THAT old axiom that nobody loves a critic is somewhat painfully proved in "Critic's Choice."In the film adaptation of the Broadway comedy, Bob Hope, playing the toughest drama reviewer among the Sardi's set, debates for almost two hours the weighty problem of whether or not to cover his wife's first play. The dilemma drives him to liquor, psychoanalysis and the grasping arms of his former wife, before he sits down to his typewriter and compares the play to a Frankenstein monster. Maybe it's the man's dogged perseverance in a less than earth-shaking cause that makes him so unlikable. Or perhaps it is the warm and winning performance of Lucille Ball as the wife that turns the audience against her critical mate. But we tend to suspect that it is really the basic job hazard of the critical profession. The new film, which came to neighborhood theaters yesterday on a double bill with a bucolic drama of no discernible merit called "Lad: a Dog," suffers from a personality problem of its own. It is pleasing to look at in its expensive décor, color and scope, ably played by its experienced stars and ingratiating in its quieter insights into a sophisticated marital relationship. So long as it meanders modestly through some above-average repartee, it provides an agreeable way to pass an evening. Instead of leaving well enough alone, unfortunately, the director, Don Weis, has tried to upholster the shaky plot with slapstick and broad burlesque. When Mr. Hope, staggering to his balcony seat for the opening, falls over the rail and dangles by his heels, the sophisticated character he has been portraying is irrevocably lost. Similarly, the sensible and appealing woman so carefully created by Miss Ball is spoiled when she is required to register attraction to a burlesque of a Method director, crudely mumbled by Rip Torn. Both stars, old hands at this sort of thing, go through their paces with benign good humor, but their subtler comic talents remain untapped. At this rate, the critics' popularity seems unlikely to improve.
Review of Critic's Choice
