Hot off the success of Murder By Death, Neil Simon and Robert Moore put this little film together. It extrapolates on the Humphrey Bogart style character that Peter Falk played in the film and pairs him with a bevy of saucy ladies from femme fatales to girls Friday. The film is a parody of the best of the genre, including Casablanca, The Maltese Falcon, Chinatown and even A Streetcar Named Desire.
The production values are very high, it's beautifully shot in smoky rooms with dramatic lighting and the costumes and sets are nicely rendered. They provide the setting for some deftly handled, if at times silly comedy. Also look for Ann Margaret, Stockard Channing, Sid Caesar, Marsha Mason, James Coco, Phil Silvers, Fernando Lamas and John Housman.
In the clip above, Eileen Brennan plays a remarkably funny lounge singer, uploaded to YouTube by SueSnell. The film is available on DVD. The poster above is available from MoviePosterShop.com.
Obscurity factor: 7 (available on DVD, has cult following, but isn't as well known as Murder by Death)
Okay Ben I've attempted to endure this epic, star-studded snooze fest 3 times now, and wouldn't you know it I keep falling asleep during the damn thing? Given how "Murder By Death" is probably one my all-time favorites, it gives me such a headache that this is such an uneven attempt on Simon's part. Not his best work by any stretch.
ReplyDeleteYes, it's flawed, but has some very funny moments in it.
ReplyDeleteTrue, Ann Margret's cleavage alone is worth the price of admission! ;-) Happy Holidays!
ReplyDeleteHonestly... You're the strangest homosexual I know.
ReplyDeleteThe last scene, with Falk and all his Dames in the backseat is classic too. What a romp, bet they had a ball. The strangest? Oh come on Ben, nobody compares to you... ;-)~
ReplyDeleteHey I loved this- far far funnier than Murder by Death. Of course it doesn,t really work unless you have seen the Bogart movies which are being parodied,but surely everyone has seen at least Casablanca. This is one of my alltime favorite funny films and encouraged me to track down another Peter Falk comedies: The In-Laws , which is possibly even funnier, so I don't understand the comments on this site,'snoozefest'?? have you had a humour by-pass or what?
ReplyDeleteIt does have some delightfully funny moments - case in point, the scene above. The In-Laws is wacky too...
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