Peter Ustinov & Maggie Smith in Hot Millions (1968)

Obscurity factor: 6

Marcus Pendleton (Ustinov) has just been granted his freedom from prison, and after completing the warden's tax return, he steps out into the cool English afternoon. The warden gives him a warning that with the growing ubiquity of computers, the crime of embezzlement will all but die out, so he really should go straight. So what does Mr. Pendleton do? He impersonates computer expert Caesar Smith and gets a job in the London office of a major American corporation. Learning the ins and outs of their computer system, he's able to devise a scheme to skim a million pounds off the corporation. Along the way he meets Patty Terwilliger (Smith) - a girl who doesn't do anything particularly well, and demonstrates that with a series of disastrous jobs, including as Caesar's secretary. She and Caesar form a bond.

This film has been on my list to cover for this blog since I started it, but I was never able to watch it. Luckily it came up on TCM on Tuesday morning at 6, so I DVRd it. It's a really delightful film, with some lovely acting by Peter Ustinov and Maggie Smith. Also look for Karl Malden and Bob Newhart in the cast, and listen for a sensational score by Laurie Johnson. It's also notable for including rare footage of the Beatles Apple boutique, which was only open in London for a short time.

Though there's no full length streaming video of this online, you can find it on DVD. I was surprised that Netflix didn't carry it. The trailer is above, uploaded to YouTube by stsgirlie.The poster above is available from MoviePosterShop.com.

Obscurity factor: 6 (on DVD, rarely screened, no available to watch online)

Peter Ustinov & Cloris Leachman in The Mouse and His Child (1977)

Obscurity factor: 8

This film, based on the book of the same name by Russell Hoban, tells the story of a windup toy mouse and his son who are unpacked from their box and find themselves in a toy shop. They meet the other toys and the child longs for all of them to be a family together. They have a long journey together before that is to come to pass, however. They fall off a counter and break and are discarded. At the dump, they're enslaved by Manny the rat (Ustinov) and forced to work with other discarded windup toys in the rat's casino. They escape, and while being pursued by the rat, attempt to locate the elephant and seal from the toy shop and become self winding.

This is a children's film with the very adult themes of self discovery and actualization, and messages about persistence and intention. The themes are presented overtly and through the use of symbolism. Through out the film, there is an underlying respect for humanity and warmth that is very admirable. One of the more interesting devices used repeatedly throughout the film is the graphics on a can of dog food. The image of a dog holding a can with the image of a dog on it repeated into infinity can be interpreted many ways, but brings to mind the idea of finding our way back to source, as well as the idea of the journey being the destination. Listen for Sally Kellerman as the voice of the seal.

This film is very hard to find. It was released on VHS in 1991, but hasn't been released on DVD yet. Copies of it can run upwards of $100, but there were some used copies available on Amazon for a reasonable price. You can also watch it in full above, thanks to a YouTube upload by CaptainSlug. The poster is available on MoviePosterShop.com.

Obscurity factor: 8 (hard to find, not on DVD, available on YouTube)