Of all the Muppet films, The Great Muppet Caper is probably the one I've seen the most. Along with Muppet Treasure Island, it was a film that my siblings and I would routinely borrow from our local public library when we were growing up. It's one of the movies I could probably recite line-by-line. It's also easily the funniest of the eight theatrical films.
Of course, the Muppet performers are all in top form but a lot of credit for this has to go the the human actors. For one thing you have the incomparable Diana Rigg as Lady Holiday. Her dry sense of humor contrasts wonderfully with all the zaniness around her. Charles Grodin, playing her brother Nicky ("an irresponsible parasite") is wonderfully over-the-top, and he plays the character's absurd infatuation with Miss Piggy with a hilarious earnestness. Both actors play brilliantly off of each other and off of their Muppet co-stars, as do many of the more minor players. Of course it helps that this film features the two greatest cameos in movie history from John Cleese and Peter Falk.
The real key to the films success however is its script, by Muppet regular Jerry Juhl along with Jack Rose (an Academy Award nominated veteran of classic Hollywood comedies) and Tom Patchett and Jay Tarses (who both worked on The Bob Newhart Show and The Carol Burnett Show). Combining running jokes, sight gags, non sequiturs, and absurd (often fourth-wall breaking) humor, The Great Muppet Caper represents the Muppet's at the height of their comedic power. When I was a kid watching Beauregard driving like a madman around London was the funniest thing ever. Now I can appreciate how sharp the screenplay really is and the jokes that went over my head as a kid ("It's plot exposition it has to go somewhere.", "My wife isn't feeling very well...") are the ones I laugh the hardest at now.
Of course, like its predecessor, the film constantly breaks the fourth wall. As I mentioned in my review of that film, this maintains the meta slight-of-hand that helped make the Muppets feel real. The Great Muppet Caper does this somewhat more effortlessly then its predecessor, and the Muppets drift in and out of character seamlessly at different points throughout the film. Just watch the scene where Kermit and Piggy get into a heated argument in front of the duck pond and slip into a behind-the-scenes dispute ("I am playing 800 different emotions." "Well, try to play one of them right"). It's just brilliant writing.
The Great Muppet Caper is generally more focused on sending up Hollywood clichés then the The Muppet Movie was. That film used the template of a road trip movie to tell the story of how the Muppets got together whereas this is essentially a heist film with elements of film noir romances and classical Hollywood musicals thrown in for good measure. It is clear that Jim Henson and co. had a love for this kind of genre fare. This is most obvious in some of the films more impressive musical numbers. "The First Time It Happens" channels Busby Berkely while "Piggy's Fantasy" hearkens back to the so-called "aquamusicals" of Esther Williams.
The songs, by Joe Raposo (who worked on both Sesame Street and The Muppet Show), are not as memorable as Paul Williams and Kenneth Ascher's music for The Muppet Movie, but Raposo does a respectable job following in their footsteps nonetheless. The film opens with "Hey A Movie!", which sets the tone for the film's send-up of classical Hollywood cliches ("There'll be mystery and catastrophe. But it's all in fun, you paid the money, wait and see") and also sets the plot into motion as Kermit, Fozzie, and Gonzo (playing investigative reporters) are so busy with the opening number that the miss the jewel robbery, and all the other slapstick hijinks, occurring around them, prompting them to go to London to interview Lady Holiday, whose jewels are stolen, to redeem themselves in the eyes of their boss, Mr. Tarkanian (Jack Warden).
"Happiness Hotel", probably the films most memorable tune, introduces the rest of the Muppet gang as residents of the dilapidated London hotel where Kermit, Fozzie, and Gonzo are staying. "Steppin' Out With a Star" serves as kind of a love theme for Kermit, who channels Fred Astaire by dancing with a clothes rack. It transitions into a tercet with Gonzo and Fozzie as he agrees to let them come along on his "date". "Night Life" serves as an ironic accompaniment to Kermit and Piggy's first date, as they ride to the Dubonnet Club on Happiness Hotel bus while Dr. Teeth and the Electric Mayhem boogie away. Finally, the gentle "Couldn't We Ride" provides the often frantic film with a leisurely change of pace, as the Muppets take a bicycle ride through the London park after Kermit and Piggy resolve their differences.
In general, The Great Muppet Caper is more impressive in its production value then its predecessor, likely thanks to its bigger budget. The sets are much more elaborate and there is a much larger cast of extras. Much of the film was shot on location in England and Oswald Morris
cinematography is more crisp and polished looking then Isidore
Mankofsky's softer look for The Muppet Movie. After showing Kermit riding a bicycle in that film caused such a stir, Jim Henson, stepping into the directors chair for the sequel, took it even further this time
around, creating a complex system of rods, marionette wires and remote control bicycles for the scene wherein all the Muppets are seen bicycling at the same time. But it's in the "Piggy's Fantasy" number that they really pulled out all the stops, building a custom-made heated pool on the sound stage, giving Frank Oz scuba training, and designing special, water-resistant Miss Piggy puppets.
Yet, for all that, the film never loses that sense of whimsy and innocence which is at the heart of Jim Henson's creation. As Henson intended, this is a film that people of all ages can enjoy, from the young and wide-eyed to the old and jaded. Like its predecessor, The Great Muppet Caper is a true family film.
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