An impressive array of talent might lead one to believe that this is a film worth watching. In actuality, it is not. William Holden's last film appearance is wasted here. Robert Preston and a slew of other notables are part of an ensemble that has little to recommend it, primarily due to a Blake Edwards script that seems to be reverse-engineered around one small incident.
When the film was released, all the hype was about Julie Andrews---the G-rated icon---exposing her bubbies. Husband Blake seems to have written his script around that scene, and it shows. It's an interesting case of art imitating life or actually being life, but this is a script with no subtlety or soul. It can accurately be called a black comedy, but unless your brand of humor lionizes films like "Weekend at Bernie's", which might actually be funnier, you might want to skip this one.
The target of this dark humor is Hollywood itself, and Blake skewers the industry for its superficiality, where everything is secondary to success, even death or divorce. And PR is even more important than success. A town that prizes public images does not value authenticity.
But Blake's style is too broad, too obvious to entertain much. Unless you think Robert Vaughn in heels and a corset is profoundly funny and symbolic, there are other films that do it better. But those films don't have Julie baring her cinematic soul.
I have to say that I like Julie Andrews in this film, despite the broad vaudevillity of her performance (as directed, no doubt), but her performance leads to an anticlimax after all the hoopla of the film (and the press that came before the film's release).
When the film was released, all the hype was about Julie Andrews---the G-rated icon---exposing her bubbies. Husband Blake seems to have written his script around that scene, and it shows. It's an interesting case of art imitating life or actually being life, but this is a script with no subtlety or soul. It can accurately be called a black comedy, but unless your brand of humor lionizes films like "Weekend at Bernie's", which might actually be funnier, you might want to skip this one.
The target of this dark humor is Hollywood itself, and Blake skewers the industry for its superficiality, where everything is secondary to success, even death or divorce. And PR is even more important than success. A town that prizes public images does not value authenticity.
But Blake's style is too broad, too obvious to entertain much. Unless you think Robert Vaughn in heels and a corset is profoundly funny and symbolic, there are other films that do it better. But those films don't have Julie baring her cinematic soul.
I have to say that I like Julie Andrews in this film, despite the broad vaudevillity of her performance (as directed, no doubt), but her performance leads to an anticlimax after all the hoopla of the film (and the press that came before the film's release).