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| Truman Capote |
"As a man you are barely passable, but as a woman you are a dog." -- Milo Perrier summing up the situation.
A mysterious man invites variations of Sam Spade, Charlie Chan, Nick and Nora Charles, Miss Marple. and Hercule Poirot to his home where he challenges them to solve a murder that will occur at midnight. The host is played by Truman Capote, and the detectives by James Coco (Milo Perrier); Peter Sellers (Sidney Wang); Elsa Lanchester (Jessica Marbles); David Niven and Maggie Smith (Dick and Dora Charleston); and Peter Falk (Sam Diamond). If there's one problem with this rather cute movie is that it's a complete farce, with no real plot (just a premise) and nothing much to hang the jokes on. As for the jokes, for every one that garners a laugh there's two that land with a thud. However, the performances are all wonderful, and there's expert support from Estelle Winwood (Miss Marbel's nurse, who now needs looking after herself); Richard Narita as Wang's son; Nancy Walker as the deaf-mute maid; James Cromwell [American Horror Story: Asylum] as Perrier's chauffeur; Eileen Brennan as Diamond's girlfriend; and especially Alec Guinness [The Swan] as the blind butler, Bensonmum. Truman Capote is no actor, but on an amateur level he isn't too terrible as Lionel Twain. On the other hand, Peter Sellers [The Wrong Box] is simply wonderful. Don't expect any coherency (even for a comedy) and you may have fun.
Verdict: Silly, hardly for all tastes, but beautifully-acted and zany. ***.
2 comments:
Ok, it's indeed very silly, but I think it's brilliantly done, and I love that Neil Simon steps out fo his usual New York/Jewish milieu to pay comic tribute to the great detective stories. I think it's funny as hell, and I love the roundup of actors, a motley crew that seem to have great chemistry together. Standouts--Maggie Smith as "Dora" and Peter Sellers as "Sidney Wang"--Alec Guiness and Nancy Walker...of course, Peter Falk and Eileen Brennan...oh, the hell with it, they're all great.
I have this on DVD and now am going to watch it again this weekend, thanks to you, Bill!!
-C
Have fun with it! And consider the follow up "The Cheap Detective,"also by Simon and starring Falk) -- and Steve Martin's "Dead Men Wear No Plaid"
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