What’s New Pussycat? (1965)
fails the test of time according to the Rotten Tomatoes website. The film earns
a Tomatometer reading of 31% and Audience Score of 56%. The movie deserves more
credit than it receives if only for paving the way for Woody Allen’s transition
from standup comedian to auteur filmmaker.
Woody’s first day on the set….
Woody Allen, a young man
of 29 years, actually celebrated his 29th birthday on Dec. 1, 1964,
his very first day of film acting. In a strange coincidence, the scene involved
Victor enjoying a self-catered, solo birthday party/picnic dinner on the banks
of the Seine River. Dr. Fassbender, the Peter Seller’s character, disrupts the
dinner. Fassbender, about to commit suicide by self-immolation, plans to
ceremonially wrap himself in the Norwegian flag, followed by floating off in
the dinghy consumed in flames. This scene caused the film to be banned in
Norway. Fassbender strains to hear Woody Allen’s first spoken line in movies:
Woody: “Do you have any salt?”
Dr. Fassbender asks him
to repeat the question.
Woody repeats the line.
Fassbender answers, he has gathered matches, kerosene, a flag, and a boat, “but
I ain’t got no salt.”
Diane Jacobs, in a 1982 Woody
Allen biography, noted Woody’s persona was one of the strengths of the film;
the schlemiel Woody cultivated so carefully in his standup act also worked well
for the camera:
“Whatever their shortcomings,
Allen’s sixties scripts are a solid beginning. Even at their most pedestrian
they possess the component Preston Sturges described as essential to comic
writing—the two as opposed to the one-liner, the comic dialog. But what they
conspicuously lack is the structure to forge that dialogue into a cohesive
narrative and thematic statement. 6
What’s New Pussycat? opens with the Dr. Fritz Fassbender, the Peter Sellers psychiatrist character,
in the midst of a
knockdown fight with his huge Teutonic wife. Fassbender’s wife, an embodiment of
the clichéd fat lady who sings at the end of the opera, even dons a war helmet
with protruding horns by film’s end. The couple’s combat culminates with
Fassbender popping open of a switchblade knife. A ring at the front door
signals the arrival of a new patient, Michael James, played by Peter O’Toole.
Michael James, a fashion editor, explains his recurring problem, he’s
incredibly attractive and irresistible to women. Fassbender barely tolerates
Michael’s tedious recollections of sexual conquest and encourages him to attend
one of his group analysis sessions.
Readers of the Rotten Tomatoes
website listed the best line in the movie as Fritz Fassbender’s response to his
wife’s question, “Is she prettier than me?”
Dr. Fritz Fassbender: Is she prettier
than you? I'm prettier than you!
After
having observed Clive Donner direct What’s
New Pussycat? Allen felt confident enough to direct his first two films.
Those two films, Take the Money and Run
(1969) and Bananas (1971), are
re-workings of his stand-up material and play like a series of jokes translated
to film episodes.
The
filming of Play It Again, Sam (1972) 1969
Broadway play, marked a significant uptick on Woody Allen’s cinematic journey.
Woody hired Herbert Ross to direct Play
It Again Sam. Herbert Ross provided Lesson #2 -- How To Be a Film
Director-- for Woody’s quest. Allen
was progressing on two fronts:
(1) transforming the schlemiel character by having him get advice from a
fictitious Humphrey Bogart
(2) getting director lessons at the shoulder of Herbert Ross
According
to one critic, Woody never did learn to direct films. A scribe for a Chicago
publication had interesting observations about What’s New Pussycat?... Please
note, the comment below came years after the film had left theaters and moved
into the film archives to late night television viewing and the DVD format:
Clive Donner's stylish direction harmonizes
well with Woody Allen's inspired screenplay to yield an elegant entertainment
(1965), proving once again that Allen is a better scenarist than a director.
Peter O'Toole is surprisingly effective in his first screen comedy, and Allen
is much more subdued and effective as a performer under someone else's
direction. A charming Parisian bedroom farce with fine support from Paula
Prentiss and Peter Sellers. 108 min.
Chicago Reader
Woody
Allen sought, and fought mightily, to work from both sides of the camera and offer a more nuanced version of his worldview. He has created an remarkable
oeuvre, an amazing output of one film per year since 1969, ever since
establishing credibility as a director.
6 Diane
Jacobs, …but we need the eggs, The Magic of Woody Allen (New York: St. Martin’s
Press, 1982) 36.
No comments:
Post a Comment