Sophie's Place

I didn't expect a classic English comedy along the lines of the films that Peter Sellers, Terry Thomas and Leslie Phillips made but I didn't expect C&C to be as bad as it is. The cast is excellent with American power (Cesar Romero and Telly Savalas partnered with Warren Oates? Fantastic.) and I recognized many excellent Brit performers from TV and films such as Nicky Henson but they couldn't save this mess. Casting Savalas and Oates as two screw-ups doesn't work either. Poorly photographed in dreary colors, poor audio and a slow-moving, unfunny script had me shutting it off several times until I eventually finished it to the let's-get-it-over ending. To be fair, the version TCM showed (9/24/19) was full-screen so who knows what they were forced to use. The film was shot in 1.66:1. The location is excellent but that's the only praise I can grant. There's a salacious piece of footage straight out of a Carry On film when Oates leers at Vickery Turner (Mrs. Warren Oates for a few years) who's milking a cow, the camera focusing on her legs and her hands.

I guess I was expecting a lot more with this comedy, seeing that it somehow managed to wrangle Telly Savalas and Warren Oates to star in it. While the movie is never painful or boring to watch, it just isn't that funny. It has the right spirit in the background, having an amiable nature and without a mean streak or anything really negative happening. And the cast gives it a good shot, not just the two main American stars. But the attempts at humor that are played in the foreground are pretty lame, soft and not particularly clever. If Savalas and Oates were not in this movie, the end results could be easily mistaken as being an example of one of many lame family comedies the Walt Disney company made around this period.

Telly Savalas ! a couple years BEFORE Kojak. here he's a prisoner, just getting released from jail. and Sergeant Hulka from Stripes! (Warren Oates). Together, they come up wtih a scheme to rob the eccentric British Lady Sophie (Edith Evans). now they just need to convince their old crime boss (Cesar Romero) to finance it. They manage to get inside, and find its more complicated than they thought. a very slow, simmering, boil of a comedy. Turns out Lady Sophie is a wild woman, and they might just have a hard time keeping up with her. she likes a bit of adventure, herself. Savalas plays it very lightweight, and a little over the top, and it all works. a couple surprises along the way. Written and directed by Jim O'Connolly. Only directed a few things. this one is also known as Sophie's Place. i hadn't heard of the other films he did, but he was a british director, so i probably wouldn't know them.. This one's pretty good. a different kind of story.

Herbie Haseler (Telly Savalas) is released from prison. His friend Marty Miller (Warren Oates) picks him up with a stolen car. Mob boss Nick Marco (Cesar Romero) is not happy with them and considers them owing $160k for a failed armored truck robbery. Herbie has had a long list of failed criminal schemes. His new scheme is to steal from a mansion in England. The duo takes a tour and befriends the Fitzmore family who are cash poor despite their vast estate.

Savalas and Oates are incompetent criminals and they do a good job being likeable. It's just not that funny. At best, they are mildly amusing. The movie goes on by being the mildest of amusement. Mostly, I'm trying to discern if there are actual jokes being executed. On the positive side, I really do like Savalas and Oates. They are even more likeable when they befriend the family. The caper is not that exciting or that imaginative. They should be doing the Home Alone thing but the slapstick isn't that funny. It's a likeable movie but it lacks real laughs.

Even though it's a bit dated, this tale of crooks with hearts of gold is still fun to sit through. The highlight of the film is probably Dame Edith Evans as Lady Sophie, the madcap, gambling, barnstorming old aristocrat. British viewers might not enjoy the implication that what Europe really needs is American know-how to make things profitable. ;)