Frasier, the Sensuous Lion

I was an extra in the opening scene. I walked across the screen, right in front of the camera with a girlfriend.

When Frasier Came to Lion Country, an American safari park, he was 19 years old, old for a lion, could barely move, and his tongue was hanging out all the time.

The lionesses there had rejected several young healthy lions but they liked Frasier. They protected him, brought him food, and even held him up when he walked by leaning on him. He then sired a number of cubs that would be startling impressive for any stud lion.

After Frasier became national news they made the movie. No rating because I haven't seen it, but I remember seeing The real Frasier on TV network news.

After he died of pneumonia a necropsy showed all his organs were healthy. Except his lungs, I suppose.

Professor Marvin Feldman (Michael Callan) loves animals more than the beings of the human race, including his students. He lives at home with his overbearing mother who calls his prized Amazonian parrot a "fancy chicken". Fortuitously, Marvin gets a chance to spend some time with an wildlife refuge in California. There, he is introduced to Frazier, an older lion whose virility is still amazing. One day, Marvin travels alone to observe the lions when Frazier starts to talk with him...in English. Once word gets out that the king of the beasts is communicating with a human, the spotlight shines on the animal sanctuary. Does Frazier have something to tell and teach to the supposedly superior beings of this planet?

Although the old-fashioned quality of this film might not appeal to everyone, those who love animals and gentle humor will be charmed by it's easygoing nature. Callan is a dear as the shy professor and Frazier a delight. While the costumes and settings are nondescript, the movie has a Disney-like quality that is rare in the 21st century. Perhaps a bit sophisticated for the youngest viewers, it nevertheless is a family friendly movie that pours on the charm.

if you're a fan of: Franz Kafka Hitchcock Georges Bataille Orson Welles William Burroughs m. De Sade Pasolini Jodorowski Mystic Pizza Mork from Ork

YOU MUST SEE THIS MOVIE!!!!!!

A little known masterpiece with much to teach us about the human race. He was only a lazy lion, but he was the lazy lion who let us learn to laugh about love again. Who knew, it could be so sweet to have tears brought to ones eyes, first through laughter, sadness, joy, then through loss, understanding and finally total enlightenment, the film takes us on a journey beyond life and death, through art, dreams, nature, and finally, most movingly, silence. The lion was so cool like if Donkey from Shrek and Mufasa mixed with George Burns' wit, Sartre's wisdom, Charles Bronson's sense of humour, and Ethan Hawke's dignity. In fact I have only seen a better film twice, and even then, the first time I was sick, the second time my hat blew off. Oh, no that was sailing.

99/10