The Producers (1967)

Broadway has-been (Zero Mostel) realizes that if he sells more than 100% of the shares in a musical, and it fails catastrophically, investors won’t be looking for their money, and he can keep everything. So, he gets the wrong play, and hires the wrong director and actors. What could possibly go right?

The Producers features many exceptional, over the top comedic performances. Specifically Kenneth Mars as the Nazi playwright (I outrank you!), Dick Shawn as the on-stage Hitler, and of course Gene Wilder and Zero. But don’t forget about the secondary characters from the elderly, love-struck investors to the go-go dancing secretary.

The movie rose from relative obscurity when it was adapted into an actual Broadway musical then remade as a film. This is how Mel managed to earn an EGOT, which is pretty good for a man who can’t read music. I have not seen the latter film.

The movie’s many hilarious scenes are facilitated by the brilliant, almost plausible premise. The very broad, and very dated humor may be off putting for some, but for me The Producers is a delightful romp. Mel Brooks is a national treasure and I loved every minute of this film. AMRU 4.5.

“Hitler, there was a painter. He could paint an entire apartment in one afternoon! Two coats!”

Frankenstein Created Woman (1967)

Baron Frankenstein (Peter Cushing), having moved from his familial castle into a tastefully decorated townhouse, is working on a plan with his Dr. Watson to transfer the soul of a recently executed man into the body of his dead lover. What could possibly go wrong.

No longer content to build monsters from spare parts, the good Baron is now in the soul transference business, and the result is a hot chick out for revenge. And calling Thorley Walters’ Dr. Hertz “Doctor Watson” isn’t far off the mark, having played the Watson character several times on film and TV. 60’s party girl Susan Denberg plays our fetching reanimated corpse. Her film career was very brief before leaving it all behind. She was one of Mudd’s Women.

Frankenstein Created Woman is a fresh take on the story, but it's a horrorless horror film that lacks the sex appeal of contemporary Hammer films. Stylish with some appropriately good performances, but pretty bland overall. And apart from box office considerations, there is no reason to link it to the Frankenstein franchise. Cushing could just as easily have been playing Dr. Jekyll. Very much a lesser Hammer. AMRU 2.5.

Bedazzled (1967)

Stanley (Dudley Moore), a pathetic short order cook, is in love with a waitress (Eleanor Bron), but is too shy to ask her out. When he fails to commit suicide, he is approached by the devil (Peter Cook) and is offered a deal for his soul.

Stanley Donen, director of much more polished films, turned down Hello, Dolly! to work on this one. Written by the comedy team of Pete and Dud, it is mostly an extension of their BBC show. A riff on the Faust legend, Stanley is granted seven wishes he uses to win the affection of the pretty-ish Margaret. Unfortunately, the devil cannot be trusted.

The film has a low budget feel. Moore and Cook were not accomplished actors at that point and the audio wasn’t quite right. However the inventiveness of the comedy wins the day. There are some legitimate laugh out loud moments. Also, seven minutes of Raquel Welch, hot off her success in Fantastic Voyage and One Million Years BC, doesn’t hurt. Rest in peace, Raquel. I thought you'd live forever.

Bedazzled is mostly a collection of vignettes, Stanley’s seven wishes, connected by a larger narrative. While some moments are tedious and outright cringy, much is original and genuinely funny. Cook makes for a charming devil and Moore is likable as the hapless romantic. AMRU 3.5.

Belle de Jour (1967)

A beautiful young wife (Catherine Deneuve) with a fear of intimacy has bizarre sexual fantasies. She can’t be intimate with her husband but decides to become a prostitute in the afternoons. Worlds eventually collide.

Not sure what I expected. Certainly not this. I mean, what a premise. The film is rife with fantasy sequences (perhaps a trademark of director Luis Buñuel, I don’t know), which adds layers of ambiguity.

So, what does it mean. Because of the fantasy sequences one could argue that some, most, or possibly all of the film is simply Séverine’s fevered dream. The ending in particular is debated, of which Buñuel himself said he didn’t know what it meant. I believe he was being a little disingenuous. He had been making films for almost forty years. He didn’t include a closing scene like that without a reason. And I have my opinions on this point.

But ignoring all that, this is a story of a very desirable woman, married to a good, handsome man who loves her. She can’t be the wife he deserves, the one she wants to be, and he is endlessly patient with her. But when she balks at her first prostitution job, the madam sees that she needs “a firm hand”. The frigid woman needs not patience and understanding, but “the rough stuff”.

Talk me down from this interpretation. Seriously. Because otherwise, Belle de Jour is a fairly charming and well made story. It is lauded for it’s Yves Saint-Laurent high fashion but for plebeians like me where fashion is meaningless, it just looks very 60’s. It’s an engaging film, but if I am right about the message, It is very problematic for me. AMRU 3.

Valley of the Dolls (1967)

Anne (Barbara Parkins) moves from a small town to New York City to chase her dream of doing office work. There she falls for a lady’s man, and makes friends with singer Neely (Patty Duke) and pretty no-talent Jennifer (Sharon Tate). Their lives go in unexpected directions and their paths occasionally cross. The one thing that ties them together is their love of dolls. Pills, that is. Dolls are pills. Dolophine, specifically.

Perkins’ pretty Anne is the moral center of the film. Not swayed by fame, she steers (mostly) clear of the pitfalls that trap her friends. Twenty year old Patty Duke took the controversial role of the pill-popping prima donna hoping it would help the public see her as an adult. She did mostly TV in the years following so it's unclear how well that worked.

I’ve known something of Sharon Tate’s story since forever but I wouldn’t have been able to pick her out of a lineup. She was quite striking. She appeared in fifteen episodes of The Beverly Hillbillies, so I must have seen her at some point. Judy Garland was initially cast as an older, ruthless star but the substance abuse story element played itself out in real life. Judy would beat Sharon to the grave by 49 days. And so it goes.

The story of who was cast, what happened, and how much of a jerk director Mark Robson was may be a more salacious story than the Jacqueline Susann story itself. Many big names were offered roles only to turn them down, horrified by the script. You could go down a serious rabbit hole with behind the scenes stuff. On screen, however, the film is mildly interesting, soap-opera adjacent, and very 1960’s. AMRU 3.

"Boobies, boobies, boobies. Nothin' but boobies!"

Playtime (1967)

Monsieur Hulot (Jacques Tati) visits Paris and goes to a trade show, visits an old army buddy, and attends the grand opening of a fancy restaurant. There’s a tour bus from America there as well. Visual comedy ensues.

Playtime is commentary on modern life. According to director Tati, the star of the movie is the decor. Hugely elaborate set pieces were constructed for the film in an absurdist modern style. They will feel familiar to today’s office dweller. Lots of plate glass, door handles you are unsure if you should pull or push, poorly sized and uncomfortable chairs. A scene at a travel agency has posters of various destinations showing iconic images with the stupid modern office building blocking the view.

Except for the small amount of English dialog, the film is subtitled. Not that it needed to be. It is visual comedy in the style of silent films. It is the third of four Monsieur Hulot movies made by Tati and by far the most ambitious. And it was a commercial flop. The reasons vary. It wasn’t the Hulot-focused story audiences wanted, the anti-modernist theme was more prescient years earlier when the film was developed, it was only shown in theaters equipped with 70 mm projectors. The end result is Tati was in debt for many years and audiences slowly recognized it as a masterpiece.

Filmed entirely in long shots, one sometimes is not sure where to focus their eyes. Second and third viewings will likely reveal details missed the first time. But there is essentially no narrative story. Just a series of visual gags that happen over the course of the day. I do not know how it differs from the other Hulot films and I am curious to find out. But truth be told I did not love Playtime as much as I had hoped. It's reputation preceded I sought it out specifically. It was amusing and visually interesting, but I didn't LOVE-love it. AMRU 3.5.

Bonnie and Clyde (1967)

Two-bit hood Clyde Barrow (Warren Beatty) meets hot young Bonnie Parker (Faye Dunaway) and impresses her with his criminal ways. They go off together and do this Laurie and Bart deal across the country.

Once again we visit the intersection of sex and guns. Unfortunately for hot Bonnie, Clyde isn’t much of a lover boy. Downright impudent in fact. But Bonnie sticks with him anyhow. Soon a gas station attendant, Clyde’s brother (Gene Hackman), and his frumpish wife join the gang. They target banks because banks are bad, what with all of the farm foreclosures.

At once both stylish and awkward, Bonnie and Clyde was clearly influenced by the French New Wave. An early scene where our heroes try to get it on was clumsy as hell. But this serves the narrative well. They try to be Robin Hood-esque saviors but they’re not. Cool, cute, and stylish, but no substance. Just criminals to the end. Impudent, if you will.

Denver Pyle plays the Ranger on the hunt for our Heroes. No relation to Gomer. Prolific and weird looking character actor Michael J. Pollard played the recruited gas station attendant, and got nominated for an Oscar. He was in a ton of stuff but I remember him most from that Star Trek episode and Scrooged. He passed last December. And so it goes. Prolific and weird looking character actor Dub Taylor played his dad. This is also Gene Wilder’s film debut. He played, well, Gene Wilder.

It isn’t a coincidence that I watched Bonnie and Clyde directly after Gun Crazy. A recent cable box upgrade allows me to record (almost) to my heart’s content, so now I have a serious library to choose from. Also, I seem to be home a lot recently. Go figure. While Gun Crazy was partially inspired by the real Bonnie and Clyde, this is the first feature film on the couple. I had recorded and deleted it several times in the past because of space issues.

Bonnie and Clyde doesn’t shy from the blood, considering the year, but it is mostly unremarkable in that regard by today’s standard. But it’s most remarkable in every other way. Faye Dunaway astounds. With its style and content, Bonnie and Clyde heralded in the American New Wave of cinema, and nothing would be the same. AMRU 4.

“We rob banks.”

Wait Until Dark (1967)

A woman, trafficking drugs inside a child's doll, gives it to an unsuspecting man to hold at the airport. When she later asks for the doll back, he can't find it. While the man is out, three criminals try to shake down his blind wife (Audrey Hepburn) for the doll.

Audrey Hepburn plays the Audrey Hepburn character, only pushing 40 this time. Efrem Zimbalist Jr played her husband. Folks might remember him from The FBI (in color!) Or as Stephanie Zimbalist's father. Or maybe not at all. Zimbalist sounds like the guy who plays the zimbals. Hate that guy.

Hepburn got the Oscar nomination, but the real story is American hero Alan Arkin as Evil Ringo. He is truly diabolical as he coerces the other two criminals to assist recovering the doll. Arkin, then a two-time Oscar nominee, was asked if he felt overlooked for this part. He replied "You don't get nominated for being mean to Audrey Hepburn!" It'll be almost forty years before he wins. We will be seeing him again soon.

The movie was produced by Hepburn's then husband, who then divorced her. I don't think there was a connection. Richard Crenna (you know, from the earlier Rambo movies) was interesting in an early role. He was older than I thought he was, pushing 60 come Rambo. Here is before he started wearing the porn stache.

Wait Until Dark isn't without its flaws. All problems could have been avoided if they'd just lock their damn door. And what apartment doesn't have a back exit? That can't be to code. Also, the criminals plot was overly elaborate. They put on disguises for a blind lady, then they use their real names. And there are more, but what's the point.

Despite its flaws, Wait Until Dark is an excellent thriller. There are some real thrilling moments and your attention is never released. AMRU 3.5.

"I cannot negotiate in an atmosphere of mistrust."

The Graduate (1967)

Young Benjamin (Dustin Hoffman) returns from college a track star and academic achiever. His affluent parents want to show him off but he wants to be alone. He is manipulated into a relationship with one of his parents friends (Anne Bancroft) but starts to fall for her daughter. Hilarity ensues.

The Graduate is a study in manipulation. Mrs. Robinson expertly coerces Benjamin into a relationship he clearly is not comfortable with. His parents want nothing more than to show him off like a trained monkey. Benjamin's initial lack of direction and purpose blossoms into full-blown helplessness.

This sometimes cringe-worthy situation is not all the movie has to offer. It sports a wonderfully crisp and poignant script. The advice from Ben's father's well-intentioned friends, his awkwardness at every stage in the affair, all expertly written. Now I know why Buck Henry would host SNL so often way back in the day. The dialog is pitch perfect.

Also noteworthy is the cinematography. Maybe something I wouldn't have noticed a couple years ago, it was quite impressive. Director Mike Nichols expertly filled the frame in a way that told the story as well as the dialog.

I was not familiar with Nichols but looking at his resume, this is an oversight. He has only 22 directorial credits and they range from Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf to Charlie Wilson's War. Take a gander, quite an impressive list.

And I haven't even touched on the acting. Hoffman as bumbling Benjamin was only six years younger than Bancroft, but you'd never know it. You believe the twenty year age gap. Truly a remarkable piece of film making. Pity it took me this long to see it. AMRU 4.5.

"You look to me like the kind of guy who has to fight 'em off. And doesn't he look to you like the kind of guy that has to fight them off?
Yes, he does."

You Only Live Twice (1967)

A mysterious rocket eats an American space capsule and the US suspects the Ruskies. It was apparently launched from the Sea of Japan. Always willing to help out, the Brits have their best man on the case. Then he's killed. Roll credits.

Hoo. hoo, look who knows so much! Turns out he's only MOSTLY dead. Actually, just faking so that nobody will suspect him. Or, apparently, recognize him when he walks around without disguise. But what's the point of being a world famous secret agent if nobody knows who you are.

Anyhow, a Russian rocket is also eaten and they, damn commies, blame the sweet old US of A. Bond needs to solve this riddle before the US puts up yet another rocket. I suppose in the 60's it seemed like we were sending men into space every day.

Well, anyhow, the spoiler is that KAOS ... I mean SPECTRE is using their unbelievably advanced science to start a war. Lots of money in global devastation. Bond talks to people who are then killed, is frequently rescued at unbelievably convenient times by a hot chick, climbs a volcano to find it's a secret hide-out, flies around in an ultralight and fires missiles at people, and gets a truly awesome amount of Asian tail. In a nutshell, preposterous but follow-able story, great ninja action, hot chicks.

Connery didn't do the next Bond film (On Her Majesty's Secret Service), but did do Diamonds are Forever. Because rumors were circulating about him leaving the franchise, the studio played into them saying Bond gets married, dies, and becomes Japanese. He does all these things here, lucky him.

AMRU 3.5. I'll go with best Bond so far. I totally want to take a Japanese bath ...

"Oh, the things I do for England"

Fright Night (1967)

Strange craft crashes near a lake and NASA covers it up. Hanky Panky youths park near said lake and are brutally murdered. Strange footprints are found near the scene and grizzled cop (John Agar) investigates.

Recently I watched American Scary, a documentary about Horror Hosts. You know, those people that dress up and introduce horrible movies late at night on local TV stations, ala Elvira. It was mentioned that host Gore de Vol was still doing this on the internet (there is no such thing as local programming anymore). I had to check it out.

Turns out that if you subscribe to the Roku channel Vimeo, you can subscribe to Count Gore TV there and watch his movies on that fabulous little Roku box. Fright Night was the most recent one.

For starters, don't confuse this movie with Fright Night. Or Fright Night for that matter. Nor should you confuse it with Fright Night or even Fright Night. In addition, it shouldn't be confused with Fright Night or Fright Night. I hope I cleared that up. This Fright Night is a very low budget, made for TV horror movie and is quite skipable. Acting was weak at best, the story unoriginal, and the production value was minimal. On top of that, the video quality was poor. Can't complain too much as Gore uses only public domain sources for obvious reasons. There are no charges or advertising for Vimeo or the Count's channel. The best thing I can say is it wasn't painful to watch. Just uninteresting.

But the interesting part of the program was Count Gore de Vol and his shtick. The premise is that it's another new year's eve and his love, the Countess, is failing to appear yet again for his party. She does appear but brings her Fiancee, a computer nerd. Ah, the indignities.

Quite unrehearsed, it was somewhat charming. There was very little chatter about the movie, which I was expecting, and I'll give it another try. Not sure how many he produces in a year. For the movie at hand, though, AMRU 2.

The Reluctant Astronaut (1967)

Frightfully fearful Don Knotts is Roy Fleming, an astronaut wanna-be who operates the space ride at a fairground. Dad Fleming signs up boy Roy for the space program, but when he gets there he learns he will be a janitor. So as to not disappoint ol' Dad, Roy pretends.

Events, as they typically do, converge such that NASA is forced to send Janitor Roy into space. Insert sequences of Knotts being frightened and foolish. Leslie Nielsen has a supporting role.

I remember this film when I was young, and I remember enjoying it. I watched it with my boys and they were bored. This film was a capitalization on the popularity of the space program and a vehicle for the surprisingly popular Don Knotts. Sad to say, Knotts' humor does not hold up. My middle boy saw The Incredible Mr. Limpet (1964) and was amused, at least a little. All three walked out on it and I don't blame them one bit.

One awkward point was Knotts' pining for cold fish hottie Ellie Jackson (Joan Freeman). Don was 42 when the film came out and looked more like 52. Joan was 25. Eww.

IMDb voters are too kind on this film. Reluctant Astronaut is a dud. AMRU 2.5.