The Secret of My Success

and that's, "How did this inane project ever get greenlighted?" It's a particularly peculiar secret, considering the largely topnotch cast (Shirley Jones, Honor Blackmun, Stella Stevens and Lionel Jeffries) and sensational production values (art direction, costuming, set decoration and special effects) provided by MGM. Why lavish such professional sheen on an inane script, listless direction and a colorless leading man. Sadly, in fact, James Booth deserves most of the blame. He gives such a bland performance, Jones, Blackmun, Stevens and Jeffries are forced to shamelessly overact just to pump some life into the scenes. Given the script, even the best of funnymen couldn't have made much out of "Secret …". However, just imagine how much better it would have been were the leading man Benny Hill.

I have to mention this. Those who only saw Honor Blackmun in "Goldfinger" cannot appreciate how genuinely beautiful she is. Blackmun has never looked better, even when one is distracted by the question, "Is she, or is she not going to fall out of her blouse?" I give "The Secret of My Success" a "4".

I've just viewed the gorgeous print recently shown on TCM, and I can assure the previous reviewer, and anyone else who has seen a pan and scan copy, that the film is no better in pristine condition than it is otherwise. James Booth is deadly dull as the lead, Lionel Jeffries is obviously trying to channel the spirit of one of Peter Sellers multi-role performances, and the story is ineptly developed. The giant spiders are vaguely amusing but gosh, I went to see Eight Legged Freaks the day before I watched this, and the spiders in that film were a lot more fun.

This picture deals with three different women and one especially who has a husband who has always loved to study spiders and ants and this couple live in this very huge home with so many rooms you could really get lost inside and the basement is the same way. This woman kills a man and she calls in Scotland Yard and they investigate the crime and then one of the inspectors finds out that there are large spiders roaming around and actually running after them. These spiders are big as large dogs and their lives are threatened, the woman convinces the inspectors that her husband committed this murder and he is taken away to prison. The fact is that this woman actually kept these spiders and helped them grow into huge insects. Remember, there are really two more women in this picture who have another strange story to tell.

A bumbling bobby, with the aid of his mother, rises through the P.D., becomes the leader of a Latin-American revolution and inherits a fortune. 1st Stella murders her husband and buries him in the basement, then Honor raises St.Bernard size spiders and commits her spouse to a mental institution and Shirley cons the hero into the revolution. All without the knowing sense of the hero, aided and abetted by his mother plottings.

What a wacko plot! The should have made this with John Cleese as the star and it would have been a bigger hoot.

not great. but nice. an ironic story, a decent cast, few scenes with monsters, three beautiful actresses and Lionel Jeffries in a collection of characters. it is far to impress but can be not bad occasion of entertainment. a crazy script, a wise mother and a naive son. levels of a bizarre/unrealistic career and acceptable humor. in fact, a parody and puzzle of usual parts from dramas/thriller/horror of period. a play without great ambitions but acceptable for a rainy afternoon refuge. the acting, like the story is only an exercise to give some soul to a chaotic script. unique sparkle - Amy Dalby performance. result - easy form of fun and a gray movie.