Island of Love

Steve Blair (Robert Preston) is a con man always looking for the next mark. Greek mobster Tony Dallas (Walter Matthau) is marrying stripper Cha Cha Miller. He would like to make a religious movie about Adam & Eve. Steve recruits his writer buddy Paul Ferris (Tony Randall) and talks Tony into investing $2 million as long as Cha Cha plays Eve.

Despite the 3 great comedians, this did not elicit a laugh from me. It may be the story. I kept wondering why Steve would con a mobster. That seems reckless. None of this makes sense. I don't buy Matthau as Greek, but I can ignore that. I just don't buy the scheme and of all the places to run to. The plot moves location and I don't know what I'm supposed to be laughing at. A comedy can feel very long when there are no laughs.

My tivo recently found this movie, so I gave it a watch. It wasn't awful, but it was pretty disappointing. It seems like they spent all the budget on the cast and location setting and had none left to hire any decent writers. The story is clunky and forced, the laughs tepid and infrequent. Robert Preston and Tony Randall gamely do what they can with the script, but it's really not enough to save the picture. Randall in particular just seems wasted. And Walter Matthau gives the worst performance I've ever seen from him; he not only doesn't help save the picture, he helps sink it. He just sounds so weird, wrong, and fake with that preposterous accent he's using.

I gave it 5 stars because I'll confess I did laugh out loud a couple times. But just a couple. Watch this movie as a curiosity, should the occasion arise, but don't go into it with any great expectations.

I know that this film may not be everyone's cup of tea, but I really enjoyed it. I least I have the memory of having enjoyed it. It has many years since I've seen it. I still check regularly to see if has come to DVD or VHS. I would love to see it again.

Tony Randall is good as usual. Robert Preston and Walter Matthau, while they may not be at their best, are nevertheless still Robert Preston and Walter Matthau. The star power coupled with the pure scenic beauty of the locale is enough of a reason to bring this film to the public again. There are many others of lesser quality which are released today. Why not this one?

It was on Channel 9 HD channel in Australia late night on Tue 2 June '08. Obviously a very rare screening of an odd little film. It's the worst performance I've ever seen from Tony Randall & Walter Matthau and that's saying something. Robert Preston is completely miscast. Michael Considine the father from 'My Big Fat Greek Wedding has a small part as a barman. They shot it on the island of Hydra and it's great to see the islands in the early 60's before the onset of commercial tourism. It's worth seeing the film just for that. Apart from the great Australian novelist George Johnston,another famous artist who lived on this island at around the same time was Leonard Cohen. His song 'Bird on a wire' was written on Hydra. This film is well worth a look for film buffs as it was also director Morton DaCosta's last film as he returned to the Broadway stage after this picture flopped. Only a year earlier he has been nominated for an Oscar for best film for being the director/producer of 'The Music Man'.

Great cast but the story is just stupid. Robert Preston is too old for his role and Tony Randall is wasted. Walter Matthau's accent is all over the place and he seems uncomfortable playing some idiot gangster. The movie is interesting as it is filmed on location in Greece before it was spoilt by mass tourism.