Every Little Crook and Nanny

This chaotic, fitfully amusing comedy of how Lynn Redgrave's character came to mastermind the kidnapping of a Mafia don owes its occasional successes largely to Ms. Redgrave's crisp performance and her sardonic delivery of some amusing lines. Victor Mature is also fine as an oblivious Mafia don. Dom Deluise and John Astin put a lot of energy into their roles as lawyers, and Pat Morita has a funny monologue about how Japanese people can't pronounce the letter L. However, the script stumbles in several directions at once, trying and failing to cover the subplots in the Evan Hunter novel, and the other men in the cast, particularly Paul Sand and Austin Pendleton as Redgrave's unwitting henchmen, along with three or four other alumni of the Second City troupe's first year all wind up playing their characters alike, as vague, whiny and low key. The net effect is slow and dull. Give this a miss.

Mob boss Carmine Ganucci (Victor Mature) is demanding to have a specific location, but stubborn dance teacher Miss Poole (Lynn Redgrave) has a long term lease. He throws her out anyways. Meanwhile, he needs a new nanny for his son. An angry Miss Poole comes into the office to complain. Carmine confuses her for a nanny and hires her on the spot. She sees an opportunity for revenge and recruits her beaten piano player Luther (Austin Pendleton). Vito Garbugli (John Astin) and Mario Azzecca (Dom DeLuise) are his sniveling assistants. Benny Napkins (Paul Sand) is the weak-kneed gangster convinced to keep the kidnapping secret.

This is the downside of Victor Mature's career. He came out of semi-retirement for this. Apparently, they caught him at the right moment, but the material is not that good. I really like Mature's performance, but it's not enough. The plot spirals into a mess. Worst still, it's not actually that funny. There are small moments of comedic possibilities, but this is generally falling flat.

A disappointing mess of a movie that wastes a fine cast. It's especially disappointing because occasionally you can see the potential for it to be the lively, entertaining farce that it aims to be.

Unfortunately, too much of the film is poorly handled (e.g. the pre-credits scene where the Etiquette school is closed down) or is weak as a comedy (e.g. the lame attempts at humour based around the constant references to 'boobs'). As well the plot never coheres, in part because it covers too many characters; Astin and DeLuise's characters (both wasted) could've easily been excised from the film.

As the other reviewer says, Lynn Redgrave gives a fine performance in the central role. She doesn't fall into the trap that other cast members do (especially Pendleton) of going over the top in a vain attempt to cover the thinness of the material.

There are a few amusing bits, like the matter-of-fact way the child reacts to being kidnapped by putting on his watch because "he never travels without it".

But overall there's not much entertainment to be had from this film.

I enjoyed all the snarky little one-liners. So many shining stars in early performances. Austin Pendleton was hilarious. Who cares if the plot was all over the place, it was a delightful little romp. Ignore the low ratings, give it a look.

Lovely to see Victor Mature, always a favorite, playing an extravagant Mafia don. And a slimmed-down Lynn Redgrave as a nanny taking care of the don's son, while the don is in Italy. Other members of the cast, Dom DeLuise, John Astin, Paul Sand and Austin Pendleton add to the comedy, but it goes off base when too many have zany moments which take away from the mane story. Nonetheless, it's worthwhile to see the stars who are no longer with us. Also the 1972 comedy is like a time capsule, not something we would see today. Gaudy 70s costumes and female anatomy jokes place this film firmly in the time frame before movies lost their humor.