The Owl and the Pussycat

The Owl and the Pussycat seems stuck between two worlds - the stage and the screen. While the screenplay has done wonders to make the story feel less cramped and claustrophobic, the performances haven't always been modulated to better fit the screen with Streisand coming across as a bit too shrill, loud, and grating for most of the film's first half.

When the film finally settles into its groove, it can be quite charming and funny, but you just have to get past that initial hump. There are a few pacing issues even with its relatively short 96 minute runtime, but the charm of Streisand and Segal make up for any major shortcomings.

The Owl And The Pussycat is a fine example of great comic pairing. Barbra and George Segal work very well together. Very well indeed. It is a loud comedy though, not a slapstick one. So if you're looking for slapstick, watch What's Up,Doc? or For Pete's Sake. If you are looking for a comedy that is a more heartfelt, with more depth to the charatcers and emotion, then The Owl And The Pussycat is for you. I say it is a loud comedy mostly because of Barbra's character Doris. Doris can be pretty loud. But what's funny about it is that half the time she doesn't even mean to be; it's just her nature. This "nature", took George Segal's character Felix quite by surprise,

and it is very amusing to see him try to adjust to it. What's so interesting to watch is that although Doris shows herself in the beginning to be loud, self-assertive and bold, she later shows herself to be vulnerable and sweet. Where as George Segal's character Felix, showing himself to have a nose up in the air, "I'm too intellectual for you" attitude in the beginning, later shows that although he wants success in his life, not at the expense of pretense. With himself, or what he genuinely wants. I say pretense because Felix's thinking was that he would marry an "intellectual" such as he thought himself to be, and live this "proper" life. Doris, although loud, and believes she is a legend in her own mind, is genuine and real. Felix is very much attracted to her for this reason. It's a quality that she has that he sees that he wants to be more like himself. But what is so amusing is that Doris feels that after meeting and getting to know Felix, that she needs to become more like him! More "intellectual". What's truly so charming about this movie is how it shows the facades that we can portray and the masks that we can wear are truly just that; facades and masks. How no matter how confident we can "look" on the outside, how smart we may "appear", that it can be a totally different story once you start actually getting to know someone. What's most charming of all,(actually wonderful),is that by the film's end they both decide to drop these facades, take off the masks, and "start fresh". But...all along from the beginning of this movie til it's end, until they get to this level, it can be quite hysterical. A great comedy with heart. Enjoy it.

TEN BEST OF 1970

#10- The Owl and the Pussycat

Herbert Ross' "The Owl and the Pussycat" is a prime of example of how to do a "Battle of the Sexes" romantic comedy right. Most modern romantic comedies are either drowning in their syrupy sentimentality ("Serendipity")or in crude hatred of one and/or both sexes ("Tomcats", "Divine Secrets of the Ya-Ya Sisterhood").

The film stars Barbra Streisand as Doris, a part-time hooker/actress who doesn't go anywhere without her TV. George Segal plays Felix Sherman, a would-be writer whose life consists of writer's block and rejection slips. One fateful evening, Felix complains to the landlord about the constant noise coming from Doris' apartment. He goes to bed and is awakened by a loud knock. It's Doris, who was evicted from her apartment and has several bones to pick with Felix. It's the beginning of a battle that lasts for most of the film's 97 minute running time.

What makes The Owl and the Pussycat such a standout film is the care that went into the production. Buck Henry has successfully transplanted Bill Manhoff's play from L.A. to New York and the film is better for it. New York is a much livelier town than L.A. and the city itself becomes a character that the others bounce off from. Herbert Ross proves he can handle comedy as well as he can handle musicals and choreography. His direction doesn't overwhelm the script and acting but compliments it in a way most people write off.

On paper, I suppose the Barbra Streisand-George Segal pairing doesn't look promising. But when you see the film, you will not think of more perfect casting. Streisand and Segal have good chemistry together and it makes some of the later events of the film more believable. Streisand has a gift for delivering brisk, snappy dialogue. Segal has a gift for being able to make his characters instantly likable.

The score is by Blood, Sweat and Tears. Made in between their second and third albums, the score doesn't feel like a time-filler throwaway. Dick Halligan's music fits the film like a well worn glove. I cannot imagine the movie without the music. It does like all good scores do, enhance the movie without giving it away. There is a mix-up in regards to the lyrics (credited to BS&T, but David Clayton-Thomas has said they were given to BS&T before the music was composed), but still, as sung by DC-T, the songs have a wonderful quality to them.

All people who even want to attempt a romantic comedy should watch "The Owl and the Pussycat". It shows how to make a movie like this without resorting to misogyny, chauvinism or drippy sentiment.

**** out of 4 stars

I also read the play. Streisand and Segal have great on-screen chemistry. This film will keep you laughing non-stop. Barbara Streisand's performance of the character being "neurotic" is excellent. George Segal's character is equally good in his response to her behavior. If you like this, it is one you may want to watch over and over again.

It's great to see "Pussycat" in widescreen at last. Streisand and Siegel make a good team and the movie is still pretty racy, even by today's standards, although it would have been racier still if some bluenose hadn't removed one of Barbra's more notorious expletives from the soundtrack. Fans of the original well remember the scene in which she tells a bunch of hooligans that are harassing her and Siegel to "F---- off!" Amazingly, this line has now been dropped from the DVD version so that the two scenes that come next make little sense, including her follow-up line, "people are so touchy these days, you have to watch every word." The cropped VHS tape may have looked terrible but at least it did retain the line with the F-word, probably the first time it was ever uttered by a big female star in a major motion picture. (Of course, now screenwriters have over-used it to such an extent that you suspect they wouldn't be able to get along without it if it were ever banned from use.) Some aspects of the film would probably be politically incorrect today, such as certain homophobic slurs the hooker screams at the writer, and it's pretty hard to imagine this relationship lasting too much longer after the fadeout. Still the stars are compulsively watchable.