A great first half where Hitchcock shows his risqué, provocative and suspenseful side is ruined by a crass second half where Hitch tries too hard to entertain and evoke laughter.
The film begins quite provocatively where a kid pulls off the veil of a Muslim lady in Morroco ("the Muslim religion allows for few accidents" :)). In the post-colonial world, irritations that emanate out of the meeting of different cultures is expressed subtly but markedly. In HELP! (1965), Ringo Starr says "Get sacrificed! I don't subscribe to your religion!" to a Hindu character. Cinema has become quite tame since those days.
Doris Day's middle aged character gazes almost longingly at the suspicious DANIEL GELIN who befriends the aging couple in the bus after he saves them from the religious Muslim. The stage is set for a sexy thriller.
But it all falls apart after the couple reaches London to search for their son. There are no real twists in the second half and instead there is the needless slap sticky fight scene with the taxidermist and his assistants. The film should have ended at the concert but instead we have a very unremarkable finale.
DORIS DAY is quite motherly unlike the usually sexy and mesmerizing Hitchcock heroines. Overall, this film was a huge disappointment after the promising first half.
(6/10)
The film begins quite provocatively where a kid pulls off the veil of a Muslim lady in Morroco ("the Muslim religion allows for few accidents" :)). In the post-colonial world, irritations that emanate out of the meeting of different cultures is expressed subtly but markedly. In HELP! (1965), Ringo Starr says "Get sacrificed! I don't subscribe to your religion!" to a Hindu character. Cinema has become quite tame since those days.
Doris Day's middle aged character gazes almost longingly at the suspicious DANIEL GELIN who befriends the aging couple in the bus after he saves them from the religious Muslim. The stage is set for a sexy thriller.
But it all falls apart after the couple reaches London to search for their son. There are no real twists in the second half and instead there is the needless slap sticky fight scene with the taxidermist and his assistants. The film should have ended at the concert but instead we have a very unremarkable finale.
DORIS DAY is quite motherly unlike the usually sexy and mesmerizing Hitchcock heroines. Overall, this film was a huge disappointment after the promising first half.
(6/10)