The Happening (1967)
4/10
"I'm hungry."
4 December 2021
Warning: Spoilers
That's the opening line for the special billed "and introducing Faye Dunaway" who wakes up next to daddy o dearest Michael Parks, surrounded by a network of down-fallen children. She's pondering what she's going to do when all of a sudden it's very apparent as the cops storm their camp and they're all out of there. "Rob a house. Any house", she suggests as they make their getaway by boat with the help of extraordinary seaman George Maharis. Faye and her gang who's everything but wire hangers in their battle with a bunch of kids when they find the destination of the house they're going to rob, the home of Anthony Quinn, a retired mobster whom they end up holding for ransom that no one seems to care about paying.

It's a mod, mod, mod, mod world here, with the presence of Milton Berle, and along with Martha Hyer as Quinn's wife and a truly groovy background score, this is truly a wild ride as far as 60's hip comedies go. Dunaway looks quite different than she would later the same year in both "Hurry Sundown" and "Bonnie and Clyde", and the controversial future star actually seems to be having a lot of fun in making this. The Miami locations are gorgeous and the pacing is fast and frenetic.

Then there's the presence of a snappy Supremes song which, a real shocker, did not get an Oscar nomination. Quinn looks very buff wearing just pajama bottoms, and his last name ("Delmonico") is another humorous aspect. Another newcomer is Robert Walker Jr., the son of the famous late actor and Jennifer Jones, highly resembling his dad. Veteran actors Oscar Homolka and Jack Krushen are also featured in this film that while far from good or a camp classic is easy to enjoy as a guilty pleasure.
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