THE PASSENGER from yesterday was a major trip down memory lane for me, so too is WHAT'S NEW PUSSYCAT? from 1965, which I just found myself defending over at IMDB, where someone considered it one of the worst movies ever made. As I said: I can quite well accept its one of the worst films ever made but thats
part of the attraction, if you were 19 in 1965 (as I was) and saw it at
the cinema with your friends and we all laughed ourselves silly and
liked the cast, it remains a cherished memory, and the height of mid-60s
chic and zaniness.
My pals and I adored it back in the '60s and returned to it several
times. One friend and I used to quote lines from it to each other
("Miss Lefebvre [Capucine's real name...] your face is like the pale
autumn moon" "What did you say?" etc; of course Sellers and Cap were
also hilarious in the original PINK PANTHER). O'Toole, Sellers and Woody
+ the delirious quartet of Romy, Capucine, Paula and Ursula AND
Fellini's Edra Gale ! (Ursula says "Whats that thing?" when she sees Edra in the Viking get-up, and as she says to Peter O'Toole "Come back to bed immediately...". Whats not to like ? - even my French favourite
chanteuse Francoise Hardy pops up at the end after that madness at the
country hotel and they all going off on go-karts!
I just can't believe its 47 years ago ... I had the funky Burt Bacharach soundtrack album as well...and I just love the look of it, as helmed by Clive Donner. For me it and MODESTY BLAISE are the mid-60s stylish comic peaks.
I just can't believe its 47 years ago ... I had the funky Burt Bacharach soundtrack album as well...and I just love the look of it, as helmed by Clive Donner. For me it and MODESTY BLAISE are the mid-60s stylish comic peaks.
Even now the memory of Woody chasing Romy around, O'Toole and Capucine trapped in the elevator, Cap pretending to be the cleaner when Romy walks in, the language class repeating everything O'Toole and Romy say, Paula's suicide attempts .... and then they all running around the hotel etc.
I have to agree with you. I think "What's New Pussycat?" is wonderfully absurdist, psychedelic 60s comedy that holds up wonderfully. I'm prejudiced, perhaps, because I love this era and love Burt Bacharach; but there are marvelous lines of dialog ("Fooled! By a cheap cinematic trick!") and an irresistible farcical freneticism. I have the soundtrack on my ipod. This movie rocks and I'm glad you wrote about it.
ReplyDeleteGreat to hear from another devotee. Yes its another of those fun movies with great quotable lines. It looks like they tossed the plot out of the window when they all went running around that country hotel and then zoomed off on go-cars ! The girls are fun what with Ursula dropping in by parachute and that fun soundtrack too. It was the mid-60s and the stars like O'Toole, Romy, Ursula, Paula and Sellers were all in their prime and having a lot of fun.
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