STOCKARD CHANNING has her first starring role in this wacky 1920s comedy in the sort of part made for Elaine May who played the same sort of character in "A New Leaf" ('71). Why Nichols didn't put his wife in the central role, I'll never know. She would have been more ideally cast than Channing, although she manages well in the part.
But the film really belongs to WARREN BEATTY and JACK NICHOLSON as the hapless fortune hunters whose every scheme goes awry as they try to get rid of the heiress, intending to bilk her for her fortune.
Overall, it's reminiscent of the kind of screwball comedy prevalent in the '30s, but it's even more frantic and noisier than those comedies. The threesome really carry the film with the exception of a good role for FLORENCE STANLEY as their nosy landlady. Unfortunately, Channing's character gets on the viewer's nerves more than once with her whining and crying fits.
Nicholson has a different take than usual on his role while Beatty is a bit more suave as the brains of the operation. Both of them make fatal mistakes.
The black humor is a bit heavy-handed at times and it's an uneven blend of laughs and slapstick. Nichols makes good use of jazz music on the soundtrack, punctuating all the wacky situations with sly humor.
Not bad, really, but could have had a tighter script. The performances are certainly not to blame but it's a shame Elaine May wasn't available.
But the film really belongs to WARREN BEATTY and JACK NICHOLSON as the hapless fortune hunters whose every scheme goes awry as they try to get rid of the heiress, intending to bilk her for her fortune.
Overall, it's reminiscent of the kind of screwball comedy prevalent in the '30s, but it's even more frantic and noisier than those comedies. The threesome really carry the film with the exception of a good role for FLORENCE STANLEY as their nosy landlady. Unfortunately, Channing's character gets on the viewer's nerves more than once with her whining and crying fits.
Nicholson has a different take than usual on his role while Beatty is a bit more suave as the brains of the operation. Both of them make fatal mistakes.
The black humor is a bit heavy-handed at times and it's an uneven blend of laughs and slapstick. Nichols makes good use of jazz music on the soundtrack, punctuating all the wacky situations with sly humor.
Not bad, really, but could have had a tighter script. The performances are certainly not to blame but it's a shame Elaine May wasn't available.