“I wanted to become a detective, too. It only took brains, courage, and a gun — and I had a gun.”
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Review: Redeeming Qualities and Moments:
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“People can do funny things for 30 million dollars — even brothers!”
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Unfortunately, apart from a few reasonably inspired comedic sequences, the bulk of the film is only mildly amusing, and Lewis’s impersonations truly come across more like caricatures than the real-life protagonists demanded by the plot (after all, thirty million dollars are at stake here!). The primary draw of the film is Donna Butterworth as Lewis’s young charge — she’s refreshingly natural, and holds her own admirably. Note: If you’re curious to see a list of films featuring actors playing multiple roles, click here (though this Wikipedia entry is by no means complete, given that I had to add Family Jewels myself). Redeeming Qualities and Moments:
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“I’m Charley’s aunt, from Brazil — where the nuts come from.”
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— quickly becomes rather repetitive and tiresome, and Bolger’s broadly comedic acting style (which probably worked wonderfully on stage) ultimately is too close to caricature. However, there’s enough here for film fanatics to enjoy to make it worth a look — primarily the opportunity to see Bolger’s inimitable, Scarecrow-like dancing style in action. The tunes are also mostly jaunty and memorable (fans of movie musicals will be pleasantly surprised), and Allyn Ann McLerie (reprising her role from the Broadway production) is an enjoyable — if improbable — romantic partner for the 48-year-old (!) Bolger.
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“This is a story of long, long ago — when the world was just beginning.”
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… whose poster from this film adorned the walls of teenage boys worldwide back in 1966″ (and earned revived notoriety when it played an essential role in The Shawshank Redemption). It’s also enjoyed by fans of the great Ray Harryhausen, whose stop-motion animation of several different dinosaurs — including a scene in which Welch is “carried off by a pterodactyl” — remains the film’s primary legitimate selling point (though it unfortunately [?] simply adds to the film’s ridiculous ahistoricity).
It’s astonishing to contemplate the fact that producer Michael Carreras rewrote a script that was “conceived by three writers”, given that there’s no dialogue (other than characters occasionally grunting each other’s names) — what could they possibly have been working on??
Despite its many shortcomings, however, at least this campy remake isn’t quite as deathly dull as its predecessor — though that’s really not meant as an endorsement of any kind. Redeeming Qualities and Moments:
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“There’s an awful lot of kooks in this hotel.”
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Meanwhile, Lewis pokes some good fun at his own celebrity by appearing in cameo in one of the film’s most genuinely amusing vignettes, as an entourage of assistants clamors around “real” Lewis like a horde of rabid groupies, laughing hysterically each time he opens his mouth to say a word.
(Clearly, Lewis was a tad sensitive about being expected to be “be funny” at all times; this is evident as well in the lengthy and revealing interview he gave with Dick Cavett in 1969 — check YouTube to see this in chunks). What works about so many of the gags here, I think, is how random and/or surreal they are — and, thankfully, how Lewis rarely lingers too long before moving on. In one of many throwaway scenes, for instance, Stanley is busy sorting keys into guests’ mailboxes, and apparently has been doing such a slow job of it that he’s still not done after an hour. He’s yelled at to finish, and hastily throws the remaining keys willy-nilly into the boxes.
The next shot immediately shows a hallway full of guests wrangling simultaneously with their doors, none having been given the correct key. It’s amusing simply because it defies all rationality — that is, the guests would never all be trying at the same time to open their doors.
Interestingly, in his review, Peary complains about this very fact, noting that “in subsequent films Lewis would learn that his character works best in an otherwise orderly world; here the world he inhabits would be wacky without him”. I disagree. It’s the very “wackiness” of the Fontainebleau Hotel and its inhabitants, I feel, that works in this film’s favor. Just check out the reaction of the entire crew of bellboys when a convention of models walks into the hotel, and you’ll see exactly what I mean… Stanley is not alone.
Note: Be sure to read TCM’s article on the film to learn more about its interesting production, and Lewis’s ground-breaking technique of videotaping alongside his primary camera to get immediate feedback on his work. Redeeming Qualities and Moments:
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“If we should ever separate, my little plum, I want to give you just one bit of fatherly advice: never give a sucker an even break!”
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and ordering lavishly garnished hotdogs he has no intention of paying for. Meanwhile, Hudson does a fine job retaining our sympathy in a tricky role which requires her to exhibit both charming innocence and unconditional love towards a father she knows to be a shyster. Unfortunately, the entire narrative upon which the film is based — particularly Hudson’s “scandalizing” cross-class romance with Cromwell — is both weak and stale; there’s really nothing new under the sun here. This one is primarily worth a look simply to see a few instances of Fields doing what he does best: conning the world, one scam at a time. Note: I really do believe Fields was at his best in con-man roles, rather than the other archetype he often inhabited: that of a henpecked martyr. Redeeming Qualities and Moments:
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“I’m not attracted to her — the whole thing’s publicity!”
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Review: Unfortunately, while Tashlin is reasonably effective (as always) at skewering various obsessions of the ’50s (busty blondes, corporate success), the film as a whole isn’t entirely successful. Mansfield’s Rita Marlowe is far less sympathetic than her Jerri Jordan in TGCHI, coming across here as much more of a “pure” caricature — and her shrill imitation of Marilyn Monroe’s squeal quickly gets on one’s nerves. Meanwhile, the film’s denouement is a bit of a disappointment; it appears that Tashlin doesn’t quite know where to take his narrative or his characters. Nonetheless, given that this film was “selected for preservation in the United States National Film Registry by the Library of Congress as being ‘culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant'”, all film fanatics will surely be curious to check it out at least once. Redeeming Qualities and Moments:
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“The not-so-handsome ones — they make the best husbands, you know. Other women don’t want them.”
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and between Lewis and MacLaine (who is surprisingly annoying, rather than endearing, in one of her earliest roles).
Meanwhile, the storyline really begins to falter once a Cold War-era “secret formula” spy plot — with Eva Gabor as a sexy foreign agent — enters the picture.
Ultimately, by its zany slapstick/musical ending, Artists and Models has worn out its welcome — but it’s still worth a look during its first half. Note: Watch for some interesting homosexual tension between Martin and Lewis (evident in all their films together, but especially prominent here): Martin literally threatens to “divorce” Lewis; Lewis gives Martin a series of kisses on behalf of several people. Redeeming Qualities and Moments:
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(Listed in 1001 Movies You Must See Before You Die) Links: |
“If we can make a soldier out of a man with that kind of a record, it will pave the way for the Bixbys of tomorrow.”
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though in this case he also happens to be a savant of sorts, with a photographic memory and the ability to utilize said memory to grapple with complex mechanical concerns — thus leading to the film’s “exotic” second half, taking place in a sound-stage simulation of Morocco where Peter Lorre truly embarrasses himself in a demeaning bit role as an Arab baddie.
Meanwhile, feeble attempts at anti-feminist humor are doused liberally throughout, primarily at the expense of poor Kirk, whose romantic attraction to Wayne is surely one of the least convincing couplings ever attempted.
I suppose fans of the comic book series might be curious to see how its central protagonist is transformed into a flesh-and-blood character — but I doubt they’ll be very pleased. Redeeming Qualities and Moments: Must See? Links: |
“Okay, Hollywood — here we come!”
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and Lewis “feeling lucky” and winning oodles of money at a craps table):
— it’s ultimately (like the rest of the Lewis and Martin films I’ve seen so far) a mixed comedic bag, one which eventually wears out its welcome. The film’s most inspired moment — (pure Tashlin) comes fairly early, when the duo are driving through the countryside, singing, and see sexy dames every which way who represent the joys of “country living”; it’s truly surreal, and worth the price of a rental alone.
Note: Redheaded Pat Crowley (who I’d never seen before) is a refreshingly wholesome presence as Martin’s romantic lead; why didn’t her silver screen career go any further?
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