The Troublemaker (1964) User Reviews

Groundbreaking comedy that grew out of New York's improv scene

[davidvmcgillivray-24-905811 · 7/10 · 6 January 2016]

I have waited more than 50 years to see this film. As someone else has pointed out, it has finally appeared in the UK on the quirky Talking Pictures channel, and it was well worth the wait. The zany comedy style is that of the Greenwich Village scene of the time and where much of the film was shot. It marked the film debut of several important players, a remarkable number of whom went on to become directors themselves. It's not beyond the realms of possibility that it was this film that helped inspire Woody Allen to direct. Writer-director Theodore J. Flicker offers a fascinating satire of Greenwich Village society, where the average resident is an artist-poet-sculptor and it's impossible to open a new business without paying everybody off, notably the Mafia. The eponymous troublemaker (Tom Aldredge) tries to buck the system, but eventually surrenders to it. A lot of the jokes (Buck Henry's I'll warrant) are still funny. The visual humour is more variable and with the arrival of the killer dust carts becomes surreal. But what must have seemed bizarre at the time is now commonplace. As many will know, Flicker went on to direct only one major mainstream picture, "The President's Analyst", before fading. My impression is that it was only here, on his first movie, when he was surrounded by such an abundance of like minds, that he was able to do his best. One of my favourite scenes features Adelaide Klein, a comic actress of whom I'd never heard (this was her last film), playing a bonkers psychiatrist, who then attacks her black intern, played by none other than Al Freeman Jnr., who went on to star in "Dutchman". It's an example of the edgy humour that didn't arrive in the mainstream until more than 20 years later. There are also jokes about a paedophile and neo-Nazis. And, yes, that's Tiny Tim (uncredited both on the film and here) as one of the latter. A must-see for anyone interested in the history of comedy.

Quirky jewel from the 60s

[leliorisen · 7/10 · 4 April 2002]

I saw the movie on cable last night, but could not find it in the TV listing, ironically enough. I didn't catch the entire film, maybe about an hour's worth, but it is definitely one of the most offbeat films from the era. Buck Henry came off as a cross between Jack Lemmon and Steve Allen, with Tom Aldredge as a Gene Wilder type.

The entire ambience was reminiscent of Dobie Gillis and there is a very New York-sensibility throughout. Actually it almost seemed like the cinematic bonding of Woody Allen and Maynard G. Krebs.

It also seemed to foreshadow the coming free love movement of the latter part of the 60s with a very frank look at sexual openness in relationships.

Surprising, quirky and original. I would love to own it on DVD if it ever becomes available. Wishful thinking? Well, it is being played on cable, so who knows?

A mildly racy bit of oddball farce from the co=creator of "Barney Miller"

[rdoyle29 · 7/10 · 16 May 2023]

New Jersey chicken farmer Tom Aldredge moves to New York to open a coffee shop in Greenwich Village so that he can meet a wider variety of people. He hooks up with his college buddy Buck Henry, now a successful attorney. Henry tries to help him navigate the maze of corruption involved with opening a business in NY, but Aldredge refuses to have anything to do with corruption. Gangster James Frawley (who would go on to direct "The Muppet Movie"), fire inspector Godfrey Cambridge, and a whole bunch of other corrupt officials try to do him in.

Theodore J. Flicker, best known for directing "The President's Analyst" and co-creating "Barney Miller", directed and co-wrote (with Henry) this extremely weird farce. It feels very much like a dry run at "The President's Analyst", with an array of odd characters and strange, absurdist plot interruptions, as well as a plot involving a vast comic conspiracy. It's really not as good as that film ... about 40% of the jokes actually land ... but it's a fitfully amusing curiosity that feels like it should have been a cult item.

It's also mildly racy with Playboy Bunny China Lee (best known as the girl in the dancing wraparounds of "What's Up, Tiger Lily?") standing around in her underwear as Henry narrates the story from a massage parlor, and co-star Joan Darling (kind of the film's love interest) has a bunch of almost-nude scenes.

Odd-ball rare find!

[googlemorf · 29 August 2001]

A friend of mine recorded this from cable. Buck Henry is in it as well as wrote it.. His character has shades of Maxwell Smart whom he and Mel Brooks would create soon after. Strange satirical comedy with a surreal edge and over the top characters. I'd love to see it again!