Don't Worry, We'll Think of a Title

One of the weirder things I've seem on TV. Turner Classic Movies has been showing some rarely seen stuff lately and some of the movies are gems.

I certainly wouldn't call this a gem by any means. I mainly turned it on just to see why I'd never heard of it before. First I thought I turned on TV Land by mistake. Most of the cast of The Dick Van Dyke Show is in this. I noticed there was no laugh track when Morey Amsterdan cracked a one liner and something seemed missing. That sent me to IMDb to investigate. I then watched simply because of the cameo appearances in the movie.

The movie has a lot of sight gags and wise cracks. A bit like an over length 3 Stooges episode and it does have Moe Howard in one of his final screen appearances.

This movie is about a girl who inherits a bookstore, and the "wacky antics" of her employees. This movie definitely plays on the cold war mentality and fear of espionage of the time, but for laughs. It features some of 1960's television, and 1930's film's greatest stars (Supporting cast of the Dick Van Dyke show, Moe Howard of Three Stooges fame, Milton Berl, Steve Allen, etc...) Chock full of one liners (pretty much the whole movie is set ups for one liners), it takes what would make a 30 minute sitcom hilarious, and makes a 90 minute movie annoying. This movie is really quite goofy. HOWEVER, I really think a kid might find it quite funny...and by kid I mean under 10 yrs.

Seeing all the cameos is a nice trip down nostalgia-lane for the over 40 folks, if you are not interested in a plot, a script, and acting talent.

This was a lost film for decades, until someone at Turner and United Artists resurrected it for a few TV showings. Apropos of all the other reviews here, unless you enjoy 60s culture as viewed by middle-aged men of the period, the movie will leave you at a loss. Morey Amsterdam, who co-wrote and produced, and Rose Marie are alternately embarrassing and silly. Morey's one-liners were dinosaurs on the vaudeville circuit and would have been rejected immediately for the Alan Brady Show. A low-budget and unfunny pastiche of bad jokes that simply painful to sit through. However, there is some amusement in seeing Richard Deacon try in vain to rise above the material. A few of the cameo roles are of historical interest. A bomb at the box office when first released in 1966, this film is best left in the vault.

I believe this movie represents the last gasp of vaudeville. Shot in beautifully clear black-and-white, on a set that is so obviously a set and not at all realistic, this film presents a stage on which we see the last great vaudeville act for the very last time.

It's all about slapstick physical humor where the victim is hurt only for the length of the shot. It's all about one-liners, where the straight-man responds by making an exasperated face or rolling his or her eyes.

And gimmicks stolen from other acts (e.g. Get Smart) that are familiar to the audience.

And the long pauses between action moments -- giving time for the folks in the back of the theater to realize what just happened and start laughing before the people in front have stopped laughing.

And the walk-on cameos of famous performers to keep the people interested, lest they realize that there is no plot worth caring about.

Apparently many people watched the film (based on the rash of reviews) on its single showing on TCM. Robert Osbourne did not introduce the film, which is regrettable. I really would like to have seen how he characterized this piece of work.

Fans of the The Dick Van Dyke Show (like me) may remember episode 40, "The Secret Life of Buddy and Sally" in which Morey Amsterdam's character and Rose Marie's character create and put on their own show at a club on the weekends. Well, this film is what would happen if Buddy and Sally sneaked off to make a movie on a long weekend, and Mel Cooley (Richard Deacon's character) actually produced and directed it. Vaudeville, filmed in noir, on the cheapest set money could rent.

No offense to any of the terrific veteran actors in the movie -- most of them had great roles elsewhere. But you do need a cup of strong coffee and a curious mind to enjoy what they were attempting in ... whatever its title was.

It's 84 minutes long. I lasted 7 minutes. I enjoyed Morey Amsterdam on the old Dick Van Dyke Show. Carl Reiner has a writing credit on all 158 episodes, Morey has none. One of Morey's few writing credits is this dog. So, I guess Morey was a funny performer, but not a good writer.

Avoid.