In memory of Leslie Nielsen

I had been planning to post this another time for more ‘subtitles for the LOL!’ But with the passing away of Leslie Nielsen it seems right to post it now. One of the first movies I ever saw to use subtitles in a humorous context was Airplane!

Airplane - Jive Talk script

Amongst countless gags was the open subtitling of Jive talk in the movie between two passengers on the plane. You can watch the clip below:

As for Leslie Nielsen himself, he had hearing loss from a young age and I think I subconsciously picked this up as interesting fact somehow since I grew up not knowing anyone else like me with a hearing loss. Whilst Nielsen’s brilliant straight delivery of lines gave me much laughter in films such as the above, I also adored the visual gags – none more so than in Police Squad. This epilogues in which the actors would fake a freeze frame by standing as still as possible, often with something else moving will never fail to make me laugh. This clip requires no subtitles:

Thanks Leslie!  (And for the record Police Squad is available on DVD Region 2 with subtitles. I have it, and highly recommend it)