This was designed to capitalize on the run-away popularity of Rowan and Martin's Laugh-In during the late 60's, but it was neither fish nor fowl. And many of the jokes today are badly dated. What is left is Dick Martin's absurdist slapstick and a very clever ending that tries hard to salvage the film, If you wish to re-visit the 1960's, this is a great film for you. Otherwaise, it's just mediocre.
19 Reviews
A so-so Who-dunnit from the Laugh In Team
ksf-26 September 2012
I SO wanted to like this one, since i LOVED Laugh In, but the script was SO weak. None of the jokes are funny, but at least we get to see some familiar faces: Rowan & Martin, with Leon Askin (General Burkhalter from Hogan's Heroes), Robert Reed, from Brady Bunch, is the Lieutenant, and the fantabulous Catwoman Julie Newmar. So we go around the mulberry bush a few times, everyone gets a few one liners, and it ends. The funniest part of the whole movie is the last two minutes, but you'll have to watch it for yourself. Looks like Martin went on to direct a whole lot of TV, after the Laugh In days. This film directed by Norman Panama, who actually had directed many a comedy, but didn't really shine on this one. Maybe they lacked the budget for big names, or screenwriters to jazz up the script. As of today, it only rates a 4 out of 10 stars.
A Madcap 60's Comedy that is a must-see for its wacky ending!
larryhansen25 February 2000
If you're like me and like the crazy comedies of the 60's, then it would be worth checking out this one. The chemistry of Dan Rowan (1922-1987) and Dick Martin (1922-date) was fantastic and at times was sorely needed to carry this film which starts out slow, but picks up laughs as it goes. The story involves Ernest Gray (Dick Martin) buying a house in Flushing, Queens, New York. There's a murder in the neighborhood, wacky neighbors who act like vampires, and it turns out everybody's looking for $2 Million worth of diamonds left in the house by the previous owner. By the end of the movie, just about everyone is dead, and in wacky '60's style, Rowan and Martin actually argue on camera as to how the movie should finish. The hysterical ending, along with beauties Carol Lynley and Julie Newmar, make this otherwise lame comedy bearable.
Good for a rainy Saturday Afternoon!
Recommended from the '60's: Peter Sellers in: I Love You, Alice B. Toklas (1968), The Party (1968), The Magic Christian (1969).
Good for a rainy Saturday Afternoon!
Recommended from the '60's: Peter Sellers in: I Love You, Alice B. Toklas (1968), The Party (1968), The Magic Christian (1969).
Hastily Thrown-Together Movie Just Isn't Very Good
mrb19802 May 2015
Warning: Spoilers
In 1969 the comedy team of Dan Rowan and Dick Martin was the hottest property in show business. Their "Laugh-In" show was enormously popular and they were instantly recognizable for their "classy smart guy" (Rowan) and "irritating dumb guy" (Martin) approach to comedy. A Rowan/Martin movie from 1969 named "The Maltese Bippy" would seem like it couldn't miss—but it misses very badly. The movie fails because it apparently was never really fully thought through and it was obviously slapped together in great haste to take advantage of Rowan and Martin's then-current popularity and their "bippy" buzzword craze.
Rowan and Martin begin the movie in their familiar tuxedos while performing their usual stand-up act. The film then progresses to a story about Sam Smith (Rowan) and Ernest Gray (Martin), two inept adult movie producers who are evicted from their offices and become mixed up with vampires and various villains. Robert Reed, Mildred Natwick, Dana Elcar, Leon Askin, Carol Lynley, Julie Newmar, and Fritz Weaver are among the familiar faces who pop up during the story, which shows very little coherence or continuity. The movie ends with an extended series of shootings, some of which are fairly bloody and which are perversely played for laughs. The baffling final sequence shows Rowan and Martin holding hands while walking into the sunset.
While Rowan and Martin plus the supporting cast are very appealing, the story is so weak and fractured that it's not surprising that the movie flopped. The climactic shootings, which take place in one small room, are apparently meant to be really funny but made me quite uncomfortable instead. Gray's (Martin's) dream sequence about a werewolf is painfully unfunny, and his attempts to murder his wife (Lynley) while under hypnosis are quite unpleasant. The sequence with Sam Smith (Rowan) preparing to recover swallowed gems via amateur surgery using a butcher knife is just too sick to be funny. It was good to see departed actors Robert Reed, Leon Askin, and Dana Elcar, but their roles were reduced almost to the point of irrelevancy. Julie Newmar and Carol Lynley are very beautiful and add at least a little energy to the proceedings.
Anyone who remembers 1969 is familiar with Rowan and Martin and their hugely popular television comedy show. It seemed as though in 1969 the team could do no wrong but they failed miserably here. "The Maltese Bippy" is a badly missed opportunity and is a reminder that just because one or two very popular people are in a movie's cast, that doesn't mean the movie will be good or successful. Rowan and Martin never made another film. That's too bad, since with the right story, script, and director a Rowan/Martin movie from 1969 could have been good. It's an interesting time capsule, but it's unfortunately not a high-quality one.
Rowan and Martin begin the movie in their familiar tuxedos while performing their usual stand-up act. The film then progresses to a story about Sam Smith (Rowan) and Ernest Gray (Martin), two inept adult movie producers who are evicted from their offices and become mixed up with vampires and various villains. Robert Reed, Mildred Natwick, Dana Elcar, Leon Askin, Carol Lynley, Julie Newmar, and Fritz Weaver are among the familiar faces who pop up during the story, which shows very little coherence or continuity. The movie ends with an extended series of shootings, some of which are fairly bloody and which are perversely played for laughs. The baffling final sequence shows Rowan and Martin holding hands while walking into the sunset.
While Rowan and Martin plus the supporting cast are very appealing, the story is so weak and fractured that it's not surprising that the movie flopped. The climactic shootings, which take place in one small room, are apparently meant to be really funny but made me quite uncomfortable instead. Gray's (Martin's) dream sequence about a werewolf is painfully unfunny, and his attempts to murder his wife (Lynley) while under hypnosis are quite unpleasant. The sequence with Sam Smith (Rowan) preparing to recover swallowed gems via amateur surgery using a butcher knife is just too sick to be funny. It was good to see departed actors Robert Reed, Leon Askin, and Dana Elcar, but their roles were reduced almost to the point of irrelevancy. Julie Newmar and Carol Lynley are very beautiful and add at least a little energy to the proceedings.
Anyone who remembers 1969 is familiar with Rowan and Martin and their hugely popular television comedy show. It seemed as though in 1969 the team could do no wrong but they failed miserably here. "The Maltese Bippy" is a badly missed opportunity and is a reminder that just because one or two very popular people are in a movie's cast, that doesn't mean the movie will be good or successful. Rowan and Martin never made another film. That's too bad, since with the right story, script, and director a Rowan/Martin movie from 1969 could have been good. It's an interesting time capsule, but it's unfortunately not a high-quality one.
A strange movie
BandSAboutMovies27 August 2020
Warning: Spoilers
As a kid, I was thrilled when Laugh-In came back to TV. I'd read about it - I was already a devotee of pop culture - and was excited to see this stream of consciousness show for myself. Yes, it was a time before the internet, when we couldn't just dial up everything instantly that we wanted to see.
While date - any of the moment show will be twenty years later - it was still incredible to watch. At the center of this mad show was two men: Dan Rowan and Dick Martin. They were the everymen who couldn't keep the wild energy of the show from bursting through the screen. But they were also really fascinating people in their own right, who knew that the show itself was the star.
Dan Rowan spent his childhood years following his parents from town to town as they performed their carnival dancing act. He was orphaned at 11, spent four years in an orphanage and by the time he was 18, he hitchhiked to Los Angeles, where he got a job in the Paramount mailroom. Soon, he was the youngest writer on the lot.
During World War II, Rowan served as a fighter pilot, winning the Distinguished Flying Cross with Oak Leaf Cluster, the Air Medal and the Purple Heart. He returned from action and formed his comedy duo with Martin. He was married three times - to Miss America 1945 runner-up Phyllis J. Mathis, Australian model Adriana Van Ballegooyen and TV spokeswoman Joanna Young - and retired in the early 80's, only returning to help celebrate NBC's 60th anniversary in 1988 by appearing with his comedy partner.
Dick Martin didn't serve in the war - tuberculosis kept him from combat - but was a young writer as well, working on the radio show Duffy's Tavern. He started teaming with Martin in 1952, playing nightclubs, hosting NBC's Colgate Comedy Hour and appearing in the movie Once Upon a Horse Together. He also played Lucille Ball's neighbor on The Lucy Show before Laugh-In became a big hit. After his partner retired, Martin was a frequent game show guest and TV show director. He was married to singer Peggy Connelly and Beyond the Valley of the Dolls star Dolly Read twice.
Anyways...The Maltese Bippy.
Sam Smith and Ernest Grey (Rowan and Martin) are the producers of nudie cuties - their latest film is Lunar Lust - and they're forced out of their office for not paying the rent. Somehow, a G-rated movie in 1969 could concern pornography and no one cared.
They move into Ernest's house by the cemetery in Long Island, a place where a mutilated corpse has already been found and a woman was frightened by a howling man. Oh yeah - Ernest also is given to barking like a dog.
Somehow, despite not being all that much of a success, Ernest can have a housekeeper (Mildred Natwick, Do Not Fold, Spindle, or Mutilate). He also has two roommates, the bubbly Robin Sherwood (Carol Lynley, The Poseidon Adventure) and Axel (Leon Askin, Hogans Heroes), a Swedish violinist.
Meanwhile, the Ravenswood's next door - Mischa(Fritz Weaver, Creepshow), Carlotta (Julie Newmar!) and Helga (Eddra Gale, Fellini's 8 1/2) - are vampires who want Ernest to join their pack. Sam thinks they should be a variety act, but the truth is that nearly everyone just wants in the house to search for a giant diamond that is inside the house. (and more to the point, inside the corpse of the home's original owner).
Hijinks ensue and everyone but our heroes perishes. But that's not good enough, so they both present their own happy endings to the audience and walk into the sunset together.
Look for a pre-Brady Bunch Robert Reed, David Hurst (the head waiter in Hello, Dolly), character actor Dana Eclar, voiceover actor Alan Oppenheimer, Arthur Batanides (he was Mr. Kirkland in Police Academy 2, 3, 4 and 6), Jennifer Bishop (who is in the William Grefe movies Mako: The Jaws of Death and Impulse, as well as Al Adamson's Horror of the Blood Monsters, Jessi's Girls and The Female Bunch) and Garry Walberg, who played Jack Klugman's poker buddy Homer "Speed" Deegan on The Odd Couple and his boss Lt. Frank Monahan on Quincy, M.E.
Director Norman Panama wrote White Christmas and 1959's Li'l Abner. He also directed the Hope and Crosby - with Joan Collins! - film The Road to Hong Kong.
This isn't a great - or even alright - movie, but the TV lover in me appreciated it and found joy in discovering this buried moment in time.
While date - any of the moment show will be twenty years later - it was still incredible to watch. At the center of this mad show was two men: Dan Rowan and Dick Martin. They were the everymen who couldn't keep the wild energy of the show from bursting through the screen. But they were also really fascinating people in their own right, who knew that the show itself was the star.
Dan Rowan spent his childhood years following his parents from town to town as they performed their carnival dancing act. He was orphaned at 11, spent four years in an orphanage and by the time he was 18, he hitchhiked to Los Angeles, where he got a job in the Paramount mailroom. Soon, he was the youngest writer on the lot.
During World War II, Rowan served as a fighter pilot, winning the Distinguished Flying Cross with Oak Leaf Cluster, the Air Medal and the Purple Heart. He returned from action and formed his comedy duo with Martin. He was married three times - to Miss America 1945 runner-up Phyllis J. Mathis, Australian model Adriana Van Ballegooyen and TV spokeswoman Joanna Young - and retired in the early 80's, only returning to help celebrate NBC's 60th anniversary in 1988 by appearing with his comedy partner.
Dick Martin didn't serve in the war - tuberculosis kept him from combat - but was a young writer as well, working on the radio show Duffy's Tavern. He started teaming with Martin in 1952, playing nightclubs, hosting NBC's Colgate Comedy Hour and appearing in the movie Once Upon a Horse Together. He also played Lucille Ball's neighbor on The Lucy Show before Laugh-In became a big hit. After his partner retired, Martin was a frequent game show guest and TV show director. He was married to singer Peggy Connelly and Beyond the Valley of the Dolls star Dolly Read twice.
Anyways...The Maltese Bippy.
Sam Smith and Ernest Grey (Rowan and Martin) are the producers of nudie cuties - their latest film is Lunar Lust - and they're forced out of their office for not paying the rent. Somehow, a G-rated movie in 1969 could concern pornography and no one cared.
They move into Ernest's house by the cemetery in Long Island, a place where a mutilated corpse has already been found and a woman was frightened by a howling man. Oh yeah - Ernest also is given to barking like a dog.
Somehow, despite not being all that much of a success, Ernest can have a housekeeper (Mildred Natwick, Do Not Fold, Spindle, or Mutilate). He also has two roommates, the bubbly Robin Sherwood (Carol Lynley, The Poseidon Adventure) and Axel (Leon Askin, Hogans Heroes), a Swedish violinist.
Meanwhile, the Ravenswood's next door - Mischa(Fritz Weaver, Creepshow), Carlotta (Julie Newmar!) and Helga (Eddra Gale, Fellini's 8 1/2) - are vampires who want Ernest to join their pack. Sam thinks they should be a variety act, but the truth is that nearly everyone just wants in the house to search for a giant diamond that is inside the house. (and more to the point, inside the corpse of the home's original owner).
Hijinks ensue and everyone but our heroes perishes. But that's not good enough, so they both present their own happy endings to the audience and walk into the sunset together.
Look for a pre-Brady Bunch Robert Reed, David Hurst (the head waiter in Hello, Dolly), character actor Dana Eclar, voiceover actor Alan Oppenheimer, Arthur Batanides (he was Mr. Kirkland in Police Academy 2, 3, 4 and 6), Jennifer Bishop (who is in the William Grefe movies Mako: The Jaws of Death and Impulse, as well as Al Adamson's Horror of the Blood Monsters, Jessi's Girls and The Female Bunch) and Garry Walberg, who played Jack Klugman's poker buddy Homer "Speed" Deegan on The Odd Couple and his boss Lt. Frank Monahan on Quincy, M.E.
Director Norman Panama wrote White Christmas and 1959's Li'l Abner. He also directed the Hope and Crosby - with Joan Collins! - film The Road to Hong Kong.
This isn't a great - or even alright - movie, but the TV lover in me appreciated it and found joy in discovering this buried moment in time.
I bet my sweet bippy-and LOST!
therascalsarchives6 January 2009
I liked a previous comment posted here that voiced the probable concerns of the studio "heads" of the era: What kind of films should we make for these kids who like to go to the movies stoned? The problem with BIPPY is...the stoners evidently were the ones MAKING the film (that NO ONE went to see). This dog was hardly ever shown on TV (at least not in NY area) FINALLY caught it on a cable movie channel decades and decades later.My only viewing of the film for years was the print feature that ran in FAMOUS MONSTERS magazine.
After years of build-up...boy what a let-down. There are only two reasons for a normal guy to sit through this; Julie Newmar (post-catwoman already) and Carol Lynley (pre-Poseidon Adventure).
I never understood the appeal of Rowan & Martin to begin with--even on Laugh-In. They were acceptable as low-end comedians at a bowling ally, but didn't deserve the run they were able to have IMHO
But they were OK...this movie makes like a vampire, though-and SUCKS
After years of build-up...boy what a let-down. There are only two reasons for a normal guy to sit through this; Julie Newmar (post-catwoman already) and Carol Lynley (pre-Poseidon Adventure).
I never understood the appeal of Rowan & Martin to begin with--even on Laugh-In. They were acceptable as low-end comedians at a bowling ally, but didn't deserve the run they were able to have IMHO
But they were OK...this movie makes like a vampire, though-and SUCKS
You bet your Bippy!
yenlo4 May 2000
So what's a Bippy? Well if your old enough to remember Rowan and Martins Laugh-In you'd know. This film actually goes no where but does feature the gorgeous Julie Newmar. It's terribly dated like Laugh-In but in a weird sort of way it's entertaining.
Very Interesting But Kind Of Falls Flat
DKosty12321 April 2008
After watching Rown & Martins Laugh In I expected something better than this. There are a few humor touches but I really thought the scenes with Rowan & Martin doing stand-up including in the opening credits would have been better.
The plot such as it is is strange in that there are no vampires next door even though plot synopsis of the movie says there is. The center of the plot has to do with a large diamond everybody is looking for, yet at the end we are never quite sure if it was found or not.
Some major continuity moments happen when the film jumps from day to night suddenly & some of the scenes ending & the next one beginning make no sense either. This would have been better if they had stuck more to comedy & less with a plot that falls kind of flat.
This film does have some well known television folks. Carol Lynnely was better known for other films & isn't given much script in this. Julie Newmar is best known as a Catwoman on TVs Batman. Even though she is already 36 in this one, for many years she was ageless in the beauty department. She is the only cast member who worked with another comedy team Noonan & (Peter) Marshall during the 1950's.
Leon Askin is better known for Hogan's Heros roles. Robert Reed in a small supporting role is more known for Mr. Mike Brady.
For Rowan & Martin fans, this is OK. Both of them get to use Dick Martins line "I didn't know that!" The opening & closing of the film are bits of whimsy, but the rest is only sporadically funny. Say Good Night Dick.
The plot such as it is is strange in that there are no vampires next door even though plot synopsis of the movie says there is. The center of the plot has to do with a large diamond everybody is looking for, yet at the end we are never quite sure if it was found or not.
Some major continuity moments happen when the film jumps from day to night suddenly & some of the scenes ending & the next one beginning make no sense either. This would have been better if they had stuck more to comedy & less with a plot that falls kind of flat.
This film does have some well known television folks. Carol Lynnely was better known for other films & isn't given much script in this. Julie Newmar is best known as a Catwoman on TVs Batman. Even though she is already 36 in this one, for many years she was ageless in the beauty department. She is the only cast member who worked with another comedy team Noonan & (Peter) Marshall during the 1950's.
Leon Askin is better known for Hogan's Heros roles. Robert Reed in a small supporting role is more known for Mr. Mike Brady.
For Rowan & Martin fans, this is OK. Both of them get to use Dick Martins line "I didn't know that!" The opening & closing of the film are bits of whimsy, but the rest is only sporadically funny. Say Good Night Dick.
Where's Tiny Tim when you need him?
moonspinner5521 April 2008
Dan Rowan and Dick Martin, famous TV cut-ups from the then-current hit show "Laugh-In", go a curiously different route for their second theatrical film as a team (the first was "Once Upon a Horse" from 1958). In a weak spoof of monster movies, Martin plays the landlord of a suburban boarding house who believes he's a werewolf and eternally-tanned Rowan is a moocher who makes stag films. Carol Lynley is also around as a college student-turned-amateur detective, Mildred Natwick is the housemother, and Robert Reed sniffs about sourly as a police lieutenant. The worst, however, is saved for former-Catwoman Julie Newmar playing the bloodthirsty daughter of a scary Count (with an even-scarier accent). Newmar, looking tired, seems to have wandered over from the old "Munsters" set--or perhaps the latest Don Knotts picture. Odd that two TV swingers would choose to plod through this unfunny comedy like a couple of square schnooks, and the phony sets and cheap backlot look gives the entire enterprise a depressed spirit. 1969 was not a good year for Carol Lynley (she also starred in the clinker "Once You Kiss a Stranger..." around this time), but at least Reed had "The Brady Bunch" to fall back on! NO STARS from ****
Strange off shoot of Laugh-in is sporadically funny
dbborroughs6 November 2005
This is essentially an updated Abbott and Costello film for 1969 with Rowan and Martin standing in for Bud and Lou. The plot has the boys wandering around a "haunted" house looking for hidden jewels while trying to remain alive and avoid "werewolves" and "vampires". Its a weird mix of comedy horror and mystery put together in a psychedelic blender. Its very much of the time, and of Laugh-In with the brand of humor that was a huge hit on TV interlaced into a murder mystery. Forgive me I have no idea how to explain this movie except that its a bunch of very good actors being very silly, I mean where else can you see Fritz Weaver channeling Bela Lugosi for giggles? The humor is uneven, with some of the jokes dating badly to the point that unless you lived in 1969 you won't get the joke. Its an odd film. I don't know if I can really recommend it, though if you like Laugh-In you stand a good shot at enjoying this 90 minute fluff ball. (though I do have to point out I grew to dislike Dan Rowan's character a great deal since he was much too mean spirited and sleazy for my tastes)
I didn't know that!
mark.waltz11 April 2022
Warning: Spoilers
I only rate this at a 4 because I am a fan of the classic comedy variety show "Laugh-In", not necessarily Dan Rowan and Dick Martin, but the kind of zany horror that is provided. I also like 60's haunted house mystery comedies like "The Ghost & Mr. Chicken" and "The Spirit is Willimg", and almost everything by William Castle. This film is reminiscent of those types of movies, silly, irreverent, and featuring a good supporting cast. But while those other movies were very funny oh, this only has a couple of real good belly laughs, and they are few and far between. The pair starts off the film with an irreverent prelude, as well as the type of banter between Rowan and Martin that audiences had come to love the previous season on TV. But then you get into the plot, a weird story of a house up for sale being sold to an alleged family of vampires.
For some reason, Dick Martin becomes a werewolf, and head vampire Fritz Weaver wants him to fulfill his legacy as a ghoul. Julie Newmar is the female vampire and becomes Martin's love interest, and within little time at all, the body's begin to add up. Like the later old dark house murder mystery comedy "Clue", this is provided with several endings, and not one of them are very good. Mildred Natwick of course is always a scene-stealer, and Carol Lynley provides further feminine allure. Robert Reed, Leon Askin and Alan Oppenheimer also pop up in supporting roles, with Eddra Gale looking very severe as Weaver's henchwoman, and getting a few of the laughs without saying a word. I had known this film was a critical flop when it came out and now I can see why. It may not be a complete bomb, but that's only because anything that would set it off is a dud.
For some reason, Dick Martin becomes a werewolf, and head vampire Fritz Weaver wants him to fulfill his legacy as a ghoul. Julie Newmar is the female vampire and becomes Martin's love interest, and within little time at all, the body's begin to add up. Like the later old dark house murder mystery comedy "Clue", this is provided with several endings, and not one of them are very good. Mildred Natwick of course is always a scene-stealer, and Carol Lynley provides further feminine allure. Robert Reed, Leon Askin and Alan Oppenheimer also pop up in supporting roles, with Eddra Gale looking very severe as Weaver's henchwoman, and getting a few of the laughs without saying a word. I had known this film was a critical flop when it came out and now I can see why. It may not be a complete bomb, but that's only because anything that would set it off is a dud.
This movie is funny!
ad196513 February 2009
A number of people have commented negatively on this film, and also slam Rowan and Martin, Laugh-In, and the fact that this movie was made in 1969 and is therefore dated. I wonder why they bothered watching it.
I was but a toddler when Laugh-In was on, but I watched it with my older siblings. I've seen clips from it more recently, and yes, it is horribly dated now. So are bell bottoms, peace signs, and harvest gold appliances, but they were very popular at the time. People seem to have a hard time believing that something they really like today will ever look ridiculous, but it happens to every generation.
This movie is not particularly dated. Maybe 3 lines will go over your head if you have no knowledge of Sixties culture. This film is a silly spoof of monster/mystery films. Rowan and Martin act a lot like Hope and Crosby in their "Road" pictures, without any singing, and even speaking to the audience and acknowledging that they are in a movie. Every cliché from the aforementioned genres is skewered in this film, and I think it accomplishes everything it sets out to do.
You don't need to know anything about Laugh-In, Rowan & Martin, or the Sixties to enjoy this film. If you've ever enjoyed, or enjoyed groaning at, movies about werewolves, vampires, old houses, hidden treasures, and dead bodies appearing unexpectedly, you will get a laugh out of this movie. Personally, I watched it expecting the worst, and was very pleasantly surprised.
I was but a toddler when Laugh-In was on, but I watched it with my older siblings. I've seen clips from it more recently, and yes, it is horribly dated now. So are bell bottoms, peace signs, and harvest gold appliances, but they were very popular at the time. People seem to have a hard time believing that something they really like today will ever look ridiculous, but it happens to every generation.
This movie is not particularly dated. Maybe 3 lines will go over your head if you have no knowledge of Sixties culture. This film is a silly spoof of monster/mystery films. Rowan and Martin act a lot like Hope and Crosby in their "Road" pictures, without any singing, and even speaking to the audience and acknowledging that they are in a movie. Every cliché from the aforementioned genres is skewered in this film, and I think it accomplishes everything it sets out to do.
You don't need to know anything about Laugh-In, Rowan & Martin, or the Sixties to enjoy this film. If you've ever enjoyed, or enjoyed groaning at, movies about werewolves, vampires, old houses, hidden treasures, and dead bodies appearing unexpectedly, you will get a laugh out of this movie. Personally, I watched it expecting the worst, and was very pleasantly surprised.
Strained Attempt at Horror Comedy
jfrentzen-942-2042119 February 2024
A strained attempt to combine horror movie cliches with the lightweight double-entendre humor of comic team Rowan and Martin, THE MALTESE BIPPY was made during the height of the duo's hit TV show "Laugh-In."
Ernest Grey (Dick Martin) is the long-suffering, ostensibly wealthy cash cow for huckster Sam Smith. The two are first seen making a nudie flick that is interrupted by a police raid, sending them to Ernest's mansion, a rickety boarding house includes a college student Robin (Carol Lynley), who becomes Ernest's love interest , and a wisecracking housekeeper (Mildred Natwick).
The mansion abuts a cemetery, the scene of a recent murder in which the victim was partially eaten (this, in a film that was rated G!). The police interrogation suggests a werewolf may be on the loose, and Ernest complains of a strange urge to drop to all fours and howl. The werewolf theory is quickly adopted by Ernest's psychiatrist (David Hurst), and Sam encourages him to make the transformation as part of a stage show.
The next door neighbors include a count (Fritz Weaver), whose maniacal hound threatens the cast at inopportune moments, and a presumed baroness (Julie Newmar) who believes Ernest is her jilted lover, Count Igor. They pretend to be werewolves who want to initiate Ernest into their family. But the entire werewolf bit is a ruse that gives the characters frequent access to Ernest's mansion. They're really after a precious gem hidden somewhere in the house.
THE MALTESE BIPPY is amusing when playing with the viewer's understanding of film lore, but the bulk of the action is a trite collection of double-takes and unfunny jokes. A dream sequence of Ernest becoming a wolf man is a highlight, with a lot of fast-motion running around and slapstick gags in the dusty tradition of a Keystone Cops movie.
THE MALTESE BIPPY breaks out of its relentless mediocrity in a clever finale, in which Ernest and Sam take turns creating new endings to the film's story. Characters who were killed get up and die again -- or not -- rising and falling in reverse and fast motion. The ultimate ending is so ridiculous one can sense the filmmakers literally had nothing to lose, and the 90-minute marker was coming up fast.
The movie did nothing to extend the careers of Rowan and Martin, whose only other movie was made 11 years earlier (ONCE UPON A HORSE, which was funnier) and who sank into obscurity when Laugh-In's run ended.
Ernest Grey (Dick Martin) is the long-suffering, ostensibly wealthy cash cow for huckster Sam Smith. The two are first seen making a nudie flick that is interrupted by a police raid, sending them to Ernest's mansion, a rickety boarding house includes a college student Robin (Carol Lynley), who becomes Ernest's love interest , and a wisecracking housekeeper (Mildred Natwick).
The mansion abuts a cemetery, the scene of a recent murder in which the victim was partially eaten (this, in a film that was rated G!). The police interrogation suggests a werewolf may be on the loose, and Ernest complains of a strange urge to drop to all fours and howl. The werewolf theory is quickly adopted by Ernest's psychiatrist (David Hurst), and Sam encourages him to make the transformation as part of a stage show.
The next door neighbors include a count (Fritz Weaver), whose maniacal hound threatens the cast at inopportune moments, and a presumed baroness (Julie Newmar) who believes Ernest is her jilted lover, Count Igor. They pretend to be werewolves who want to initiate Ernest into their family. But the entire werewolf bit is a ruse that gives the characters frequent access to Ernest's mansion. They're really after a precious gem hidden somewhere in the house.
THE MALTESE BIPPY is amusing when playing with the viewer's understanding of film lore, but the bulk of the action is a trite collection of double-takes and unfunny jokes. A dream sequence of Ernest becoming a wolf man is a highlight, with a lot of fast-motion running around and slapstick gags in the dusty tradition of a Keystone Cops movie.
THE MALTESE BIPPY breaks out of its relentless mediocrity in a clever finale, in which Ernest and Sam take turns creating new endings to the film's story. Characters who were killed get up and die again -- or not -- rising and falling in reverse and fast motion. The ultimate ending is so ridiculous one can sense the filmmakers literally had nothing to lose, and the 90-minute marker was coming up fast.
The movie did nothing to extend the careers of Rowan and Martin, whose only other movie was made 11 years earlier (ONCE UPON A HORSE, which was funnier) and who sank into obscurity when Laugh-In's run ended.
Silly and dated slapstick
sultana-124 May 2001
This was designed to capitalize on the run-away popularity of Rowan and Martin's Laugh-In during the late 60's, but it was neither fish nor fowl. And many of the jokes today are badly dated. What is left is Dick Martin's absurdist slapstick and a very clever ending that tries hard to salvage the film, If you wish to re-visit the 1960's, this is a great film for you. Otherwise, it's just mediocre.
The First Movie I EVER Saw
ajax-122 April 2000
This curious filmic transplant of Rowan and Martin's "Laugh-In" is notable for being the first movie I've ever seen in a movie theater and the first one I recall seeing at all. I was five years old and my family was traveling in a rinkydink town in Minnesota (Duluth, if you're interested) and it was on the same day as Neil Armstrong and company's landing on the moon. The only scene I remember from the original viewing was the one in which Dan Rowan is under the impression that the foxy vampiress can transmogrify into a tiger and, consequently, acts strangely intimate with the tiger. A most strange movie, like the TV show, and worth seeing for sixties psychedelia buffs.
You Had To Be There......Then
Calaboss23 April 2008
Another late 60's entry into Hollywood's attempt to answer the question, What kind of movies/TV shows do these drug-addled kids want to see? Older producers never did really figure it out. The Maltese Bippy is a cross between Head (by the Monkees), an episode of Laugh-In, and any horrible "comedy team meets danger" movie. Poor Rowan & Martin. Born in the early 20's with no chance to engage in all the free love and drugs they saw going on around them in the 60's and 70's. They tried to get in on it with hair dye, bad rugs, sideburns and plaid sport coats (and in the case of Rowan, even taking up the Hefner-like pipe).
You don't see Laugh-In in reruns for a reason. I enjoyed the show as a kid. But it was highly topical and the humor just doesn't translate well into the 21st century. Not a lot to irritate anyone in The Maltese Bippy, but it's all been done before, better, by others.
Much like Bob Hope movies, you just can't see many of today's kids getting into it. Then again, I don't think anyone will be rushing to watch Napoleon Dynamite in 30 or 40 years either.
You don't see Laugh-In in reruns for a reason. I enjoyed the show as a kid. But it was highly topical and the humor just doesn't translate well into the 21st century. Not a lot to irritate anyone in The Maltese Bippy, but it's all been done before, better, by others.
Much like Bob Hope movies, you just can't see many of today's kids getting into it. Then again, I don't think anyone will be rushing to watch Napoleon Dynamite in 30 or 40 years either.
Time capsule from the swinging 60s
LCShackley8 September 2012
Rowan and Martin's "Laugh-In" was one of the cultural icons of the late 1960s, the "don't-miss" show if you wanted to be considered cool at the water cooler (or the playground, in my case). I never saw this movie when it was released. My parents would have found it scandalous. These days, it's much tamer than the majority of prime-time comedy shows, even those for "family viewing." It opens with a funny stand-up routine by Dan and Dick, commenting on the credit roll. This is the closest the movie gets to capturing the spirit of the TV show, and R&M are the ONLY cast members from the series to appear. So it's not really a "Laugh-In" movie; as others have pointed out, it's more like an Abbott and Costello monster film, or a racy episode of "Scooby-Doo." The plot is paper-thin, but that's OK, because the screen is always brimming with 60s goodness, especially in the forms of Carol Lynley and Julie Newmar. How can you miss with character actors like Mildred Natwick, Fritz Weaver, David Hurst, Dana Elcar, and 60s TV staples Leon Askin (Hogan's Heroes) and Robert Reed (Brady Bunch)? The ending has a Pythonic twist to it (a few years before 'Holy Grail'), with a funny version of the "who shot the gun" film cliché.
All in all, this is probably a film that only veterans of the 60s will enjoy. It's mindless, but an entertaining way to spend an evening.
All in all, this is probably a film that only veterans of the 60s will enjoy. It's mindless, but an entertaining way to spend an evening.
The Maltese Bippy is Dan Rowan and Dick Martin's second feature...11 years after their first and it turned out to be their very last!
tavm30 January 2017
Before I watched this on YouTube, I saw segments on the site of the only previous movie that starred the comedy team of Dan Rowan and Dick Martin-Once Upon a Horse from 1958. What I saw there wasn't very funny though I'll wait until I've seen the whole thing before I review it here. This second one-which they made 11 years later-is mostly lame to the point that I was ready to give this one star...until the scene in which the Julie Newmar character convinces Rowan that she can turn into a dog before a dog shows up before Dan comes back. The ending scene involving lots of shooting was also pretty amusing. Otherwise, I was bemused by how lame most of the punchlines were. Maybe it should have had some cameos from the co-stars of their "Laugh-In" TV show from that time like Ruth Buzzi, Arte Johnson, or Goldie Hawn who herself was making her first starring picture called Cactus Flower during this time. Verdict: The Maltese Bippy is nice to look at, but nothing worth talking about otherwise.
If you don't like Abbot and Costello or Laugh-in or at least camp, don't bite.
kelticman21 April 2008
Warning: Spoilers
This was the big screen attempt at taking the success of Rowan and Martin from TV to Film. I know it failed as a mainstream hit, but it succeeds wonderfully as broad retro camp. I liked this film overall but it is not one you will watch over and over. It is a one shot watch, maybe once more if you with a good friend who really loves camp or laugh in. This is no classic in the way that Zorro the gay blade or Abbot and Costello were. If this were 1979, I might say pass on this film but just getting the feel of sixties, even a g-rated version, is a lot of fun now nearly forty years latter.
For the record, vampires are mentioned in the movie but do not appear, not even actors who are pretending to be people pretending to be vampires. The fact that in dream sequence one character dresses like Dracula does not merit calling this a vampire/werewolf flick. The vampire angle was played up in way that comedy horror tries to tell the mainstream viewers: "hey this film has stuff like vampires/werewolves/zombies/mummies" Trying to tell people who don't know the difference between a zombie and a mummy that a flick has" werewolves and vampires and stuff" rarely works. One comment said this was neither fish nor fowl. That is the biggest problem of the movie. It borrows from comedy/horror/mystery and buddy flicks in such a way that it has no real focus. The mystery is not that mysterious, the horror not remotely scary, the romance angle weak (they really should have played that one up. If the movie ended with a couple walking off happily ever after THAT would appeal to mainstream people much more than the4th wall breaking so much in the last 5 minutes. This is the next real weak point after the lack of focus: the fourth wall breaking as the ending. It reminded me of The Holy Grail when writers obviously gifted enough to write a passable ending decide to break the 4th wall when they could not come up with a great ending.
I did not like the ending...but it reminded me of dating....the fun of the relationship was worth the crappy ending.
For the record, vampires are mentioned in the movie but do not appear, not even actors who are pretending to be people pretending to be vampires. The fact that in dream sequence one character dresses like Dracula does not merit calling this a vampire/werewolf flick. The vampire angle was played up in way that comedy horror tries to tell the mainstream viewers: "hey this film has stuff like vampires/werewolves/zombies/mummies" Trying to tell people who don't know the difference between a zombie and a mummy that a flick has" werewolves and vampires and stuff" rarely works. One comment said this was neither fish nor fowl. That is the biggest problem of the movie. It borrows from comedy/horror/mystery and buddy flicks in such a way that it has no real focus. The mystery is not that mysterious, the horror not remotely scary, the romance angle weak (they really should have played that one up. If the movie ended with a couple walking off happily ever after THAT would appeal to mainstream people much more than the4th wall breaking so much in the last 5 minutes. This is the next real weak point after the lack of focus: the fourth wall breaking as the ending. It reminded me of The Holy Grail when writers obviously gifted enough to write a passable ending decide to break the 4th wall when they could not come up with a great ending.
I did not like the ending...but it reminded me of dating....the fun of the relationship was worth the crappy ending.
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