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DVD What a Way to Go
People who cherish the post-Terms of Endearment, post-reincarnation phase of Shirley MacLaine's career might be surprised to discover just how sexy and kooky she was in a past life--that is, the first few years of her movie career. After the triumphs of Some Came Running and The Apartment, MacLaine had a run of starring roles, including this elaborate comedy vehicle. What a Way to Go! cast MacLaine as an unlucky bride whose husbands meet early deaths, leaving her wealthy but unhappy. Gimmick casting of the hubbies adds a bit of dash: Dick Van Dyke as a simple country storekeeper, Gene Kelly as a two-bit entertainer, bearded Paul Newman as a Brandoesque, bohemian painter in Paris. In the movie's best turn, Robert Mitchum gets to play a Howard Hughes character, and Dean Martin and Robert Cummings are around for the ride.
A flabbergasting parade of Edith Head outfits keeps MacLaine hopping, and each segment has a Hollywood fantasy based on MacLaine's vision of her passing marriages (silent comedy, sexed-up foreign flick, splashy musical). Typical of a certain kind of super-production of the era, the film is impressive rather than entertaining, busy rather than funny. Perhaps hiring J. Lee Thompson, who directed The Guns of Navarone, was not the best idea for this Comden-Green script. It snuck in as one of the top ten box-office grossers of 1964, and it has one great surrealist sequence where Gene Kelly orders his house and grounds to be painted entirely pink. --Robert Horton
This movie was so crazy it was fun. All the big name performers were totally against character and seemed to be enjoying the experience. Would recommend it for a laughable two hours.
Silly, empty headed fun - like cotton candy for the brain!
I must begin by saying that I am not a fan of Shirley MacLaine's early work. Her speaking voice is shrill, and I think the raves were mainly for her body. So it is worth noting that I LOVE "What a Way to Go." When an actress has a big name and longevity, there is ONE movie that you can point to and say, "Watch this movie, and you will know why she is a star." I feel this movie is that movie for Miss MacLaine.
She sings, she dances - move for move with Gene Kelly - and she carries this movie entirely on her frequently bare back. She throws herself 100% into every ridiculous costume change and situation, always self possessed, but not self concious. Here, her body is certainly made use of, the take-off on french art films is equally silly, sexy, and laughable ... but her over the top performance and humor lifts it all above the air-headed plot.
The film itself gets kudos from me because, like Miss MacLaine, it knows exactly what it is, is comfortable with that, and can laugh at itself. When she says, "it's like one of those big budget movies, all about love and what will she wear next" we know that there are no pretentions here. That is what THIS movie is. It is the quinessential movie celebrating being a GIRL. It also happens to pinpoint a rare moment in movie history between the tough women, and when the boys took over. It deserves it's very special pink DVD box. It is that unique.
Silly, slapstick, sometimes trying WAY too hard, but a great kick off your shoes, pile up the popcorn treat.
Dazzling 1960's Comedy Providing A Wonderful Showcase For Shirley MacLaine,
The brash, colourful, and totally extrovert comedy "What a Way to Go", starring the endlessly energetic Shirley Maclaine really is one of the last of the great studio comedies where meticulous attention was expended on every detail of the production. Despite having made better known films that were also more successful, rarely did Shirley MacLaine a born actess and dancer have a more perfectly tailored role than in this wacky fun filled comedy. Planned originally as a vehicle for the ailing Marilyn Monroe for 1962 after she completed the ill fated and sadly never completed "Somethings Got To Give", this project was never realised due to Monroe's sudden death. After receiving an expression of slight interest from Elizabeth Taylor the role then fell in to the lap of the woman who was absolutely best suited for the role and the results on screen prove it. With her battery of amazing leading men such as Paul Newman, Robert Mitchum, Dean Martin, Gene Kelly and Dick Van Dyke, Shirley MacLaine makes the end result a totally delightful frothy comedy that gets its memorable quality very much from the talents involved and from the wonderful care expended on every facet of the production by Twentieth Century Fox which in 1964 was still reeling from the financial woes caused by "Cleopatra"and badly needed a hit to pull it out of the financial doldrums.
Based on an amusing story by Gwen Davis, Shirley MacLaine plays the "eternal jinx", Louisa May Foster who as the story opens attempts to hand over a multi million dollar check as a donation to the American Government. The reason for this very strange action soon becomes all too clear as we learn the strange story of Louisa's journey through marriage to four husbands in her eternal search for the man who will just be happy with nothing and not want to become a big success. During her sessions with a psychiatrist Dr. Stephanson (Robert Cummings), Louisa relates each of her illfated marriages in turn from their supposedly simple happy beginnings to their tragic ends where each man becomes consumed by money and success which ends up costing him his life. We meet each of the husbands in turn; firstly simple Edgar Hopper (Dick Van Dyke) a man previously happy with his run down garage but who after being goaded by Louisa's wealthy beau Leonard Crawley (Dean Martin) as a failure, becomes the founder of Hopper's department stores that become a world wide success but which give Edgar a fatal heart attack. We then see Louisa travel to Paris where she meets and fall in love with ex patriot artist Larry Flint (Paul Newman) a wildly eccentric artist who doesn't paint to sell his works but who after marriage to Louisa discovers the magic of the painting machine which can turn out "masterpices", made to order. However success has its price when these very same painting machines that made him wealthy end up killing him in a tragic malfunction. On the way back to the States Louisa then becomes involved with the wealthy maple Syrup King Rod Anderson Jr.(Robert Mitcham), who in a cruel twist of fate while trying to adapt to the quiet simple life that Louisa craves is killed by a kicking bull on their quiet little farming spread. Husband No. 4 appears in th eform of second rate cabaret performer Pinky Benson who performs in a seedy night club in a clown act. At Louisa's suggestion one night he performs without makeup and suddenly his star quality is discovered which whisks him away to fame and fortune and a mansion done entirely in pink even down to the water in the pool! However fame has its drawbacks and just as Louisa realises she has jinxed her man again Pinky is trampled to death by his over zealous fans leaving her a widow for the fourth time. Just as she believes life has no meaning Louisa runs into Leonard Crawly now a simple janitor in her psychiatrist's office and love blooms yet again and despite a close call with "sudden wealth" again when an oil gusher on the farm turns out to be a ruptured pipe it looks like Louisa has finally found the simple life she has always craved.
I totally enjoyed this crazy comedy and found much to appreciate in each of the four husband's separate stories. Despite having very different screen personas I felt all the actors playing the husbands contributed something quite worthwhile in their stories and each had a believable (although short lived!) chemistry with Shirley MacLaine. Paul Newman I thought was an absolute standout in his very non traditional role of avante garde artist Larry Flint and it was a joy to see him in such a wildly uninhibited performance which is a side rarely seen in his work. Despite some people disliking his work in the film I thought Gene Kelly also did well as the sad clown performer Pinky Benson who finds stardom and "goes Holywood" right down to a pink mansion with pink water in the swimming pool. Dick Van Dyke who around this time enjoyed his greatest screen success in "Mary Poppins", was also another favourite of mine among the illfated husbands and brings his usual jovial charm to the role of husband No. 1 Edgar Hooper and his money making advertising slogan of "hop hop down to hop hop hoppers", is a jingle which I always find hard to get out of my mind after viewing this movie! Shirley MacLaine manages her character well through the demise of all her success driven husbands and the film does provide a dazzling showcase for her talents multi talents in comedy and dance when in clever flash back scenes she recalls each of her marriages in terms of a different film genre, for example a very funny silent film spoof for the Dick Van Dyke marriage, to an elaborate musical production number fittingly for the Gene Kelly sequence. All of this is packaged with truly opulent production values so typical of the at the time fast dying Old Hollywood studio system. Blessed with gorgeous colour photography and incredibly lavish sets and costumes for Shirley MacLaine the film was deservedly nominated for two Academy Awards for Edith Head for costume design and for Art/Set Direction but in the light of the "My Fair Lady", juggernaut that same year at the awards this film didn't win either unfortunately.
For a last glimpse at the Old style Hollywood form of movie making when star power spoke more than words on the screen "What a Way to Go!", makes delightful entertainment of the first order. Certainly the story is light and frothy and doesn't warrant any indepth examination however it is the stars first and foremost that make it memorable viewing. The casting of Shirley MacLaine as the much married Louisa was a totally suitable choice and it is due to her energy and gutsy playing alongside her various "husbands", that makes this such an enjoyable farce. For a slice of Hollywood glamour of the old school try and check out Twentieth Century Fox's lavish comedy "What a Way to Go!", soon.
Tony Ryder (Dean Martin) never took a real interest in his uncles publishing business until his uncle died. Now the rest of the board does not know what to expect. Luckily it looks like Tony is able to carry of the moral tradition of the magazine.
There is just one hitch, turns out the hotel detective reports that Uncle Rider died with a smile on his face and a woman clad in a towel was scene leaving the room. The only clue to her identity is an earring with the Chinese symbol for good.
Tony and the board brace themselves knowing that they are ripe for the picking (black mail) by this mysterious woman. If only they could find her and someone foil the plot.
This film was a long time coming let alone on DVD. You will want to watch it again once you... More Info about this DVD Director(s): Joseph Anthony (II) DVD Release Date: Released the 22 February 2005 Usually ships in 24 hours
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Doris Day was nearing her popular zenith, and Jack Lemmon just hitting his stride, when they teamed up for It Happened to Jane, a small-town comedy in the Capra vein. Doris is a widowed mom whose Maine lobster business is snarled by railroad tycoon Ernie Kovacs (hiding behind a skullcap and a huge cigar), the "meanest man in America." Her lawsuit against him, aided by lawyer-suitor Lemmon, gains national headlines. This is a curious movie: crucial scenes seem to have been left unwritten, while sequences involving Cub Scouts and an oddly impassioned Town Hall Meeting go on endlessly. Director Richard Quine was making some fun movies around this time (Bell, Book, and Candle), but the fizz is only intermittent here, mostly provided by Lemmon's jack-in-the-box youthfulness.... More Info about this DVD Director(s): Richard Quine DVD Release Date: Released the 22 February 2005 Usually ships in 24 hours
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This silky smooth film noir pits gruff police detective Dana Andrews, stiff and blunt in his street-bred manners, against a cultured columnist and acidic wit (Clifton Webb at his prissiest) in a battle of wits during a murder investigation. The cop is a romantic hiding under a hard-boiled exterior who falls in love with the beautiful victim through the portrait that hangs in her apartment. Gene Tierney, whose heart-shaped face mixes the exotic with the girl next door, brings the poise and calm of a model to her role as the object of every man's gaze and the target of a killer. Laura, handsomely shot in dreamy black and white, is the first and best of Otto Preminger's cool, controlled murder mysteries. In the gritty world of film noir it remains the most refined and elegant example... More Info about this DVD Actor(s): Gene Tierney - Dana Andrews Director(s): Rouben Mamoulian - Otto Preminger DVD Release Date: Released the 15 March 2005 Usually ships in 24 hours
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This glossy and sophisticated romp with Paul Newman and Joanne Woodward is delicious fluff. From the opening title song by Sinatra and the early voice-over of Newman comparing a group of bargain hunting women to a herd of cattle, we know this one is going to be fun indeed. Made in 1963 when both were at their finest, the chemistry between the two leads carries this film to make it the most entertaining piece of nonsense you're likely to ever see.
Samantha Blake (Woodward) buys, or steals, all the latest fashions from around the world for her department store. Her boss Joe Bergner (George Tobias) gets it into his head to go to Paris and 'steal' the hottest new fashions and off goes Samantha and Leena (Thelma Ritter) to the City of Lights.
After her long and wholesome run as America's Sweetheart, Doris Day quit movies with this well-scrubbed picture. With Six You Get Eggroll--oof, what a title--caught the wave of blended-family comedies, coming just after Yours, Mine and Ours and just before TV's The Brady Bunch. Doris has three sons, and new beau Brian Keith has an 18-year-old daughter (the still-baby-faced Barbara Hershey). It's family-friendly sitcom stuff, with both Day and Keith doing their comfortable, patented thing; when the two of them are onscreen together it's like watching a couple of old sweaters mate. This one is straight formula for fans only, although connoisseurs of camp will enjoy the whiff of Aquarius in the otherwise square proceedings (it was 1968, after all) when Doris goes to a... More Info about this DVD Actor(s): Doris Day - Brian Keith Director(s): Howard Morris DVD Release Date: Released the 03 May 2005 Usually ships in 24 hours
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