41 Years Later, Val Kilmer's First Movie Remains His Funniest (& It's 1 of the Best Action Comedies of the '80s)

The late Val Kilmer had the uncommon privilege of beginning his profession as a number one man by headlining two motion pictures earlier than his supporting position within the Eighties traditional High Gun cemented his standing on the A-list. Each movies are notable for being straight-up comedies, a style Kilmer hardly ever dabbled in after High Gun, however which he was uniquely fitted to. Whereas 1985’s Actual Genius is a traditional in its personal proper, 1984’s High Secret! stays one of many actor’s most pleasant performances. The truth that it was his very first reveals that he was made for the display.

High Secret! is a lesser-known effort from administrators Jim Abrahams, David and Jerry Zucker, who redefined slapstick with the classic 1980 film Airplane! It takes the identical everything-and-the-kitchen-sink method to its comedy, with a extra authentic premise and an equally humorous payoff. Kilmer is the straw that stirs the drink within the lead, and it is considered one of his most memorable appearances, all of the extra notable as a result of it was his first.

High Secret! Comes From a Trio of Comedian Geniuses

The Similar Group Delivered the Basic Comedy Airplane!

Ted Striker takes over the controls in Airplane! — Picture through Paramount

As is commonly the case with sensible comedy, Airplane! has outlasted the style it was ostensibly sending up. The administrators adopted with the unique collection Police Squad!, which was canceled after solely six episodes however lived on in the Naked Gun trilogy of films. High Secret! adopted the identical sample, posting gentle field workplace numbers however step by step being found by followers within the ensuing years.

In contrast to both Airplane! or The Bare Gun, it is a mashup of two genres: World Conflict II spy motion pictures and Elvis Presley musicals. The sheer absurdity makes for among the film’s greatest jokes, resembling its nook hero having to show he isn’t Mel Tormé or be shot as a traitor. Past that, it adopts the identical system as Airplane! The foundations of actuality are suspended and something can occur as long as it will get amusing. The sheer rapidity of the jokes works simply as their different efforts do, and in the end appears like nothing a lot as a live-action Looney Tunes cartoon.

The plot, resembling it’s, entails Kilmer’s white-hot pop star Nick Rivers touring to Communist East Germany as a part of a cultural competition. He quickly turns into entangled in a secret army plot to reunite the nation beneath autocratic management, which entails the daughter of a kidnapped scientist, a British agent on the run, and the French Resistance whose presence in Communist East Germany goes gloriously unexplained. The beats comply with the sample of dippy Elvis pictures like Roustabout and Clambake, as Rivers cute-meets a younger girl in a restaurant and shortly finds himself embroiled in romantic mayhem in a colourful locale.

Between dodging the key police and plotting daring jailbreaks, he croons songs to throngs of absurdly adoring teenage women, whereas stopping the machinations of his romantic rival, who seems to be a skunk. High Secret! establishes a very good baseline for its comedy just by contrasting its hip-swinging hero with the ostensible political thriller surrounding him. It is all pleasant nonsense, in fact, with the plot being an excuse to ship any and each type of joke it could, from forced-perspective sight gags to an impressed technique of imitating the Swedish language.

With out the necessity for any inside logic, humor reigns supreme. The plot factors simply assist it transfer in an agreeable path. Surprisingly, it tends to steer away from topical jokes, although it dips its toe in a few times and some of the jokes slide into problematic territory. Most of it stays evergreen, nevertheless, pretty much as good slapstick tends to do, and like Airplane!, it has survived the years a lot better than lots of its targets. One needn’t be accustomed to both Elvis Presley or World War II films to have a blast with it, any multiple wants to look at horrible cop reveals to get pleasure from The Bare Gun.

Val Kilmer Makes High Secret! Work

The Slapstick Humor Wants a Sturdy Lead

Lucy Gutteridge and Val Kilmer in Top Secret! — Picture through Paramount

In a 2014 interview with Screen Crush, the administrators and star mentioned Kilmer’s casting within the lead. He had solely performed stage work earlier than then, and was showing in a play referred to as Slab Boys after they noticed him. Abrahams recollects how he got here into the audition with an Elvis music memorized and practiced dance strikes emulating the King. He took the position very severely, constructing a personality and making an attempt to embody him in a world that makes no logical sense. As all 4 of them acknowledged, it made for some difficult days on the set. It additionally supplied the proper centerpiece to the movie. It is sufficient to say, the entire thing might need fallen aside with out him.

Kilmer’s pure charisma holds the display rapt, with a simple swagger and self-effacing self-confidence that performs up the Elvis angle brilliantly. He brings simply sufficient of the King’s onscreen persona with out resorting to a full-bore caricature. The songs do loads of heavy lifting in that division — considered one of them is an lively parody of “Are You Lonesome Tonight?” — however Kilmer’s instincts ship a singular character who feels simply Elvis-y sufficient to move the scent take a look at. Nick is brave, however somewhat gradual on the uptake, and he winks on the digicam simply typically sufficient to let the viewers know it is all in good enjoyable — a trick that Presley may play in his sleep.

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Just like the King, Kilmer performs the film’s half-dozen songs himself, one other talent he solely had a number of further probabilities to show in his profession. They’re all sensible send-ups of each Presley’s songs, and dippy Sixties seaside film music typically. As difficult because it might need made components of the shoot, his dedication to Rivers as a personality is greater than sufficient to supply a correct viewers surrogate.

By the administrators’ personal admission, the remainder of the movie is pure chaos. Kilmer’s comedian timing is devastating as effectively, permitting him to aptly mirror the viewer’s bemusement on the insane universe round him. The jokes keep anchored, the story turns into simply stable sufficient to maneuver all of it ahead, and the central idea of the King of Rock and Roll strutting his approach by means of occupied Europe hits like a ton of bricks. In some ways, High Secret! is each bit Airplane’s equal.

Kilmer’s Efficiency in High Secret! Units the Stage for His Profession

Shades of Future Performances Can Be Seen in This One

Past the efficiency in and of itself, Kilmer’s flip speaks volumes in regards to the star he would turn into. He hardly ever returned to straight-up comedy after Actual Genius, however his reward for humor confirmed by means of again and again in additional severe roles. That features maybe his most celebrated flip — Doc Holliday in Tombstone — which might have misplaced a few of its essence with out the identical deadly deadpan he confirmed in High Secret!

His musical talents returned for the underrated animated function The Prince of Egypt, the place he voiced Moses, in addition to the Oliver Stone biopic The Doorways the place he performed Jim Morrison. He even portrayed Elvis in Tony Scott’s True Romance, although it was solely a cameo. High Secret! additionally features a pair of bizarre set items: the primary a scene shot completely backwards, and the second an underwater fistfight that maintain up higher than lots of his extra severe motion motion pictures and thrillers.

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The actor’s expertise is on full show the entire time, surrounded by all of the foolish French names and phony canine poop jokes. Kilmer understands the project and helps the movie preserve its grab-bag of fabric from flying aside on the seams. Actual Genius provides him a a lot stronger storyline, however it’s much less depending on him to work. Right here, the administrators have basically wager all the pieces on him. Whereas High Secret! wasn’t the identical hit on the field workplace that Airplane! was, it has held up simply as strongly. That is available in no small half to the younger actor they took an opportunity on with the lead, and although he by no means returned to slapstick, he was so good right here that he actually did not should.

High Secret! is at the moment streaming free with advertisements on PlutoTV.