Peter Cook & Dudley Moore ROAST American Accents (feat. Kirk Douglas) | The Dick Cavett Show

[00:00:01]I'm curious about the thing you were telling me earlier what how did it become known that you were not popular there on the Australian show? Did people call in and and say get those two awful people off the air or what?

[00:00:11]>> There was no reaction from the public at all. It entirely a decision made by the Australian Broadcasting Board of Control.

[00:00:17]>> Just a small group of >> people who said uh You know, I think really they needed to do something that looked rather powerful at the time. They'd been criticized for not exercising any uh and I thought I think they felt that it was a good moment, you know.

[00:00:31]>> Or else they were drunk. I don't know.

[00:00:33]They went away then.

[00:00:34]>> Yeah.

[00:00:35]>> Do you realize how things in England have changed? Now, years ago I would have been dressed like Peter and Dudley and they would have been dressed like I am. Now, here we are from England. They're dressed like Americans and I'm dressed like what we think of as an English.

[00:00:48]>> I think I think you look superbly turned out, Kurt.

[00:00:54]I think you're a credit to your nation, which he got wrong.

[00:00:57]And I much prefer this sort of dress. I wish I could afford it.

[00:01:04]>> And you, sir?

[00:01:05]>> Well, sir, I yeah, I used to wear exclusively, I remember years ago, sort of suits and ties and things, but I I suppose I never do now. I I find it very uh difficult to put them on.

[00:01:17]So much of it, you know.

[00:01:19]>> Yeah, it's difficult.

[00:01:24]What kind of Englishman is that? I hear that all the time and what you would say.

[00:01:27]>> You don't know.

[00:01:31]>> Well, I mean, I I meant what class of accent was that you were just doing?

[00:01:34]>> Well, that's um >> That sounded rather >> Well, it's puff class, isn't it? Isn't it?

[00:01:37]>> It's puff.

[00:01:38]>> Oh, you don't Maybe the word No, the word puff doesn't um >> Yeah, that means nothing.

[00:01:42]>> exist over here. Pardon?

[00:01:43]>> Yeah, it means nothing here.

[00:01:44]>> It means Well, it means um camp.

[00:01:47]>> Uh-huh.

[00:01:47]>> Um I don't know how to Hold on.

[00:01:52]Maybe >> Homosexual would be the word.

[00:01:55]>> Yes.

[00:01:56]>> Well, it's sort of it's a theatrical sort of voice, shall we say?

[00:02:00]But you do hear that and then there's a Well, a lot of English accents sound effeminate to Americans, you know.

[00:02:05]WELL, YEAH.

[00:02:12]>> JESUS.

[00:02:13]>> NO, I'M NOT KIDDING YOU. YES.

[00:02:16]NO.

[00:02:17]>> I MUST admit I must admit I I must admit I I I do sound rather effeminate.

[00:02:23]>> When you're talking to Now you're on your high horse.

[00:02:27]>> Actually, I find maybe I can't hear properly, but American accents seem to have a sort of a more I mean, apart from the differences between South and North, there's a there's a more level sort of sound. I mean, in in England, you get you really do get a working class sound. Are you trying to say Manhattan is >> Just not as big a range of dialects.

[00:02:45]>> No, it doesn't seem And yet somebody said the other day about somebody, "That's a real New York accent." And I couldn't tell. But maybe it's a maybe it's a question of getting used to the sound. It's something maybe that in reverse makes English comedy on TV not palatable to American audiences, you know. American audiences often find it difficult to follow English accents. And I never know why, because we don't really have any difficulty following an American accent at all.

[00:03:12]Is it >> Americans have a notoriously bad ear for dialect or somehow or for understanding foreign accents. I've had guests on that I I thought I understood perfectly, but people say we didn't know what he was talking about. I mean, because of the accent. But then >> I mean, they have subtitles all the time.

[00:03:27]>> I doubt that.

[00:03:28]>> But you say that English television is not palatable that we don't like English television.

[00:03:33]On the contrary, when you think of All in the Family, Sanford and Son, and I think there's another movie another TV show that's been taken from English >> But they haven't seen over here, have they?

[00:03:44]>> But that English-speaking act >> But they've been made American.

[00:03:46]>> I mean, I >> But the but the situation >> situation, yeah, but not >> But the accent is >> Not the actual voice. Well, nobody would understand that that English people say.

[00:03:55]>> What do you mean?

[00:03:56]Are you trying to tell me you can't understand what I'm saying now?

[00:04:01]What I'm saying now is clear. It's Queen's English, isn't it?

[00:04:05]If you can't understand the Queen's English, you're you're in for problems.

[00:04:08]She speaks proper like.

[00:04:10]>> How does she speak proper?

[00:04:11]>> My husband and I she does all right.

[00:04:13]>> What is her accent like?

[00:04:14]>> My husband and I would like to this Christmas tide wish you a nation and all that.

[00:04:21]>> Oh, now I understand.

[00:04:22]>> Yeah, right. The Queen speaks that way.

[00:04:24]>> Yeah, she speaks like that, doesn't she?

[00:04:26]Well, when she's in the betting shop, yeah.

[00:04:28]>> What?

[00:04:29]>> In the betting shop, the off-course betting, yeah.

[00:04:32]>> That's that's the first newspaper the Queen reads is a newspaper in England called the Sporting Life which is just a guide to the day's racing.

[00:04:42]>> How do you >> How do I know that?

[00:04:44]>> Yes.

[00:04:45]>> I'm not going to give away I'm not going to give away the little thing which went on with the Queen.

[00:04:53]>> Well, no, I happen to know that the Queen speaks much differently than that, but there's what they call an upper class accent in England, but it's not the accent that the Queen has. You know, people say, "Let me say right away."

[00:05:04]And that isn't the accent that the royal family has.

[00:05:07]>> She has a slightly strangulated sort of tone.

[00:05:10]Uh which in fact came in for a lot of public criticism.

[00:05:13]And she's sort of made it a a little more palatable to English people, but it It's just very high breeding that does it.

[00:05:23]I mean, I don't know if Secretariat talks different from other horses, but um >> Probably. Are you fans I mean, are you appreciated by the royal family?

[00:05:31]Everybody sees everybody on British television. The whole country sees you and Do you Have you ever heard from them?

[00:05:36]Would you >> We've been told that um they watch us and like us and Princess Margaret certainly is is a is a fan. Like she comes to the show and does things like that, but uh uh >> Must have been out >> So, what's the scandal that's going to come out of London? There's a medium, is it in this country or your country, who's been pre- not a medium, but a clairvoyant, who said there's going to be a big scandal even bigger than the Profumo scandal, which would mean a a sex scandal of some kind, which seem to always have in England.

[00:06:07]Uh Do you know about this? A lady is predicting this. Uh Has it hit the papers over there?

[00:06:14]>> No, there's I've I've had no news of a big scandal coming out in England.

[00:06:19]Um what could I predict would be the next big The big scandals we have, the really big scandals, are very much hushed up. You don't read about them. Uh the press has far less freedom than over here. The libel laws are very stringent. You couldn't possibly perpetrate the sort of leak that comes out in this country, say about Agnew.

[00:06:43]Um the inspired leaks, that the newspaper wouldn't be on the stand. You couldn't You couldn't prejudge anybody.

[00:06:52]I'm not saying that's good or bad. I've I I would prefer a much freer press in England.

[00:06:58]I like the press here.

[00:06:59]>> But don't you think the press in England is quite free? I mean, it's They're quick to say Not on that point though.

[00:07:05]Apparently, they have to be extremely careful >> on the governmental level, but on a personal level of of saying things about people. I mean, they're quick to to say if there's any a bit of gossip or anything.

[00:07:15]>> Oh, gossip, they do. And which is one good thing about the American press is that there seems to be a sort of tacit agreement that say a politician is involved in a minor way, like Lord Lambton was or Lord Jellicoe was, who were both fired from the British government cuz they'd been to a call girl.

[00:07:33]Now, that would be a matter of total unimportance to the American press.

[00:07:37]They'd know about it, but they wouldn't print it.

[00:07:40]And And they're very right not to print it because um unless he's a madman it's not going to affect his competence.

[00:07:48]And in fact I think Lord Lambton was very unfairly treated because um he's a busy man and the reaction in England was a lot of saying that here's this very attractive man and he knows a lot of people, he knows a lot of society ladies and so on. So why doesn't he go with them?

[00:08:08]Instead of instead of going to a prostitute. I think the answer is that he is a busy man. You go to a society lady, you take her out to dinner, you take her to the theater and eventually perhaps after a great deal of conversation um I wonder if you'd be interested in you've had a perfectly nice evening and whereas Lord Lambton spent half an hour and then he get back to the BUSINESS OF GOVERNMENT.

[00:08:36]IT'S TRUE. THEY REALLY UH >> HE WAS SAVING THE people time and money.

[00:08:40]That's they should have they should have decorated him. We have a message and we'll be back.