uh, why don't you tell the folks what we're about to see here.
This is where I do my Avon lady bit.
Hello, would you like to buy a movie?
Only five dollars.
Yes.
Limited trial only.
Uh, this movie, Death Trap,
which is the crass commercial reason why I'm here,
is to say, is, is about a guy,
Michael Caine.
Well, everybody's selling something, right?
Uh, Michael Caine.
Not me.
I'm just, I have to be here.
I'm just, uh, I have.
No.
Michael Caine plays a writer of...
Oh, no, wait a minute.
You'd have come on anyway, wouldn't you?
No.
Hey.
Sure.
You know, I, I, I came on really
because I wanted to order some cream of weasel soup
and a jumping steak.
Terrific.
Uh, you could really open a restaurant
on the west side with all that stuff.
The woman who makes this stuff
does a wonderful job on it.
Yeah.
Terrific.
And takeout stuff, you know.
Anyway, uh, Death Trap is about a guy.
You know, the dentist just came on
because he wanted to.
Uh, you got a real thick skin, right?
I'm sorry.
Go right ahead.
Death Trap.
Death Trap is, uh, is about a guy.
Michael, played by Michael Caine,
who's a writer of thrillers,
who's going through a very bad spell.
And, uh, he's really bombing.
We catch him on opening night
of his latest play,
which is really bomb.
He gets absolutely pissed that night
and he goes home
and the next day,
I was, play?
Pissed is an English phrase
meaning drunk.
You can say pissed?
You can.
Pissed means you're pissed.
Absolutely.
I'm going to just bet you here
that you, I bet you
when we see this later,
pissed won't be in it.
Right.
I just have a feeling that, uh,
I spent so much time in London
I have all those phrases.
They say that on the streets there,
right?
They do, yeah.
And, uh,
well, they are that
on the streets there.
No, but, uh,
he was,
he receives a play in the mail
written by Clifford Anderson,
who was a playwriting student of his,
which is called Death Trap,
which is commercial,
easy to cast,
could be a big success.
And he makes a plan.
Why are these people running around?
Now, I've just,
they just showed me a sign here.
Is this?
Yeah.
We will see the clip
or we won't see the clip?
Well, this is the kind of thing
that pisses us off.
What are we doing?
Oh, we're going to pause now
and go away.
But we'll be right back
with Christopher Reeve
and the clip.
Welcome back to the show.
Christopher Reeve is here
and we're going to quit
goofing around here.
I'm sorry.
Tell us now
about what we're about to see.
Right.
Back to the pitch.
Okay.
When he last left us,
the actor was trying
to set up his film clip.
Michael Caine
receives a script in the mail.
Remember that part
before the commercial?
Right.
Anyway,
receives a script in the mail
by a former student of his
which is the ultimate
commercial thriller
that could probably make
about $3 million
not including
the Death Trap t-shirts.
And as he says,
if that's not a thinking man's
motive for murder,
I don't know what is.
So he lures me
down to his house.
The idea is going to
knock me off
and send out the plays
his own
and make all that money.
So here's a scene
where I'm just beginning
to realize
what's going to happen to me.
Okay.
Christopher Reeve,
Michael Caine
in Death Trap
take a look at the monitors
and at home
the TVs should do it.
Death Trap
and very entertaining.
It's exciting
and also humorous.
Yeah,
what I like about it
is that it's a thriller
in which you don't see
people get blown away
or get their heads chopped off.
You know,
there's a lot of,
there's a vogue now
for thrillers
where people get ripped up,
you know,
Texas Chainsaw Massacre
this kind of stuff.
This is a return
to a classier
sort of more old-fashioned thriller
where you're laughing
one minute
and scared the next
but you're sort of,
you're picked up
at 8 o'clock
and taken away,
bring you back
at 10 o'clock
and you've been entertained
and not grossed out.
Yeah.
Tell me,
hopefully.
No,
we take care
of the grossing out part
here on this show.
Yeah, right.
That's our job in life.
Tell me a little bit about,
maybe you don't want
to talk about this,
about sailplaning.
No,
I'd rather not talk about that.
Rather not talk about it?
It's more personal to me.
Soaring is,
this is not jumping off a cliff
with a kite on your back.
That I don't understand.
This is flying in a plane
with no engine.
Oh, yeah.
That makes plenty of sense.
Much more sense.
And I fly as far as I can
and go where I want to
and sometimes it's a competition,
sometimes just for fun.
But for people
who may not understand
what this is exactly,
again,
go through the description
of how you get up
and how you get down.
I think they understand
how you get down.
You do the best you can,
right?
You go up
and you hope you come down
again in one piece.
And every time I land someplace
I'm not supposed to,
which happens occasionally
in gliding
when the lifting air
isn't working anymore,
it starts raining,
eventually you land.
Anytime I don't get back
to the home airport,
the press treats it,
Superman crashes,
film at 11.
But it's not
an uncontrolled disaster.
It is free flight.
You ride the thermals,
the waves of warm air
coming off the surface
of the earth.
Right.
So why don't you
ask me the question?
Because I was...
No, absolutely.
No, I find this fascinating.
It's a lot of fun.
It really is.
It's the highest
you can get legally.
Yeah.
Is it safer
than flying motored craft?
Yeah, it's safer
than flying a 747.
Really?
Absolutely.
It will depend
who's at the controls.
Yeah, you can...
It's a wonderful escape
and it's something
you can share with people
where the nice thing
about it is
you can't worry
about your problems
and fly the airplane
at the same time.
And that's nice.
Yeah.
We've had two other people
on the show
who've worked with
Marlon Brando
and I know you worked
with him for a few days.
And anything interesting
come of that relationship?
I must say,
I don't say this
to be vicious,
but I don't worship
at the altar
of Marlon Brando
because I feel that
he's copped out
in a certain way.
He's no longer
in the leadership position
that he could be.
He could really be inspiring
a whole generation
of actors
and by continuing to work.
But what happened
is the press
loved him
whether he was good,
bad or indifferent.
Where people thought
he was this sort of
institution
no matter what he did.
So he doesn't care anymore
and I just think
it would be sad
to be 53
or whatever he is
and not give a damn.
That's all.
I just think it's too bad
that the man has kind of
been forced
into that hostility.
But you wouldn't.
Well, he's here tonight, Chris.
I don't care.
Listen, that's not something
that's something
that I would say
to him as well.
I don't want to be accused
of talking out of school.
You know, but he could be
a real leader for us.
Yeah.
Was it exciting
to work with him, though?
Not really.
No.
No.
I had a wonderful time
but the man didn't care.
I'm sorry.
He just, you know,
took the two million
and ran, you know?
Yeah.
So, I just still care.
I'm a real beginner
and I just care so much
that it hurts
when someone's phoning it in.
Yeah.
He is a wonderful actor.
He is a brilliant man.
But at this moment,
he just isn't motivated.
That's all I mean to say.
Well, I appreciate you being here.
It was a lot of fun meeting you.
Marlon's going to kill me,
but anyway.
No, no.
Thank you.
Thank you very much.
Pleasure.
Christopher Reeve.
We'll be right back.
We'll be right back.
We'll be right back.
We'll be right back.
We'll be right back.

Christopher Reeve on Letterman, March 1, 1982

Hi there.
Welcome back to the show and or extravaganza.
You know, Christopher Reeve literally zoomed to fame in the movies Superman and
the sequel Superman II,
but his acting career is taking new turns.
His latest film is an adaptation of the Broadway hit Death Trap,
in which he is playing a very peculiar character.
Would you please welcome Christopher Reeve?
Thank you very much for being here.
Pleasure.
I saw Death Trap.
Now, the character is peculiar, and it seems to me, having seen Superman and
also Death Trap,
that this may have been the more difficult of the two characters to play.
Anything there?
I tell you what, everybody thinks that I'm trying to make a departure from
Superman,
as though it was something that I have to apologize for,
that's something I have to try to get away from.
Superman is something that's a very important part of my life,
that I'm very grateful for, and it changed everything.
But I'm not trying to get away from it.
I'm not trying to prove a point to anybody.
I'm not saying, hey, public, you know, take a hike.
I'm really an actor, you know.
It's, uh, Superman, in an odd sort of a way, was harder to do than Death Trap,
where I have, you know, fabulous director, and, you know, Sidney Lumet directed,
and Michael Caine and Diane Cannon,
and long speeches, and, uh, plenty of time to shoot it.
So, in a way, there's a lot to really sink your teeth into.
In Superman, I was standing out there, you know, really looking silly.
And I had to make something out of it, you know.
So, Superman was a triumph against the odds, really,
whereas Death Trap is, you know, right on the money, sort of a pop fly, really.
Do you, do you, um, you do sound a little defensive about the fact that you...
What, who, me?
Huh?
Uh, but, uh, it must, it must be both a plus and minus to knowing that
for a generation of people now, until something else happens,
you're going to be Superman.
And I don't, by something else happens, I mean when you decide to quit making
films.
Get arrested, or, yeah, something like that.
No, if I never did anything else in show business,
I would be proud to say that I played that movie and made some people happy
with it.
However, having said that, um, I would probably, if I couldn't get a job,
I would still act someplace, you know, move to, you know, Hoboken
and then start a community theater or something like that.
You know, not quite the same thing, but nearly.
And, um, it is, it is not something I have to apologize for.
Fortunately, what happens in the business, if you do a movie like that,
and if you have a stage training, which I do,
the first thing that happens is the industry.
You know, the Sidney Lumets and the, you know, the big directors say,
does the guy have potential?
Then the public says, is he interesting?
And then the media says, how do we label him?
You know, and that happens to presidents, it happens to murderers,
it happens to actors, supermen, whatever.
Everyone's got a label right away.
So I'm no exception to this rule.
Yeah. People, that's right, they, they do not rest until someone
or something has been categorized so they can be, uh, reacted to or dealt with.
I saw Rich Little do a thing on the Carson show the other night,
which just cracked me up.
And it's a perfect comment on how the media labels people right away.
He was asked to do, uh, presidents in one word.
And he said, uh, so he said, say Lyndon Johnson.
He just went, barbecue.
And immediately you knew from the whole thing.
I can't imitate it what he did, but you knew from a whole thing of,
you get an image of the man out there cooking steaks
and pulling the dog by the ears and, you know, you have a whole thing.
Or cooking the dog and pulling steaks by the ears, yeah.
And he did a thing, he said, what for Gerald Ford?
But Gerald Ford, he just went, whoops.
And, uh, I just think it shows that it doesn't matter who you are.
Uh, why does Time Magazine, for example, call everybody by capital letters?
You know, actor so-and-so, fated film star so-and-so, 77, you know?
A, a, a label and an age right away.
So they're not ganging up on me, is what I'm trying to say.
Uh, I'm stricken sitting here next to you by how-
You are?
Yeah.
Yes, I can help.
Uh, by how young a person you are.
Well, I guess you knew that, though, didn't you?
I was, uh, have you always, have you always been this young,
or is there something that happened recently?
Yeah, yeah, that's, but you are a very young man.
It's called a silly haircut, is really what it is.
You know, I get those occasionally.
Yeah, I don't do it.
You go in looking like yourself, you come out like a duck.
Yeah, excellent.
Yeah, not that you look like a duck, mind you.
But, uh, there ought to be a law.
I've been called worse.
Uh, federal legislation, uh, on haircuts.
Well, we have to interrupt you for a second.
But we'll be back to talk more about haircuts
with Christopher Reeve right after this.
Welcome back to the show.
Christopher Reeve is here.
I alluded to, uh, I guess your newest motion picture,
Death Trap, which I saw.
And, uh, we have some film of the film.
Film of the movie.
Uh, why don't you tell the folks what we're about to see here.
This is where I do my Avon lady bit.
Hello, would you like to buy a movie?
Only five dollars.
Yes.
Limited trial only.
Uh, this movie, Death Trap,
which is the crass commercial reason why I'm here,
is to say, is, is about a guy,
Michael Caine.
Well, everybody's selling something, right?
Uh, Michael Caine.
Not me.
I'm just, I have to be here.
I'm just, uh, I have.
No.
Michael Caine plays a writer of...
Oh, no, wait a minute.
You'd have come on anyway, wouldn't you?
No.
Hey.
Sure.
You know, I, I, I came on really
because I wanted to order some cream of weasel soup
and a jumping steak.
Terrific.
Uh, you could really open a restaurant
on the west side with all that stuff.
The woman who makes this stuff
does a wonderful job on it.
Yeah.
Terrific.
And takeout stuff, you know.
Anyway, uh, Death Trap is about a guy.
You know, the dentist just came on
because he wanted to.
Uh, you got a real thick skin, right?
I'm sorry.
Go right ahead.
Death Trap.
Death Trap is, uh, is about a guy.
Michael, played by Michael Caine,
who's a writer of thrillers,
who's going through a very bad spell.
And, uh, he's really bombing.
We catch him on opening night
of his latest play,
which is really bomb.
He gets absolutely pissed that night
and he goes home
and the next day,
I was, play?
Pissed is an English phrase
meaning drunk.
You can say pissed?
You can.
Pissed means you're pissed.
Absolutely.
I'm going to just bet you here
that you, I bet you
when we see this later,
pissed won't be in it.
Right.
I just have a feeling that, uh,
I spent so much time in London
I have all those phrases.
They say that on the streets there,
right?
They do, yeah.
And, uh,
well, they are that
on the streets there.
No, but, uh,
he was,
he receives a play in the mail
written by Clifford Anderson,
who was a playwriting student of his,
which is called Death Trap,
which is commercial,
easy to cast,
could be a big success.
And he makes a plan.
Why are these people running around?
Now, I've just,
they just showed me a sign here.
Is this?
Yeah.
We will see the clip
or we won't see the clip?
Well, this is the kind of thing
that pisses us off.
What are we doing?
Oh, we're going to pause now
and go away.
But we'll be right back
with Christopher Reeve
and the clip.
Welcome back to the show.
Christopher Reeve is here
and we're going to quit
goofing around here.
I'm sorry.
Tell us now
about what we're about to see.
Right.
Back to the pitch.
Okay.
When he last left us,
the actor was trying
to set up his film clip.
Michael Caine
receives a script in the mail.
Remember that part
before the commercial?
Right.
Anyway,
receives a script in the mail
by a former student of his
which is the ultimate
commercial thriller
that could probably make
about $3 million
not including
the Death Trap t-shirts.
And as he says,
if that's not a thinking man's
motive for murder,
I don't know what is.
So he lures me
down to his house.
The idea is going to
knock me off
and send out the plays
his own
and make all that money.
So here's a scene
where I'm just beginning
to realize
what's going to happen to me.
Okay.
Christopher Reeve,
Michael Caine
in Death Trap
take a look at the monitors
and at home
the TVs should do it.
Death Trap
and very entertaining.
It's exciting
and also humorous.
Yeah,
what I like about it
is that it's a thriller
in which you don't see
people get blown away
or get their heads chopped off.
You know,
there's a lot of,
there's a vogue now
for thrillers
where people get ripped up,
you know,
Texas Chainsaw Massacre
this kind of stuff.
This is a return
to a classier
sort of more old-fashioned thriller
where you're laughing
one minute
and scared the next
but you're sort of,
you're picked up
at 8 o'clock
and taken away,
bring you back
at 10 o'clock
and you've been entertained
and not grossed out.
Yeah.
Tell me,
hopefully.
No,
we take care
of the grossing out part
here on this show.
Yeah, right.
That's our job in life.
Tell me a little bit about,
maybe you don't want
to talk about this,
about sailplaning.
No,
I'd rather not talk about that.
Rather not talk about it?
It's more personal to me.
Soaring is,
this is not jumping off a cliff
with a kite on your back.
That I don't understand.
This is flying in a plane
with no engine.
Oh, yeah.
That makes plenty of sense.
Much more sense.
And I fly as far as I can
and go where I want to
and sometimes it's a competition,
sometimes just for fun.
But for people
who may not understand
what this is exactly,
again,
go through the description
of how you get up
and how you get down.
I think they understand
how you get down.
You do the best you can,
right?
You go up
and you hope you come down
again in one piece.
And every time I land someplace
I'm not supposed to,
which happens occasionally
in gliding
when the lifting air
isn't working anymore,
it starts raining,
eventually you land.
Anytime I don't get back
to the home airport,
the press treats it,
Superman crashes,
film at 11.
But it's not
an uncontrolled disaster.
It is free flight.
You ride the thermals,
the waves of warm air
coming off the surface
of the earth.
Right.
So why don't you
ask me the question?
Because I was...
No, absolutely.
No, I find this fascinating.
It's a lot of fun.
It really is.
It's the highest
you can get legally.
Yeah.
Is it safer
than flying motored craft?
Yeah, it's safer
than flying a 747.
Really?
Absolutely.
It will depend
who's at the controls.
Yeah, you can...
It's a wonderful escape
and it's something
you can share with people
where the nice thing
about it is
you can't worry
about your problems
and fly the airplane
at the same time.
And that's nice.
Yeah.
We've had two other people
on the show
who've worked with
Marlon Brando
and I know you worked
with him for a few days.
And anything interesting
come of that relationship?
I must say,
I don't say this
to be vicious,
but I don't worship
at the altar
of Marlon Brando
because I feel that
he's copped out
in a certain way.
He's no longer
in the leadership position
that he could be.
He could really be inspiring
a whole generation
of actors
and by continuing to work.
But what happened
is the press
loved him
whether he was good,
bad or indifferent.
Where people thought
he was this sort of
institution
no matter what he did.
So he doesn't care anymore
and I just think
it would be sad
to be 53
or whatever he is
and not give a damn.
That's all.
I just think it's too bad
that the man has kind of
been forced
into that hostility.
But you wouldn't.
Well, he's here tonight, Chris.
I don't care.
Listen, that's not something
that's something
that I would say
to him as well.
I don't want to be accused
of talking out of school.
You know, but he could be
a real leader for us.
Yeah.
Was it exciting
to work with him, though?
Not really.
No.
No.
I had a wonderful time
but the man didn't care.
I'm sorry.
He just, you know,
took the t