This is a really bizarre movie. Although festooned with the official Academy Awards logo and crammed full of fancy cars and houses, the film looks and feels cheap. Although it lists on its credits the brilliant and acclaimed sci-fi writer Harlan Ellison (who, around this time, won an Emmy for his Star Trek script) and gifted vet Russell Rouse (whose "D.O.A." was an actual Oscar surprise in 1950, the film boasts of nothing more than a poverty of imagination. Although it features all kinds of celebrities playing themselves, such as Edith Head, Hedda Hopper, and Merle Oberon, and although it has some of the best character actors playing supporting roles, including Milton Berle, Peter Lawford, Eleanor Parker, Jack Soo, Walter Brennan, I mean the list goes on and on -- people who should not be in this movie, frankly -- its emotional center is a character played by a non-actor, Tony Bennett, and leading man Stephen Boyd plays it like a 2:00 soap opera. I mean, they could not have invested more in the support of this movie, and less in the leads.
Much respect to Mr. Bennett -- he's a wonderful singer and a great celebrity, but he does not look good in a movie. He looks kind of impish, his character is given nothing to do but complain, and the character is built on a contradiction -- he's a sensitive man, as we see in his early scenes with the stripper played by Jill St. John (another example of the movie's creativity) and yet he hangs out with this bizarre sociopath played by Boyd. Boyd's character is just incredible. The best scene in the movie is when he lurks behind a cabinet listening while an obese co-worker makes a pass at his girl (Elke Sommer, delivering a typically phonetic performance) and disses him, then comes around the corner and punches the guy in the nuts, whereupon the man makes a comical face, covers his mouth, and runs into the bathroom! And believe me, or don't, but this scene was actually NOT written as comedy! The movie is highly watchable, despite being such a disaster.... well, partly because it's a disaster, but also because the support is really excellent. Maybe sensing the "Oscar" in the air, both Berle and Parker deliver the goods, and the scene with Peter Lawford is touched with semi-autobiographical sorrow. Every two or three minutes if you keep your eyes open you'll see somebody interesting, at least to fans of Hollywood classics. But the drama is so over the top, with Boyd's performance coming off almost like a villain from the Batman TV show, I mean it's impossible to take the movie seriously for five minutes. I'm surprised Ellison allowed them to leave his name in the titles. Of all the films that have ripped him off and not given him credit, it's funny to think that his name is actually on this steaming pile.
By the way, at least I learned something from the movie -- I'd never seen a picture of Edith Head, much less footage of her, and I instantly realized that she is the basis for the character in "The Incredibles", the little woman who designs the superhero costumes. Costume designer, yeah.....
If you're in doubt.... see it. It's terrible, but in a uniquely 1960s American way.
Much respect to Mr. Bennett -- he's a wonderful singer and a great celebrity, but he does not look good in a movie. He looks kind of impish, his character is given nothing to do but complain, and the character is built on a contradiction -- he's a sensitive man, as we see in his early scenes with the stripper played by Jill St. John (another example of the movie's creativity) and yet he hangs out with this bizarre sociopath played by Boyd. Boyd's character is just incredible. The best scene in the movie is when he lurks behind a cabinet listening while an obese co-worker makes a pass at his girl (Elke Sommer, delivering a typically phonetic performance) and disses him, then comes around the corner and punches the guy in the nuts, whereupon the man makes a comical face, covers his mouth, and runs into the bathroom! And believe me, or don't, but this scene was actually NOT written as comedy! The movie is highly watchable, despite being such a disaster.... well, partly because it's a disaster, but also because the support is really excellent. Maybe sensing the "Oscar" in the air, both Berle and Parker deliver the goods, and the scene with Peter Lawford is touched with semi-autobiographical sorrow. Every two or three minutes if you keep your eyes open you'll see somebody interesting, at least to fans of Hollywood classics. But the drama is so over the top, with Boyd's performance coming off almost like a villain from the Batman TV show, I mean it's impossible to take the movie seriously for five minutes. I'm surprised Ellison allowed them to leave his name in the titles. Of all the films that have ripped him off and not given him credit, it's funny to think that his name is actually on this steaming pile.
By the way, at least I learned something from the movie -- I'd never seen a picture of Edith Head, much less footage of her, and I instantly realized that she is the basis for the character in "The Incredibles", the little woman who designs the superhero costumes. Costume designer, yeah.....
If you're in doubt.... see it. It's terrible, but in a uniquely 1960s American way.