Paris When It Sizzles
by Richard Quine
List Price:
Our Price: $7.99
You Save: $1.99 (20%)
Availability: Usually ships in 24 hours
Buy Used: from $4.23 (click here)
Category: DVD
See more DVD releases
Buy this DVD movie at online store in your country
Canada
Canada
DVD Cover Information
Actor: Audrey Hepburn, Christian Duvaleix, Gr?goire Aslan, Raymond Bussi?res, William HoldenDirector: Richard Quine
Brand: Paramount
DVD: Region Code 1
Audio: English (Original Language), Dolby Digital 2.0 Mono; French (Original Language), Dolby Digital 2.0 Mono; English (Subtitled)
Format: Anamorphic, Closed-captioned, Color, DVD-Video, NTSC, Subtitled, Widescreen
Picture Format: 1.85:1
Running Time: 110 minutes
DVD Release Date: 2001-04-10
Audience Rating: NR (Not Rated)
Studio: Paramount
Movie Reviews of Paris When It Sizzles
Movie Review: Fails to heed its own advice...
Summary: 4 Stars
As a whole I found `Paris When it Sizzles' to be far more entertaining than the reviews would have you believe. It was fun and exciting and even breathtaking in scenes, and it never lost your interest for something was constantly going on, but when all was said and done I felt as if the film was truly a missed opportunity. Instead of giving us that `switch' in the end the film merely falls into the clich?d Hollywood ending that the two main characters were fighting so fervently against throughout the entirety of the film.
`Paris When it Sizzles' is a film about a screenwriter who is having trouble finishing his latest film; `The Girl who Stole the Eiffel Tower'. He hires a typist to help him capture his sporadic ideas and thus begins the journey through screenwriting that is `Paris When it Sizzles'. Having a mere day to finish the film, both Richard and Gabrielle spout ideas off one another, acting them out in countless fantasy sequences. `The Girl who Stole the Eiffel Tower' shifts from love story to gangster film to horror film, each sequence just as entertaining as the last and each scene containing the `switch on a switch on a switch' to make it interesting and absorbing.
But that's also where the films falls apart; in the `switch on a switch' department. Throughout the film Richard is informing Gabrielle on the importance of always including a switch, to keep the audience guessing, but director Richard Quine, and more importantly writers Duvivier and Jeanson, didn't realize the importance of including a switch in their own film. Instead the film ends like almost every other romantic comedy out there.
Many have noted that Holden and Hepburn didn't seem to have the greatest of chemistry in the film, which is a plus and a minus. It aids in their fictional character development (as in when they are in their fantasy world) but it struggles to establish any real connection when they are simply playing Richard and Gabrielle. Thus, in the end, their inevitable romance is slightly unbelievable.
I will admit that `Paris When it Sizzles' is not a trainwreck, but it isn't anything special or new either. It had major potential, and the whole fantasy aspect of the film is enthralling, but the film sadly dwindles down to a predictable conclusion. If they had included that much desired `switch' in the end it would have garnered an `A' from me, but it's lack there of leaves it with a low `B'. Hepburn is always delightful (and thank god she isn't singing in this one), and Holden is a desirable leading man, even when he doesn't seem to interested in you, so their presence doesn't hurt the film at all. This film is unfairly attacked for the wrong reasons. It's pure entertainment, and for that it should be lauded. It's just not as original as it tries to be; and for that it should be reprimanded.
Summary of Paris When It Sizzles
A screenwriter daydreams with his new secretary in paris instead of meeting a producers deadline. Studio: Paramount Home Video Release Date: 08/22/2006 Starring: William Holden Frank Sinatra Run time: 110 minutes Rating: Nr Director: Richard QuineParis When It Sizzles is an unusual screwball comedy to say the least. Whether it works is another matter, but the premise and humor are interesting enough to make it enjoyable. The basic problem with the film is its two stars: William Holden and Audrey Hepburn hardly sizzle with onscreen chemistry, and Hepburn's character, Miss Simpson, falls far too easily into the hands of Holden's drunken screen writer. However, the story is an interesting play on the typical Hollywood romance, with two plotlines running in parallel to each other. Holden's Richard Benson has only two days to finish a script for an enigmatic producer (Noel Coward). Hepburn's Miss Simpson is drafted in as the typist and as the script is dictated it manifests itself on the screen, allowing the two lead characters to play out any number of romantic stories. It's the cameo appearances in the imaginary world that really steal the show, with the blink-and-you'll-miss-it last screen appearance by Marlene Dietrich, as well as Tony Curtis having fun with his own screen persona. Not one of Hepburn or Holden's best, but worth a look purely for the interesting slant on the mechanical nature of Hollywood's romances. --Nikki Disney
Classics DVD Video
DVD Video
- Action & Adventure
- African American Cinema
- Animation
- Anime & Manga
- Art House & International
- Classics
- Comedy
- Cult Movies
- Documentary
- Drama
- Educational
- Fitness & Yoga
- Gay & Lesbian
- Horror
- Kids & Family
- Military & War
- Music Video & Concerts
- Musicals & Performing Arts
- Mystery & Suspense
- Science Fiction & Fantasy
- Special Interests
- Sports
- Television
- Westerns
Movies most talked about in Audrey Hepburn films
AlwaysUniversal; Release date: 1999-07-20; DVD
Best price: $3.83
Price in other shops:
They All LaughedWarner Brothers; Release date: 2006-10-17; DVD
Best price: $3.45
Price in other shops:
![Bloodline [VHS] Image](/images/Bloodline-VHS-6300213773-X.jpg){kind=small}
Bloodline [VHS]Paramount; Release date: 1994-01-26; VHS Tape; VHS Video
Best price: $38.50
Robin and MarianSony; Release date: 2002-07-16; DVD
Best price: $11.91
Price in other shops:
Wait Until DarkWarner Brothers; Release date: 2003-08-05; DVD
Best price: $9.47
Price in other shops:
Two for the RoadRelease date: 2005-11-01; DVD
Best price: $6.69
Price in other shops:
How to Steal a MillionTwentieth Century Fox; Release date: 2004-12-07; DVD
Best price: $8.13
Price in other shops:
Paris When It SizzlesParamount; Release date: 2001-04-10; DVD
Best price: $4.69
Price in other shops:
My Fair Lady (Two-Disc Special Edition)HEPBURN,AUDREY; Release date: 2004-02-03; DVD
Best price: $15.98
Price in other shops:
Charade: The Criterion Collection (Widescreen Edition)Image Entertainment; Release date: 2004-04-06; DVD
Best price: $23.99
Price in other shops:
Similar DVD Movies
Wait Until DarkWarner Brothers; Release date: 2003-08-05; DVD
Best price: $9.99
Price in other shops:
Sabrina - The Centennial CollectionParamount; Release date: 2008-11-11; DVD
Best price: $9.92
Price in other shops:
War and PeaceParamount; Release date: 2002-12-03; DVD
Best price: $4.25
Price in other shops:
Two for the RoadRelease date: 2005-11-01; DVD
Best price: $7.60
Price in other shops:
Roman Holiday - The Centennial CollectionParamount; Release date: 2008-11-11; DVD
Best price: $10.90
Price in other shops:
My Fair LadyWarner Brothers; Release date: 1998-12-08; DVD
Best price: $12.68
Price in other shops:
Love in the AfternoonWarner Brothers; Release date: 2002-01-08; DVD
Best price: $12.00
Price in other shops:
CharadeGRANT/HEPBURN; Release date: 2001-07-31; DVD
Best price: $5.72
Price in other shops:
How to Steal a MillionTwentieth Century Fox; Release date: 2004-12-07; DVD
Best price: $7.77
Price in other shops:
Funny Face - Paramount Centennial CollectionParamount; Release date: 2009-01-13; DVD
Best price: $10.65
Price in other shops: