Three comedies from the 1960s: LOL

It seems that when you get in the mood for a comedy from the 60s, well, you just can't stop watching them. The other day I read over MC's blog about Come September (1961), a movie starring Rock Hudson and Gina Lollobrigida. I must confess something: when people talked about Miss Lollobrigida, I imagined she was a brainless actress, only famous because of her physical attractiveness.

I had never seen her on anything, so it was a great surprise to discover a fine performer with excellent comedy timing. I won't review Come September, you can read MC's post, but I will talk a bit about my second Gina Lollobrigida film. And then I'll review a classic I hadn't seen AND another Mitchumovie.

Buona sera. Mrs Campbell (Melvin Frank, 1968)

I wanted to check another movie from Gina, so I googled and someone mentioned Buona Sera, Mrs. Campbell as one of his favorites. I watched it. Now, we're gonna make this post a little more interactive, OK? Guess the movie: a woman in a small European town had a daughter but doesn't know who is the father. There are three possibilities, all American guys, and they show up all at once.

Any idea? You're right, Mamma Mia is based on a musical based on this film. What do you know! Of course that the story has differences, as Mrs. Campbell said to the local people that the father was an American colonel who died; and also made the three guys believe the daughter was theirs, so they supported her; and they travel to Europe with their families; and...whatever. The guys --Telly Savalas, Peter Lawford, Phil Silvers-- are not really attractive like the men in Mamma Mia (well, maybe Peter is), but they're really funny, most of the times.

Besides it has more room for a more realistic and human point of view of this difficult situation, without losing the comedy aspect, for example, the fear of being criticized by the local society is one of Gina's character motives for hiding the truth; the daughter suffers and confronts her mother when she founds out; one of the dads thinks of her Italian daughter as his proof of not being infertile, so the end is really emotive in this character's case. Gina is fun to watch and the script was perfect for her, because it allows her to show her Italian power in the comedy parts, combining it with sensibility in the most dramatic scenes. A fun little movie.

The great race (Blake Edwards, 1965)

I won't talk much about this Blake Edwards film, I guess most of you have seen it. This movie is constructed based on stereotypes. First, the characters: the hero (Tony Curtis), the feminist independent woman (Natalie Wood), the bad guy (Jack Lemmon), the bad guy's assistant, etc. Then, the different stages of the car race around the world are a parody of the movie genres: adventure, comedy (including slapstick), musical (loved the "karaoke" scene and the song), swashbuckler, romance, epic, etc. The result is a very entertaining, well-acted film, with music by Henry Mancini, in which you just have to enjoy the ride without asking questions.

What a way to go! (J. Lee Thompson, 1964)

I'll develop a point here. I know there are early parody films, like comedies starring Abbot and Costello, Bob Hope, etc, but seems like in the 60s the movie industry started parodying the movie industry using super stars. The great race is a (very elaborated) example. Paris when it sizzles (1964; Richard Quine), one of the...how should I say it?...less appreciated movies from Audrey Hepburn and William Holden, is another. If you don't take them for what they are you're gonna probably hate them. But, if you watch them considering this point, you might enjoy watching legends laughing at themselves, laughing at the way the industry works, laughing at how the movies are constructed and how they try to appeal to the public, etc. Watch Paris when it sizzles again, it's a great parody film IMO (yeah, I'm like the only person in the world who likes this movie).

What a way to go! is an even more obvious parody film. Shirley Maclaine is so lucky! She worked with Dick Van Dyke, Dean Martin, Gene Kelly,  Robert Mitchum AND Paul Newman speaking French...I mean, c'mon! (watch the behind scenes with super interesting material). Shirley starts remembering the life with her different husbands and it seems that every time she married a guy he got rich and then died.That's the plot. Really.

The cool thing about this movie is that each memory correspond to a type of film: silent, musical (with splendid music and choreography by Gene), French cinema (my gosh, a very tongue-in-cheek hot sequence with...Paul Newman), glamorous Hollywood movies (you have to see this sequence, you get tired of watching Shirley with a different amazing Edith Head dress in every take).

Maybe the plot is pretty weak, maybe some of the parodies are not very elaborated, but it was a fun film with an all-star cast to watch once.

Note: I wanted to post this entry last Friday, but a Coca-Cola truck cut the telephone wire and just today I got it repaired. "Open Happiness" my @·#.

Classic Films Comics

Since the post I was preparing this morning didn't turn out as I expected, here are some really funny comics I found yesterday. These were made by James Clayton from Reel Disappointing (you should check it):

LOL. Also, today I found this guest post over Kate Beatton's site (you should also check it: Hark! A Vagrant; her comics are about History, Literature and her life):

Do you know more comics about Classic Films?

Day 19- Who’d you like to party it up with in the afterlife

William Powell and Myrna Loy of course (yeah, I'm thinking really in Nick and Nora Charles). And Clark Gable and Carole Lombard. Lucille Ball and Desi Arnaz (he would be in charge of the music obviously). I'd invite Peggy Lee and Frank Sinatra to sing some of their hits. Gene Kelly, Fred Astaire, and Ginger Rogers to show some moves. Oh, oh, and Bette Davis and Joan Crawford :) I would go with Cary Grant so we two will laugh about all the craziness around, while S. Z. Sakall tell us some interesting gossip. Everyone would go —just like in Well, did you Evah? lyrics— "what a swell party this is!". 

Day 13- Classic movie you just couldn’t get into

Please stop dancing!!!

Yeah, I admit it, I just couldn't get into "An American in Paris"...I even can't get close to this movie without falling irremediably asleep. I think the story is terribly boring and predictable, but not only that, they forgot that you have to edit the films or maybe they fall asleep too while editing: it was a crime to leave that endless dance sequence at the end (yeah, I admit this too: I pressed FORWARD).

I know I'm sounding like a brainless girl and in my defense I have to say that I generally enjoy watching Gene Kelly dance, I enjoy watching Leslie Caron dance, but interpreting choreographies with sense, with a sense of cinematography. It's like what Hitch said about theater on screen: it doesn't make sense to put it just like that as a movie, go to the theater instead. And in this case, if I want to see ballet, I go and I see it on stage, and not at the end of a slow movie.
I'm really sorry if you love "An American in Paris", because I hate when people write harsh words about the films I enjoy.
I think that's all for now.
Oh, come back this weekend. Maybe I'm gonna have a surprise for you. 

"Cover girl" (1944) or why musicals should be more than dance sequences

Cover Girl (Charles Vidor, 1944)

Who's in it: Rita Hayworth + Gene Kelly

What it's about: A dancer (Rita) must choose between staying with her boyfriend/boss (Gene) or being a famous dancer in Brodway and marrying a millionaire...

The good: There are some great musical numbers (my favorites were Gene dancing with his reflection on the street and "Put me to the test"); Rita is really good in this one, has some great scenes (like the interview for being a cover girl and her drunk scene); Eve Arden (she played Mildred's friend in "Mildred Pierce") is hilarious at some points. 

The bad: the story wasn't very attractive; Phil Silvers's character (Genius) was really unnecessary and boring and he was like in every scene; the whole story about Rita's grandma seemed to be there just to pad out the movie; it felt kind of long; I didn't get why Gene didn't allow Rita to be a cover girl (I mean he wasn't exactly training the girls for the National Ballet Competition). 

Should I see it? Hard to say, I wouldn't see it again complete, but I loved some scenes.