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.
Steve Sherman (Paul Newman) is a columnist who gets caught playing with the wife of his boss and promptly gets sent far away to Paris until said boss can figure out a way to break his contract and fire him. He meets pal Harry (Marvin Kaplan) in Paris and decides to save his job by writing about a Parisian 'Lady of the Night' and her escapades to send back home, which proves to be a big hit!
The problem, of course, is she ain't from Paris and she ain't no 'Lady of the Night.' Samantha gets introduced as one in a con by Hogan's Heroes Robert Clary to earn a few bucks after Samantha has a complete makeover because she's tired of being mistaken for a boy! She goes along because it helps her stay close to Steve as she makes up one wild escapade after another.
Meanwhile, Leena is competing with Fellicienne (Eva Gabor) for the affection of her boss, who doesn't seem to know she's alive. Of course, Steve falls for this 'Lady of the Night' and wants to reform her for himself, until he figures it all out! Are you having fun yet? Yes, you are! That is what this film is about. A fine cast charm their way through this most enjoyable film.
The scenery is great to look at and so are a young Woodward and Newman. Thelma Ritter and Marvin Kaplan offer nice support as well. When Steve and Harry go clubbing in Paris, Steve ends up with beautiful Jan Moriarity, in a nice but small role. The wife of actor Michael Parks, it would be her moment to shine before tragedy took her away.
When you're in the mood for some harmless fun this film will certainly do the trick. It's a reminder that a good film sometimes doesn't have to have any deeper meaning. Sometimes all a film has to do is entertain us. This one gets an A+ in that department and you'll want to see it the first chance you get.
Delicious
Only 2 gripes. If you haven't heard the title song before (I have), you still won't have heard it when the movie is over. Except the 1st 8 bars sung by Chevalier in the middle of the flick. 2nd gripe. These idiots (including the Amazon staff reviewer) who think the way to review a movie is to tell you the whole damned story, thus ruining the show. Puke! When I saw this flick on Amazon I snapped it up. I saw it when it came out and remembered only 2 things. That I loved it (particularly Woodward), and that for some reason Paul Newman is pouring her a snifter of brandy and tells her to say "when" which she does when her glass is brimful. The director/screenwriter was brilliant. The star-studded cast outdid itself. Every one of them. The jokes were at times laugh out loud funny. The special effects were perfect. The whole thing (as you now know if you've read the other reviews!) was clever and original. I loved the hell out of it. This one I'm keeping!
A New Kind of Love . . The Best Kind of Laugh
I love this movie. I couldn't wait for it to come out on DVD. The dialogue between the characters reminds me of Grant and Hepburn in A Philidelphia Story. Absolutely worth it!
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,... More Info about this DVD Actor(s): Shirley MacLaine - Paul Newman - Robert Mitchum Director(s): J. Lee Thompson DVD Release Date: Released the 11 January 2005 Usually ships in 24 hours
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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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Paul Newman has his glorious youthful swagger in this southern-fried melodrama, which marked his first picture with Joanne Woodward (they married after shooting ended). The script is a melange of William Faulkner stories, although it appears more under the influence of Tennessee Williams and Picnic than the Nobel Prize winner. Drifter Newman catches the eye of schoolmarm Woodward and her father, a rural Mississippi bigshot (Orson Welles). This is not one of Welles's better moments; he appears to be conducting make-up experiments. There is some enjoyable flapdoodle along the way, in the Freud-meets-Gone with the Wind manner of '50s southern cooking, but the ending is embarrassingly compromised. The same production team would leave out the box-office concessions a few years... More Info about this DVD Actor(s): Paul Newman - Joanne Woodward Director(s): Martin Ritt DVD Release Date: Released the 20 May 2003 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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Audrey Hepburn was never more sleek and glamorous than in this delightful romantic caper costarring Peter O'Toole and directed by William Wyler. She's the chic daughter of a renowned art collector and covert forger (the always eccentric Hugh Griffith) who's deposited his best work, a famous statue, in a Paris museum. Trouble is, technology can now detect such forgery, so Hepburn plots to steal the statue with the help of O'Toole, an amateur thief and covert inspector. Of course, neither of them knows the whole truth about the other. They make an utterly charming couple, with O'Toole stealing the show in an uncharacteristically lighthearted turn. --Bill DesowitzMore Info about this DVD Director(s): William Wyler DVD Release Date: Released the 07 December 2004 Usually ships in 24 hours
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