Роджер Эберт назвал «Рыбу по имени Ванда» самым смешным фильмом за долгое время

There are two things I’ll always remember about the immensely funny A Fish Called Wanda. The first is that my wife and I happened to be in Melbourne, Australia when the film was released, and we got to see it in a cinema there. The second is a sub-plot where, as an unintended consequence of an inept hit man trying to bump a woman off, a bunch of yappy little dogs go to meet their maker in some pretty hilarious ways. Roger Ebert seems to have found it memorable as well: “A Fish Called Wanda” is the funniest movie I have seen in a long time; it goes on the list with “The Producers,” “This is Spinal Tap” and the early Inspector Clouseau movies. One of its strengths is its meanspiritedness. Hollywood may be able to make comedies about mean people (usually portrayed as the heroes), but only in England are the sins of vanity, greed and lust treated with the comic richness they deserve. “A Fish Called Wanda” is sort of a mid-Atlantic production, with flawless teamwork between its two American stars (Curtis and Kline) and its British Monty Python veterans (Cleese and Palin). But it is not a compromise; this is essentially a late-1950s-style British comedy in which the Americans turn up to do and say all of the things that would be appalling to the British characters. The movie was directed by Charles Crichton, who co-wrote it with Cleese. Crichton is a veteran of the legendary Ealing Studio, where he directed perhaps its best comedy, “The Lavender Hill Mob.” He understands why it is usually funnier to not say something, and let the audience know what is not being said, than to simply blurt it out and hope for a quick laugh. He is a specialist at providing his characters with venal, selfish, shameful traits and then embarrassing them. And he is a master at the humiliating moment of public unmasking, as when Cleese the barrister, in court, accidentally calls Curtis “darling.” The movie involves an odd, ill-matched team of jewel thieves led by Tom Georgeson, a weaselly thief who is locked up in prison along with the secret of the jewels. On the outside, Palin, Kline and Curtis plot with and against each other, and a great deal depends on Curtis’ attempts to seduce several key defense secrets out of Cleese. Cinematic trailer for A Fish Called Wanda. And now, on to this evening’s puzzle. Below are links to an on-line board to help you work the puzzle, and the solution. But don’t peek at the answer until you’ve made an honest attempt to solve the puzzle, or you’ll spoil the fun! White to move and mate in two. The chess puzzle is published on Sundays, Tuesdays, and Thursdays. It is customary for advanced players to wait till midnight ET before posting the full solution. Before then, they provide some stats about the solution (e.g., the number of distinct checkmate moves), help guide others, and sometimes post hints. But, there are no hard-and-fast rules, feel free to post comments as you please.