mary golightly

It now seems like a dimly remembered dream but, once upon a time, a striking actress named Mary came to the Broadway musical stage as the Truman Capote character from "Breakfast at Tiffany's," Holly Golighty.

If you blinked, you missed it.

Mary? That would be the absolutely adorable (and perfect) Mary Tyler Moore, who left us on January 25^th, at age 80, and who will most likely be remembered as a television legend than as a stage or film star.

Nothing wrong with that.

"The Dick Van Dyke Show," where we all first fell in love with her, and especially her own eponymous sitcom (need I invoke the title?) are both better than most movies or plays. Her potential seemed limitless and yet, despite opportunities in other mediums, Moore remained largely a TV personality.

But she made such an impression on the Van Dyke sitcom that Universal Pictures snapped her up for movies and then ...

...did absolutely nothing with her.                                                       

Moore was wasted in her film debut - Julie Andrews' thoroughly awful “Thoroughly Modern Millie” (1967), directed by George Roy Hill. She was then put in what, in retrospect, seems like two typical Universal romps that Doris Day most likely rejected - "Don't Just Stand There" (with Robert Wagner) and "What's So Bad about Feeling Good?" (with George Peppard).

Never heard of them?  There's a reason for that.

After casting her as a nun in a bad Presley flick, "Change of Habit" (1969), the studio gave up. About 10 years later, Robert Redford rescued Moore.

Her acting in Redford's "Ordinary People" is the best performance of 1980, hands-down - male or female.  She was nominated for an Oscar - and should have won - but the award went (no surprise here) to Sissy Spacek for the safer, more audience-friendly "Coal Miner's Daughter."

Moore eventually had roles in Allan Burns' "Just Between Friends" (1986) and David O. Russell's "Flirting with Disaster" (1996), but not much else.

Her life in the theater was even more sketchy. Moore starred on Broadway in a version of Brian Clark's "Whose Life Is It Anyway?," rewritten for a woman, in 1980 (Ian McShane originated the role and Richard Dreyfuss was in the film), and in an A. R. Gurney show titled "Sweet Sue" in 1987.

But her really big opportunity in the theater was in the aforementioned Capote musical - titled "Holly Golightly" or "Breakfast at Tiffany's," depending on when you saw it.  That is, if you were lucky to see it.

I saw it in 1966 (once again, I'm seriously dating myself here) at Philadelphia's Forrest Theater, where it tried out under its original title, "Holly Golightly."  I approached the show with a couple trepidations.

First, I am no fan of the film, "Breakfast at Tiffany's." I mean, exactly what is it supposed to be - a comedy, a drama, a serio-comedy? (I'm not sure even Blake Edwards knew what he was directing.) It's really nothing - an odd film that, for some reason, has earned undeserved classic status.

Secondly, although I'm a confessed Moore fan, she seemed wrong for the role of Holly - but then Audrey Hepburn, the film's star, wasn't a good fit either.  (Capote, John Frankenheimer, originally hired to direct the movie, and George Axelrod, its scenarist, all famously wanted Marilyn Monroe.)

Reservations about the musical aside, everything about the project was strictly A-list.  The colorful David Merrick (always good for some chaos) was producting and stage veteran Abe Burrows wrote the book for the musical and was its director.  (Some MTM trivia: Burrows was the father of James Burrows, who directed many episodes of "The Mary Tyler Moore Show.")  And the list goes on... Michael Kidd was the choreographer (above with Moore), with an assist from Tony Musante; Bob Merrill ("Funny Girl") wrote the music and lyrics (that's him below with Moore and Richard Chamberlain), and the legendary Oliver Smith did the production design.

Mary's co-stars were Richard Chamberlain (in the George Peppard role), Sally Kellerman (the Patricia Neal role) and Art Lund (the Buddy Ebsen role). So far, so good.

Until the reviews came in.

"Holly Golightly" was destined to become the third side of a notorious triumvirate, joining two other unlucky musicals based on films - "Lolita, My Love" and "Carrie."

Merrick wasted no time. Edward Albee (of all people) was brought in to write an entirely new script.  Burrows' book was completely scrapped and his response was to quite the show altogether.

Was Merrick nuts?  He pulled the rug out from under his cast by forcing a different script on them between the show's move from its out-of-town tryouts and its Broadway previews. Then he brought in Joseph Anthony ("Under the Yum-Yum Tree" and "Mary, Mary") as the new director.

By the time the show hit the Majestic Theater in New York for the previews, it was titled "Breakfast at Tiffany's."  Nothing helped.

Merrick closed the show before its official opening, "rather than subject the drama critics and the public to an excruciatingly boring evening" (his words). (A bit more trivia: In her entertaining memoir, "Read My Lips: Stories of a Hollywood Life," Kellerman claims that she and Merrick were romantically involved during the show's brief run. Huh?)

Years later, Moore revealed that she was convinced that, if the show hadn't closed, Merrick would have fired her before its official opening.

"Holly Golightly" is now just a footnote in Moore's career.  Some publicity shots from the show still exist and there's a Saturday Evening Post cover story trumpeting Moore's anticipated arrival on Broadway.  Not much else.

But there are also two You Tube videos that somewhat preserve the show in tiny bits and pieces - one with Moore singing a song titled (naturally) "Breakfast at Tiffany's" and one with Chamberlain singing another tune called (also naturally) "Holly Golightly," each accompanied by an array of grainy stills.

notes on hollywood's eternal teenager

It will be a month soon since Debbie Reynolds, Hollywood's eternal teenager, died - on December 28^th - and to commeorate her passing, Turner Classic Movies is devoting a full day to her on January 27^th - January 28^th.  "TCM Remembers Debbie Reynolds" consists of a dozen of her 40-plus theatrical films. The picks are curious, with signature titles missing and at least one embarrassment ("How Sweet It Is!") included.

Missing is "Tammy and the Bachelor" (1957), one of two personal hits for Reynolds.  The other, of course, is “The Unsinkable Molly Brown” (1964) which gets the Star Spot (8 p.m., est, January 27^th) on Turner's slate. These are the two lone films which Reynolds carried alone, with no co-star of equal stature, as was the case with "The Singing Nun" (1966) - but that film was not nearly as popular as the other two. I had a lot to say about "The Unsinkable Molly Brown" in a 2012 essay, little of it complementary.

Considering the size of her output, Reynolds turned in straight dramatic performance in only three of her films - "The Catered Affair” (1956), which is also on Turner's schedule, “The Rat Race” (1960) and "Divorce American Style" (1967).  The latter two films feature her best acting, hands-down. Although "Divorce American Style" may have been sold as a comedy, Reynolds' performance in it is seriocomical and multi-faceted.

And she's rarely been as impressive as she is in "The Rat Race."

Oddly, "The Rat Race" is a film she didn't personally like. During an appearance on "The Merv Griffin Show" in the 1970s, Reynolds stopped Griffin cold as he raved about the film and her performance in it. "Awful movie" is how she described it.  She never explained how or why it is awful.  Anyway, Merv Griffin was spot-on in his praise.  Sorry, Debbie.

That said, Reynolds' films can be conveniently compartmentalized for those Debbie fans who would like to put together modest double-bills or sprawling marathons, apart from TCM's tribute.  Here are a few recommendations:

Her Bookend MGM Musicals: “Singin’ in the Rain” (1952) and “The Unsinkable Molly Brown” (1964)

Her Inside Joke in "Singin' in the Rain":  Everyone knows the plot of this movie classic. The Jean Hagen character - the insufferable Lina Lamonte, a silent-film actress trying to make the transition to talkies despite a horrible voice - makes a film musical, called "The Dueling Cavalier," even though she can't sing.  Debbie, playing a struggling actress, is brought in to dub her singing and, at the movie's premiere, it is revealed that it is Debbie who's really singing "Would You?" and "You Are My Lucky Star."  The joke is that Reynolds, who could sing, was dubbed herself for these two songs by Betty Royce. (The joke was further extended: To dub Lina's speaking voice for the film, Jean Hagen did the job herself.)

Her Metro B-Musicals: “I Love Melvin,” “The Affairs of Dobie Gillis,” “Give a Girl a Break” (1953) and “Athena” (1954)

Her Biggest, Splashiest Ensemble MGM Musical: “Hit the Deck” (1955)

Her Tony Curtis Double-Bill: “The Rat Race” (1960) and “Goodbye Charlie” (1964)

Her Glenn Ford Double Bill: “The Gazebo” and “It Started with a Kiss” both (1959)

Her 1959 Releases: “The Gazebo,” “The Mating Game” and “It Started with a Kiss” (all three directed by George Marshall) and “Say One for Me”(Frank Tashlin)

Her George Marshall Films: “The Gazebo,” “The Mating Game” and “It Started with a Kiss” (all 1959)
 

Her Frank Tashlin Films:  “Susan Slept Here” (1954) and “Say One for Me” (1959)

Her Charles Walters Films: “The Tender Trap” (1955) and “The Unsinkable Molly Brown” (1964)

Her Donald Losby Films: "The Mating Game" (1959) and "How Sweet It Is!" (1968).  Losby, a popular child actor, plays Debbie's little brother in "The Mating Game" and her teenage son in "How Sweet It Is!"

Her Films Based on Plays: “The Tender Trap” and “Hit the Deck” (1955), “This Happy Feeling” (1958), “The Gazebo” (1959),  “The Rat Race” (1960),  “The Pleasure of His Company”  (1961), “Mary, Mary” (1963), “Goodbye Charlie” (1964) and “The Unsinkable Molly Brown” (1964)

Her Misguided Attempt at Being Groovy: "How Sweet It Is!" (1968).  The films of the Beat Generation (read: 1960s) weren't welcoming to the stars of the 1950s.  But both Debbie and Doris Day tried to make the leap.  Doris called it quits, moviewise, in 1968 after "With Six, You Get Eggrolls" - which like Debbie's "How Sweet It is!," is an utter embarrassment.  The unsinkable Debbie, however, soldiered on.

Her Two Best TV Movies: “These Old Broads” (2001) “Behind the Candelabra” (2013)

Her Comeback Films: "Mother” (1996) and “In & Out” (1997)

Her Five Best Performances: (1) "The Rat Race" (2) "The Unsinkable Molly Brown" (3) "Divorce American Style" (4)  “Behind the Candelabra” (5) "Goodbye Charlie."

Her Flirtation with Camp: "What's the Matter with Helen?" (1971), a delicious mash-up of "Whatever Happened to Baby Jane?" and "Gypsy," with Shelley Winters in a must-see melt-down. A doozy.

Her Swan Song and Most Amazing Performance: “Behind the Candelabra” (2013)

Her Lost Movies: “This Happy Feeling” (1958), “Say One for Me” (1959), “The Second Time Around” (1960) and “My Six Loves” (1963) - And good luck finding any of them! (“This Happy Feeling” was directed by Blake Edwards, no less. Where is it?)

There are two missed opportunities in Debbie's career - “Bye Bye Birdie” and “Follies.”  Gower Champion, who directed "Birdie" on stage and was initially signed to helm the film version, wanted Reynolds and Jack Lemmon for his leads.  He had worked with both years before - with Debbie on "Give a Girl a Break" and with Jack on "Three for the Show."  Champion quit "Birdie" before it began production and instead went immediately into the delightful "My Six Loves," taking Debbie with him.

Debbie Reynolds and Jack Lemmon never made a film together, as difficult as that is to grasp.  "Birdie" would have been a terrific teaming for them.

As for "Follies," there were rumors in the 1980s that Fox wanted to film the Sondheim musical with Doris Day and Debbie in the roles created on stage by Alexis Smith and Dorothy Collins. And how great would have that been?

Finally, here is Debbie in arguably her greatest movie moment - the six-minute "He's My Friend" number from "The Unsinkable Molly Brown," with assist from her "Molly Brown" cast, especially Grover Dale and Gus Trikonis as her dancing movie brothers.  The music is by Meredith Willson and the choreography is by Peter Gennaro and it's just wonderful.

mike judge's strangled masterwork/redux

 Mike Judge's "Idiocracy," a 2006 movie made for the Trump era

The following review was originally published on May 28^th, 2008, just as another Presidential primary was winding down, but given what happened recently, it's worth a reprint. I thought I'd never say this, but "Idiocracy's" time has finally come.  And whether it's still a laughing matter is debateable, given the cognitively insensitivie leadership currently directing the country.

 (FYI. The first four comments are from the original posting.)

Rent, stream, watch this movie today!

Belatedly, I come to "Idiocracy," the singular Mike Judge 2006 comedy that, for some bizarre and hugely masochistic reason, 20th Century-Fox decided to sacrifice. The mistreated movie opened in so few markets in '06, that, for all intents and purposes, it never really opened.

As a working critic, I never fully trusted the movie studios, particularly whenever one of them would try to elicit sympathy from reviewers because the poor studio was stuck with a really bad film.

While my colleagues would buy into the studio line that an unscreened film was a pathetic loser, I generally suspected that politics was afoot. You know, the filmmaker in question probably inadvertantly insulted a studio executive and, as a consequence, his/her film was being punished.

It never ceases to amaze me how a studio can release 10 consecutive lousy films and then single out one of them as the bad apple in the bunch. A case in point: Fox, the major that sidetracked "Idiocracy," also released - and with much fanfare - the depressingly mediocre (and eminently forgettable) "John Tucker Must Die" the same year.

It's a fact: Every studio that tries to "hide" a film from the critics has two or three hyped titles that are much, much worse. It's a little creepy to think that a lot of executives are overpaid to make such dubious decisions.

But let's get back to Judge's "Idiocracy," a spot-on indictment of the seemingly willful stupidity of some Americans. In it, Luke Wilson gamely plays a likably dim-witted guy who participates as a guinea pig in a top-secret Pentagon program studying ... hibernation.

When he wakes up 500 years in the future, Wilson's Joe Bowers is the smartest guy in the room.

This is the New America where being literate and articulate are equated with being gay. In fact, much of the recent idiot election talk about dreaded "elitism" could have come directly from Judge's prescient movie. (It's been demoralizing to watch as the two Democratic hopefuls vying for the Presidency dumbed themselves down for working-class America.)

There isn't one joke in "Idiocracy" that is not funny or that fails to nail its target. The film is brilliant. But, apparently, it disturbed some studio suit - or some befogged focus group recruited by said suit.

I have two questions:

1. Didn't someone at Fox read Judge's script before the studio greenlighted the project? Certainly, someone there was aware of the movie's incendiary, blatantly unpatriotic contents.

2. Would the same exact film have been sacrificed if, instead of B-lister Wilson, it starred, say, Adam Sandler or Will Ferrell or Jim Carrey or Steve Carell? I think the answer to that question is obvious. OK, here's a loaded question: Would "Idiocracy" have been so disparaged by its own studio if it came with the currently beloved "Judd Apatow" imprimateur?

For what it's worth, "Idiocracy" dwells in the same deliciously deranged universe as Harold Ramis' "Caddyshack," the Farrellys' "Kingpin" and Judge's own "Office Space." The film is hilarious, hands-down.

But the bigger joke here is 20th Century-Fox which, apparently, still exists in the 20th century - literally.

One final thing... Judge has been remarkably quiet about the fate of his modest masterwork, and there has been some speculation about whether he was complicit in the direct-to-DVD treatment of "Idiocracy." Was it planned all along for the film to be premeditated as another home-entertaiment cult hit, along the lines of "Office Space"? Who knows?

But "Idiocracy" seems to have turned into just that.

Note in Passing: Check out Rob Walker's wonderful New York Times magazine piece, titled, "This Joke’s for You" about not only the product placement in "Idiocracy," but also a product it has inspired - Brawndo, “The Thirst Mutilator.”

01-20-2017 / what to watch on TV today

If you're like me and you are trying to avoid turning on your television any time today, terrorized by what you'll see, fear not!  There's always Turner Classic Movies whose resourceful programmers have booked a screening of "A Face in the Crowd," Elia Kazan's dark and quite prescient political satire of 1957, starring Andy Griffith in a career high as a shameless huckster/opportunist/attention addict who accumulates a frightening amount of power.  Budd Schulberg's taut, astute script says all there is to say about 2017 - and, yes, its searing message was delivered 60 years ago. "A Face in the Crowd," much needed, airs today at 5:45 p.m. (est).

façade: dick gautier

Dick Gautier, the one and only Conrad Birdie, at the 1960 recording of the Broadway cast album

Anyone who keeps up with this site is familiar with my disdain for George Sidney's 1963 movie version of the terrific Broadway musical, "Bye Bye Birdie."  Columbia approved so many unnecessary changes that one wonders why the studio even purchased the film rights to the show in the first place. And don't get me started (again) on the casting of Ann-Margret.

To his credit, Gene Saks honored the show with his excellent 1995 TV version of the show which, apart from the original stage production itself, remains the definitive "Bye Bye Birdie."  I shudder to think what NBC will do with its planned "live" version of "Birdie" threatened for later this year.

But back to the truncated '63 film... Among the innumerable mistakes made by Sidney and Columbia was the decision not to cast the actor who created Conrad Birdie on stage in 1960.  That would be Dick Gautier.

Instead the role went to Jesse Pearson, who played Birdie in one of its touring productions and brought a distinct smarminess to the character.

I would like to believe that Gautier was passed over because he simply was too old for the role when the movie was filmed.  (The camera never lies when it comes to someone's age.)  All I know is that I missed the sly humor that Gautier brought to the role, for which he was Tony-nominated.

The comedic touch that Gautier brought to Birdie was no accident.  When he was spotted by director Gower Champion and cast in the role, Gautier was doing stand-up at The Blue Angel, opening for singer Margaret Whiting..  He was reportedly surprised when Champion offered him the role because he claimed he wasn't all that familiar with Elvis (on whom Birdie is based) or his music.  He said that he preferred Gershwin.

The idea of Dick Gautier being a stand-up comic is one difficult to grasp because, well, he didn't look like a stand-up comic.  He had the looks of a movie star.  But after "Birdie," he went back to comedy, working with Mel Brooks and Buck Henry on "Get Smart" and with Brooks again on the promising but short-lived Robin Hood satire, "When Things Were Rotten."

Movie-wise, it is interesting to note that Gautier had roles in two films that reunited him with former "Birdie" cast members.

In his film debut in 1964 in Joshua Logan's "Ensign Pulver," he played the seabee Stefanowski among a crew that included Tommy Sands, James Coco, Jerry Orbach, James Farentino, Larry Hagman, Peter Marshall, Gerald O'Laughlin and, yes, Jack Nicholson. Kay Medford, who played Dick Van Dyke's mother in "Birdie" on stage, played a head nurse who gives Walter Matthau a difficult time while flirting with him. Given that "Pulver" was a released a year after the "Birdie" film, I've often wondered if Logan hired Gautier and Medford because both had been overlooked by Sydney and Columbia.

And in Bud Yorkins' "Divorce American Style," released in 1967, Gautier played Dick Van Dyke's attorney, handling his divorce from Debbie Reynolds. Van Dyke also has a history with the actor who played Reynolds' lawyer - Shelley Berman.  The two had starred in the musical revue, "The Girls Against the Boys," which was toplined by Bert Lahr and Nancy Walker and opened in 1959, a year before "Bye Bye Birdie."

The sequence in "Divorce American Style" in which all four actors appear, hashing out the details of the divorce, is a comic high point of the film.

Dick Gautier died on  January13^th.  He was 85.  Long live Conrad Birdie.