What's New Pussycat
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Movie Reviews of What's New Pussycat
Movie Review: Fabulous Talents, Disappointing Movie
Summary: 4 Stars
'What's New Pussycat' offers enormous promise in its lineup of acting and writing talents from Peter Sellers, Peter O'Toole, Woody Allen, Romy Schneider, Capucine, and for great eyewash, Ursala Andress. Overall, the movie is a farce which pretends to be more 'intelligent' than the many early farcical movies it copies. I suspect Allen conceived a plan to see how many different movie comedies he could 'quote'. I detect 'borrowings' from the Marx Brothers, the Three Stooges, Buster Keaton, Harold Lloyd, and W. C. Fields, not to mention Allen's own early movie persona. Add to that Peter Sellers' comic tics and you get a highly spiced mix of styles, devices, and plot twists. But there lies the problem. To sense the extent to which the film goes wrong, one can compare it to two very successful farces. The first is none other than William Shakespeare's first play, 'Two Gentlemen of Verona', based on disguise and mistaken identies. The other is the French movie and its American translation, 'The Birdcage', also based on a comedy of errors and mistaken identities. Both work quite well, simply because they are far simpler in plot. '...Pussycat' reminds me of a line from 'Amadeus' where Mozart is bragging about how many parts he introduces into a passage in one of his operas, reaching, I believe 20, an unheard of number to be sure. Allen concocts a plot based on the swings in relationships between three male characters (Sellers, O'Toole, and Allen) and at least five female characters. While he doesn't realize all possible combinations (15), he comes close. To continue the culinary metaphor, the story and its manic realization, there is simply just too many dispirate things going to appreciate any distinct tastes at all. It is either entirely too sickly sweet to appreciate the inndividual flavors. And, it is not that Allen goes to far in stretching our ability to suspend disbelief. Some of the greatest comedies by far stretch reality far, far beyond the breaking point, such as 'Ghostbusters' and 'Blazing Saddles'. There is no sense of uniform style or approach. Allen's scenes are clearly written by 'Woody Allen', but Sellers' scenes seem to be written by Blake Edwards. The whole movie seems like its put together like Sellars' bizzare Tutor house seen in the opening scene. This movie is by far less than the sum of its parts. One of the greatest examples of how moments are simply thrown in for cheap effect is the cameo appearance of Richard Burton in a scene with O'Toole. Amazingly enough, there is value in watching the movie at least once, especially if you are old enough to remember the culture of the early sixties, just before things got really crazy. I will even go so far as to say the movie is rich enough to warrent two or three viewings, especially with a group of people with similar tastes for Allen and Sellars. This movie is also a refutation of the opinion that all Allen's earlier movies were better than his later films.Movie Review: If you love Peter Sellers, add a star
Summary: 4 Stars
If you don't, you'll probably deduct a star or two. He's at his outrageous best (or worst) in WHAT'S NEW PUSSYCAT, and sometimes that isn't very pretty. Peter O'Toole plays off of him well, O'Toole is smooth like double malt scotch, and as for Woody Allen, it's hard to believe he won many fans with his antics here. He's much better in CASINO ROYALE, not to mention his own films. WNPC has a lot of zany, 60s, pop energy flying through it, the sets are lighter than air (bar the Chateau Chantel which looks as though it's made of stone) and much of the dialogue seems improvised by a knowing cast.
Capucine has been unfairly reviewed for her part in WNPC, for it is obvious that she was shoved into the movie at the last minute, probably on Feldman's say-so, since she had become his mistress. Yet she did better for herself, I think, before she knew him, kind of like the way Maria Callas was probably better off before becoming Onassis's pawn. She was one of the underused actresses in the early 60s, not a great time for women in general, and her statuesque good looks got her typed as a kind of chic accessory, not an actress at all, more like the "supermodels" of today. Perhaps having only one name didn't help her either, it makes the audience think twice all right but it makes you into a freak. Like "Cher" or "Twiggy." Anyway Capucine has long been thought of as the weak link in What's New Pussycat, but that's just a swipe at a dead woman who's not here to defend herself.
Paula Prentiss is wonderful as the poet slash stripper. As Burt Bacharach's theme music goes, "Stripping Really Isn't Sexy, Is It?" Her poetry is amusing too, I wonder if Woody Allen wrote it for her, it sounds like San Francisco circa 1962 which is when Allen lived here and hung out with all the beat poets and their entourages. He got his big break at the Purple Onion in North Beach, often sharing the stage with Barbra Streisand and Lenny Bruce. But the poets revered him for his verbal acuity and his surrealist bent, his way of turning everything upside down during JFK's shortlived "New Frontier."
Romy Schneider is exquisite, and Ursula Andress charming in her little Kangol-style newsboy cap. This new DVD is disappointingly thin on extras, and unfortunately has none of the scenes that its real fans just know must be somewhere around, for with such a slapdash and carefree pictures, the deleted scenes must be high on the ground! But they're nowhere to be found on this disk, more's the pity!
Movie Review: Ridiculous. Ridiculous and Enchanting.
Summary: 4 Stars
This film is RI-DICULOUS and yes, doesn't contain much substance and goes off the deep end at the end and is impossibly silly. BUT... I really love it. I'm a devoted fan of Romy Schneider and quite like Peter O'Toole. And I had heard of some of the other actors but while watching this movie, was introduced to a slew of '60s actors, all handsome and all talented.
When I first saw this movie, I was very disappointed. I thought it was interminable and only marginally funny. But since some cinematic works require more than one viewing to properly ascertain how you feel about them, I watched it again. I caught some bits of dialogue I'd missed before (and so caught more of the humour). The spiral into absurdity at the end became charming rather than annoying. Some time later, I watched it a third time... and loved it! With the proper mentality and some patience, this film became quite enthralling. All the silliness turned into delightful fun and now I'd watch it anytime.
So, patience is what I recommend to those who've watched this film once and hated it. If it doesn't grow on you after 2 or 3 views, then it's not for you. But since the '60s mentality is so different from our present concerns and way of life, you have to welcome this movie and let it grow on you, rather than demand it to meet your expectations. You're more than likely to be rewarded!
Movie Review: BEFORE WOODY ALLEN BECAME PRETENTIOUS
Summary: 4 Stars
"What's New Pussycat"is a product of it's time,in the same way that the original"jazz Singer"was..One can hardly expect one of the first talking films to be technically the equal,if not the superior of all of the talking films that followed,although obviously there are those out there who don't understand this...The script Woody Allen wrote for "pussycat"reflects wit rather than pretense,which is what has bogged down most of Allen's later efforts.."What's new pussycat"does have certain problems,mainly the fact that it reflects the'60s in all of it's mod,wacky zest,but without having been there or having done that themselves,a lot of modern viewers,more used to Allen's later pretentious drivel,will have trouble connecting the dots...Sure,a lot of people like the "annie Hall",&"Hannah & Her Sisters" Allen,with all of that boring slop he tosses into such projects,but I prefer "Take The Money & Run","Bannanas" "Love & Death" and "Pussycat",all F-U-N-N-Y rather than pretentious...Those expecting more of the same "annie Hall"drivel will not like"Pussycat",and those children born in the"80s and afterward,who did not experience the "60s firsthand will neither appreciate nor even comprehend what a film like"Pussycat" is all about...too bad,because Woody Allen USED to be very funny,and movies used to entertain rather than preach...Movie Review: From the Director of "The Nude Bomb".....
Summary: 4 Stars
Though alot of the laughs here are scattershot, on the whole this is a thoroughly enjoyable bedroom farce. The film is not without it's flaws namely overlength, Peter Sellers at times seems to be channeling his Dr. Strangelove character in his portrayal of psychiatrist Dr. Fassbender, and writer Woody Allen's dweeby character seems an unlikely associate of Peter O'Toole's lothario. The film's virtues include O'Toole's account of a womanizer trying to reform his ways. O'Toole has a deft touch for the broad comedy he's asked to tackle here. Romy Schneider is effervescent as the woman O'Toole is trying to settle down with. It goes without saying that Paula Prentiss, Capucine, and Ursula Andress are stunning as the women who throw themselves at O'Toole despite his resistance. Great mod feel here(love the cars and costumes). Catchy Burt Bacharach-Hal David score including the memorable title tune. Great title sequence.