That old gag-"Where there's a will, there's a relative"-has been expanded by Larry Gelbart and Burt Shevelove, the librettests of "A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum," into an irreverently funny comedy about a pair of lively "corpses" who thwart all efforts to be buried prematurely by their greedy next-of-kin who hope to inherit the family fortune. Action, set in the Victorian era, pyramids to a frenzied climax involving an extra corpse nobody wants and a race to the cemetery by horse-driven herses, a beer truck and an ice wagon. Bryan Forbes proves as excellent at directing off-beat period comedy as he is at drama, and the slightly stylized acting technique occasionally used by his all-British cast in "The Wrong Box" adds plenty of flavor to the fun.
Read moreWalt Disney's use of animals in his pictures is almost a trademark and adds to the interest of most audiences. In this, a cleverly directed Siamese cat stars in a role that rivals that of Hayley Mills, who plays detective with her usual aplomb as an ingenue. Her hungry young boyfriend, Tom Lowell, called "Canoe" because of his mania for surfboarding, provides comic incidents, and sister Dorothy Provine tries to keep her young sister from what she considers foolish efforts to apprehend bankrobber/kidnappers. Comic aspects are stressed rather than the horrors of some crime pictures, with one of the criminals showing the better side of his nature--a liking for cats. That this is his downfall only adds to the plausibility of the story.
Read moreThe Beatles, the phenomenon of the modern-day music world, make their motion picture bow-after breaking all records in album sales and concert appearances in England, the U.S. and Australia-in a lively, noisy, singing, comedy/documentary film that will devastate their millions of adoring, screaming young fans (and that takes in the major part of today's moviegoing public). Many mature patrons will attend to see what the fuss is about-and the result is a sure-fire boxoffice smash. Produced by Walter Shenson in England from a screenplay by Alun Owen, this purports to be a fictional account of...
Read moreThe hue and cry for more general-audience pictures with wide family appeal for young and old is answered in "Flipper," which, given the right kind of sell, should be money in the bank-and lots of it. Seldom does a picture come along that packs such a wallop in every phase-family life, an exciting Florida hurricane sequence, undersea shots, pathos, comedy and an almost incredible nonhuman star, a dolphin, which is almost human in its portrayal of a small boy's pet. Chuck Connors is the only known name in the cast, but the fine performances of Luke Halpin as his son, Kathleen Maguire as the mother and Connie Scott as the little girlfriend are likely to create a strong want-to-see-more-of among the patrons when the picture is released.
Read moreThe LONG-AWAITED 20th Century-Fox production of "Cleopatra" will go down in film history as the most opulent, pictorially magnificent and eye-filling screen spectacle ever made -- as well as the longest, being a few minutes longer than either "Gone With the Wind" or "Ben-Hur." With the widely publicized off-screen romance of Elizabeth Taylor and Richard Burton making this picture the most widely publicized film of recent times and giving it a tremendous want-to-see potential, "Cleopatra" is a "blockbuster" par excellence -- a picture which is almost certain to pay off its unprecedented production cost on a long haul, following its foreign showings.
Read moreA murder-mystery adventure with a science-fiction angle, plus oodles of sex appeal, the first Ian Fleming novel to reach the screen has its ready-made audience of paperback readers to ensure strong boxoffice. As produced by Harry Saltzman and Albert R. Broccoli and directed by Terence Young in a delightfully tongue-in-cheek style, the picture is often as unbelievable as a Superman comic strip but is always fast moving and thoroughly entertaining. Sean Connery, the ruggedly handsome British actor who is currently getting a big U.S. buildup from United Artists, is well cast as Secret Service operative James Bond, and his popularity with the ladies should increase with each new Fleming film.
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Whether the viewer regards "La Dolce Vita" as being shocking, sordid, sexy or moralistic, there can be no denial that it is a picture that reaches perfection in its technical and artistic presentation. The attention paid to the slightest detail to attain realism is almost astounding. And, too, nobody can deny that it is controversial and probably will cause considerable controversy when seen by all strata of society.
Rarely, if ever, has a picture reflected decadence, immorality and sophistication with such depth, bringing into sharp focus the nobleman, the prostitute, the homosexual, the intellectual, the nymphomaniac, all woven into a series of satiric panoramas of life today.
