Un marido de repuesto

A psychedelic film from the 60s that hasn't aged very well. It was probably rated higher when it was released and may have been popular with the teenagers of the time but now it's difficult to watch. A lot of money must have been spent on the fantasy sequences with lavish sets that appear only briefly. A strange film to have some big name actors, and actresses, in it which would not have come cheap. I wonder if it ever manage to make a profit?

The sort of nonsense that brought the British cinema to its knees at the end of the sixties. Considering how politically correct Shirley MacLaine was to become during the seventies this seems to have something to offend everyone. Suffused throughout with gaudy Dayglo colours; and believe it or not written by the guy who ten years earlier had shared script credit on 'Vertigo' and shot by the cameraman who had recently shot '2001'!

Nothing dates faster than something trying hard to be trendy; and Fellini seems to have inspired the raucous fantasy scenes. Constant product placement of long vanished items like the 'Teach Yourself' series of handbooks make this film feel as it was made over fifty years ago.

Ye Gods it was!

A relic of its time this poorly conceived so called comedy coupled with Sweet Charity and several other losers killed off Shirley's film career the first time around. Within two years she was finished on screen and was out of pictures for almost a decade until her comeback in The Turning Point. This is one of the unfortunate crop of late 60's movies that tried to cash in on the so called youth wave with the overuse of psychedelic colors and disjointed scenes rather than a cohesive script. The desired effect, whatever that was, is not achieved all that is accomplished is to bore the audience and leave them with eye strain from the overdone color scheme. Skip it!

I absolutely despised this film. It was a fluff and swirly colors that did not entice me in the least. Well acted? No. Well directed? No. Interesting story line? No. All this film was was a psychadelic blast of bright colors and a mess of awful 60's furniture. Basically, Mrs. Blossom gets pleasured by a horrid man who loves in the attic of her and her husband's funky house. If you ever dare to view this film, be prepared to get dizzy by ridiculous film angles and nauseating colors. You have now been warned.

This movie is completely charming. I've never seen a more wonderful Shirley MacLaine. I fell in love with her. If you liked the Austin Powers films, then you will especially enjoy the costumes and decor of this movie. The artworks that Mrs. Blossom creates are terrific. With the recent public appearance of the polyamory community, it's apparent that the idea of being in love and devoted to two people, and being "faithful" to them both, is still relevant. As a small, funny movie, it still asks some good questions about the nature of relationships and fidelity. Bravo.