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Reviews
Darling Lili (1970)
Well worth seeing but in many ways Julie brought the box office disaster on herself!
It really is a great film (after being able to ignore Blake Edwards Pink Panther references which he appears to be obsessed with and are hugely unfunny). Julie is, as usual, wonderful - singing and acting brilliantly. I remember seeing it at the Odeon Cinema in the Haymarket, London on its release. However Julie's non-appearance at the UK premiere of STAR! was most unfortunate and (apparently!) due to filming the aerial shots for Darling Lili over Ireland. A reasonable excuse if she had appeared in any of these aerial shots but she did not. Two box office flops in a row ruined her film career for quite a few years. But Darling Lili,just like STAR!, deserves much more public appreciation.
Un tè con Mussolini (1999)
A Great Movie
Well worth seeing. Fabulous acting by all and a completely different slant on World War 2. It is very British but bear in mind that this is actually what happened to Zefferelli, as a boy, who Directed the film (Luca in the film). Superb photography throughout as would be expected from him. Totally absorbing. Do not hesitate in watching this film. It is not a comedy, although there are some amusing lines, but a serious view of events in Italy during the war. The English actresses are superb with no-one grabbing the film. Cher is a total surprise and very good as is Lily Tomlin. The sound is not perfect but everything else is.
Hawaii (1966)
Marathon!
Beautifully made, wonderful music BUT gets very BORING mainly due to Von Sydow's character. It was an odd choice for Julie Andrews as she was the Queen of Hollywood at the time but, as usual, she gives a lovely performance. The other performances are good too, it is just Von Sydow's character constant bible bashing that simply starts irritating. Elmer Bernstain's music is superb and the photography visually stunning. Very long and obviously some omissions from the original Michener novel. Would have been interesting to see what Rodgers and Hammerstein could have done with it after their masterpiece South Pacific, based also on Michener novels. Worth watching if you can stay awake!!