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Ahoy, squirts! Quint here with today’s installment of A Movie A Day.
[For those now joining us, A Movie A Day is my attempt at filling in gaps in my film knowledge. My DVD collection is thousands strong, many of them films I haven’t seen yet, but picked up as I scoured used DVD stores. Each day I’ll pull a previously unseen film from my collection or from my DVR and discuss it here. Each movie will have some sort of connection to the one before it, be it cast or crew member.]
We kick off our Peter Sellers-A-Thon with WHAT’S NEW PUSSYCAT?, an incredibly silly, ridiculous, but utterly charming movie.
This film marks the screenwriting and screen-appearing debut of one Mr. Woody Allen. Now, I grew up not liking Woody Allen movies… at least in my mind. I think the only one I had watched all the way through in my childhood was SLEEPER and I greatly liked it, but the others… well, the bits I saw just went right over my head.
In my teen years, around the time I fell in love for the first time, I ended up dipping my toe into the Woody Allen waters again. This time I hit Vulcan Video, the great independent geek video store here in Austin, and walked out with a stack, including two that would ultimately change my mind on Allen and end up in my top 100 favorite films: MANHATTAN and THE PURPLE ROSE OF CAIRO.
I was old enough to get the humor, had enough patience to sit through his dramas and was rewarded accordingly.
So, right away the humor in this one was right up my alley, being a now decade long convert to the cult of Allen. And when you throw in a near slapstick performance by Peter O’Toole and a beautifully exaggerated German-accented turn by Peter Sellers and you have a movie that had me howling.
Don’t get me wrong, this movie is light as a feather, little substance to be had, but why the hell would you be looking for substance in a silly comedy and, more importantly, why would you be disappointed if you found none? The point of the movie is to make you laugh and I was laughing out loud (I refuse to use internet shorthand or slang… although I am very partial to the term LOLacaust…) from the very opening featuring a very long shot of a castle as Sellers argues with his wife, appearing in various windows, on outside staircases, etc.
Seller’s outfit, hair and German accent are f-bomb ridiculous. Ridiculous and hilarious. Seller’s giant Bavarian wife thinks he’s cheating on her and he’s not denying it. She demands to know if this girl is prettier than she is, Sellers screaming back at her “I am prettier than you!”
The domestic dispute lasts a good long time, actually, which makes it all the funnier, ultimately culminating in a wrestling match between the two, which is interrupted by an alarm clock. They stop, agreeing to pick up the fight later. It’s time for him to work.
This looney bastard, we come to find, is a psychiatrist and his first patient of the day is Peter O’Toole. On his first visit to the good Doctor we come to find that O’Toole has a rather unique problem. You see, when the light hits him a certain way, he’s kind of handsome, apparently, and as a result he fucks a whole lot. The problem is that he has a woman who loves him, whom he in turn loves, but she’s wanting marriage. With him being so damn good looking (in the right light, of course) he is used to crazy sexcapades and doesn’t believe he can settle down.
The irony here is that he goes to Sellers for help and Sellers becomes obsessed with O’Toole, who has the lifestyle he dreams for.
That’s the plot. There is one character arc in this movie and that’s O’Toole having to discover that he can find the will to resist temptation and stay true to the one girl who really loves him for him. Even that arc is made a joke of (O’Toole states his point of view change clearly, looking to the sky, nearly crying while “Author’s Message” flashes on the screen next to his head), but it’s a funny joke, so that’s fine.
The movie’s really an excuse to throw some of the most beautiful women at a trio of radically different men. O’Toole is desired by everybody, Sellers desires everybody and Woody Allen is his Woody Allen self… neurotic, fumbling. He has a thing for Romy Schneider, O’Toole’s true love, and Schneider indulges him as a means to raise jealousy in O’Toole.
Schneider is cuter than cute. It’s like if Dianne Wiest’s genes were spliced with Rachel Weisz’s… you just get a being of pure cuteness.
O’Toole’s other women show in the form of the radiant Capucine and Paula Prentiss. Prentiss is a stipper who is lusted after by everybody, including O’Toole. But, and I’ve been there, trust me, once O’Toole starts making headway with her he uncovers a psychopath. Every time his attention is turned away from her she strikes out, usually announcing that she’s going to the bathroom to overdose on sleeping pills… then does it.
That becomes a running gag in the film.
The point being is all the women O’Toole lusts after share two things in common. They’re all beautiful and they’re all insane.
This reaches a boiling point and O’Toole comes ot his realization, gets engaged to Schneider and puts his past behind him… and then the real trouble begins.
He goes on assignment (he’s a reporter for a fashion rag) at a secluded hotel, known for being a sex-spot. Every single character from the movie up to this point ends up there and the result is pure anarchy. Bit players show up, mean drunks, jealous husbands, horny girls, hornier guys… And to really twist the knife… after O’Toole swears to be faithful Ursula Andress literally falls out of the sky (parachuting) and lands in O’Toole’s passenger seat just as he’s arriving at the hotel.
And not only is it Andress, but it’s horny Andress who wants O’Toole. How cruel!
The finale is great and really puts a hugely entertaining cap on a really funny movie. And director Clive Donner was smart enough to force Ursula Andress to spend the entire final reel running around in her underwear. Bonus points.
O’Toole displays a different set of comic chops from yesterday’s HOW TO STEAL A MILLION, where he was more proper and subdued. He’s really shooting for the moon here and he had to. You can’t share the screen with Peter Sellers and downplay your bits or he’d get steamrolled by one of the funniest men to ever appear on the screen in his prime.
And this is Sellers’ movie, make no mistake. He has the confidence to fly completely off the handle here and the movie’s entertainment value all grows from his performance.
Final Thoughts: I know this isn’t the most respected of Sellers’ work, but I found it to be just as funny as all but the very best of the Panther films and funnier than most of the later Panthers. O’Toole is great, in a role supposedly based on Warren Beatty’s life… Hollywood legend states that Beatty hired Allen to work on this with him, but left when the producers wouldn’t let him cast his then girlfriend in the movie. Apparently, O’Toole’s character’s pet-name for all his girls, “Pussycat,” was Beatty’s term for his women. Crazy, huh? Also watch out for a really funny James Bond adlib by Sellers to Andress at one point. I think if you go into this movie wanting to laugh you’ll get everything you desire out of it. It’s a silly, silly, funny fun movie.
Here’s what we have lined up for the next week:
Thursday, December 11th: BEING THERE (1979)
Friday, December 12th: THE PARTY (1968)
Saturday, December 13th: CASINO ROYALE (1967)
Sunday, December 14th: THE STRANGER (1946)
Monday, December 15th: BROTHER ORCHID (1940)
Tuesday, December 16th: THE PETRIFIED FOREST (1936)
Wednesday, December 17th: MOONTIDE (1942)
Now on to one of the bigger gaps in my film education, Hal Ashby’s BEING THERE! See you folks later for that one!
-Quint
quint@aintitcool.com
Previous Movies:
June 2nd: Harper
June 3rd: The Drowning Pool
June 4th: Papillon
June 5th: Gun Crazy
June 6th: Never So Few
June 7th: A Hole In The Head
June 8th: Some Came Running
June 9th: Rio Bravo
June 10th: Point Blank
June 11th: Pocket Money
June 12th: Cool Hand Luke
June 13th: The Asphalt Jungle
June 14th: Clash By Night
June 15th: Scarlet Street
June 16th: Killer Bait (aka Too Late For Tears)
June 17th: Robinson Crusoe On Mars
June 18th: City For Conquest
June 19th: San Quentin
June 20th: 42nd Street
June 21st: Dames
June 22nd: Gold Diggers of 1935
June 23rd: Murder, My Sweet
June 24th: Born To Kill
June 25th: The Sound of Music
June 26th: Torn Curtain
June 27th: The Left Handed Gun
June 28th: Caligula
June 29th: The Elephant Man
June 30th: The Good Father
July 1st: Shock Treatment
July 2nd: Flashback
July 3rd: Klute
July 4th: On Golden Pond
July 5th: The Cowboys
July 6th: The Alamo
July 7th: Sands of Iwo Jima
July 8th: Wake of the Red Witch
July 9th: D.O.A.
July 10th: Shadow of A Doubt
July 11th: The Matchmaker
July 12th: The Black Hole
July 13th: Vengeance Is Mine
July 14th: Strange Invaders
July 15th: Sleuth
July 16th: Frenzy
July 17th: Kingdom of Heaven: The Director’s Cut
July 18th: Cadillac Man
July 19th: The Sure Thing
July 20th: Moving Violations
July 21st: Meatballs
July 22nd: Cast a Giant Shadow
July 23rd: Out of the Past
July 24th: The Big Steal
July 25th: Where Danger Lives
July 26th: Crossfire
July 27th: Ricco, The Mean Machine
July 28th: In Harm’s Way
July 29th: Firecreek
July 30th: The Cheyenne Social Club
July 31st: The Man Who Knew Too Much
August 1st: The Spirit of St. Louis
August 2nd: Von Ryan’s Express
August 3rd: Can-Can
August 4th: Desperate Characters
August 5th: The Possession of Joel Delaney
August 6th: Quackser Fortune Has A Cousin In The Bronx
August 7th: Start the Revolution Without Me
August 8th: Hell Is A City
August 9th: The Pied Piper
August 10th: Partners
August 11th: Barry Lyndon
August 12th: The Skull
August 13th: The Hellfire Club
August 14th: Blood of the Vampire
August 15th: Terror of the Tongs
August 16th: Pirates of Blood River
August 17th: The Devil-Ship Pirates
August 18th: Jess Franco’s Count Dracula
August 19th: Dracula A.D. 1972
August 20th: The Stranglers of Bombay
August 21st: Man, Woman & Child
August 22nd: The Little Girl Who Lives Down The Lane
August 23rd: The Young Philadelphians
August 24th: The Rack
August 25th: Until They Sail
August 26th: Somebody Up There Likes Me
August 27th: The Set-Up
August 28th: The Devil & Daniel Webster
August 29th: Cat People
August 30th: The Curse of the Cat People
August 31st: The 7th Victim
September 1st: The Ghost Ship
September 2nd: Isle of the Dead
September 3rd: Bedlam
September 4th: Black Sabbath
September 5th: Black Sunday
September 6th: Twitch of the Death Nerve
September 7th: Tragic Ceremony
September 8th: Lisa & The Devil
September 9th: Baron Blood
September 10th: A Shot In The Dark
September 11th: The Pink Panther
September 12th: The Return of the Pink Panther
September 13th: The Pink Panther Strikes Again
September 14th: Revenge of the Pink Panther
September 15th: Trail of the Pink Panther
September 16th: The Real Glory
September 17th: The Winning of Barbara Worth
September 18th: The Cowboy and the Lady
September 19th: Dakota
September 20th: Red River
September 21st: Terminal Station
September 22nd: The Search
September 23rd: Act of Violence
September 24th: Houdini
September 25th: Money From Home
September 26th: Papa’s Delicate Condition
September 27th: Dillinger
September 28th: Battle of the Bulge
September 29th: Daisy Kenyon
September 30th: Laura
October 1st: The Dunwich Horror
October 2nd: Experiment In Terror
October 3rd: The Devil’s Rain
October 4th: Race With The Devil
October 5th: Salo, Or The 120 Days of Sodom
October 6th: Bad Dreams
October 7th: The House Where Evil Dwells
October 8th: Memories of Murder
October 9th: The Hunger
October 10th: I Saw What You Did
October 11th: I Spit On Your Grave
October 12th: Naked You Die
October 13th: The Wraith
October 14th: Silent Night, Bloody Night
October 15th: I Bury The Living
October 16th: The Beast Must Die
October 17th: Hellgate
October 18th: He Knows You’re Alone
October 19th: The Thing From Another World
October 20th: The Fall of the House of Usher
October 21st: Audrey Rose
October 22nd: Who Slew Auntie Roo?
October 23rd: Wait Until Dark
October 24th: Dead & Buried
October 25th: A Bucket of Blood
October 26th: The Bloodstained Shadow
October 27th: I, Madman
October 28th: Return to Horror High
October 29th: Die, Monster, Die
October 30th: Epidemic
October 31st: Student Bodies
November 1st: Black Widow
November 2nd: The Ghost & Mrs. Muir
November 3rd: Flying Tigers
November 4th: Executive Action
November 5th: The Busy Body
November 6th: It’s A Mad Mad Mad Mad World
November 7th: Libeled Lady
November 8th: Up The River
November 9th: Doctor Bull
November 10th: Judge Priest
November 11th: Ten Little Indians
November 12th: Murder On The Orient Express
November 13th: Daniel
November 14th: El Dorado
November 15th: The Gambler
November 16th: Once Upon A Time In America
November 17th: Salvador
November 18th: Best Seller
November 19th: The Holcroft Covenant
November 20th: Birdman of Alcatraz
November 21st: The Train
November 22nd: Gunfight At The O.K. Corral
November 23rd: Mystery Street
November 24th: Border Incident
November 25th: The Tin Star
November 26th: On The Beach
November 27th: Twelve O’Clock High
November 28th: Gentleman’s Agreement
November 29th: Panic In The Streets
November 30th: The Hot Rock
December 1st: Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?
December 2nd: The Day of the Dolphin
December 3rd: Carnal Knowledge
December 4th: The Cincinnati Kid
December 5th: Pocketful of Miracles
December 6th: Mikey & Nicky
December 7th: Two-Minute Warning
December 8th: The Sentinel
December 9th: How To Steal A Million
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