Free Republic

Last year marked the 40th anniversary of the release of “Airplane!,” the comedy I wrote and directed with my brother Jerry and our friend Jim Abrahams. Just before the world shut down, Paramount held a screening at the Egyptian Theatre in Hollywood, followed by a Q&A in which an audience member asked a question we never used to receive: “Could you make ‘Airplane!’ today?” My response: “Of course, we could. Just without the jokes.” Although people tell me that they love “Airplane!” and it seems to be included on just about every Top Five movie-comedy list, there was talk at...

Hudson’s Bay Company — the world’s oldest joint stock company, founded in the reign of Charles II — has been sold to a South Carolina billionaire. The search by HBC directors for a buyer for Canada’s largest chain of department stores ended when they agreed to accept a $980m (£549m, e794m) offer from Jerry Zucker, a Charleston financier and HBC minority shareholder. Zucker, 55, has holdings in chemical and textile companies and in South Carolina’s Stingrays hockey team. He has promised to continue operating the unprofitable group. But the purchase by an American of a company so long and deeply...

My note: With all of the garbage we hear about the politicization of commencement addresses, this one is absolutely perfect. There were 5 ceremonies at Madison, and he spoke at 4 of them. I got to see one of the "performances" because his movies (Airplane!, KFM) are a personal favorite of mine, and I decided to go. Here's the transcript: University of Wisconsin-Madison Spring Commencement Kohl Center May 17 and 18, 2003 Thank you Chancellor Wiley, distinguished platform party, friends, guests and the very reason for our presence here today — the members of the class of 2003. Before I...