Another film in my project to watch everything Orson Welles appeared in.
This film sees Tommy Smothers play a character who quits his job to become a magician. I see no particular reason for a Brian de Palma fan to watch this. It felt flat and dull most of the time. Orson hams it up this time, playing a magician who mentors Tommy for about five minutes. Its a cool scene, and has a resonance with Orson's life considering he was a life-long practicing magician.
The film had good comic potential, but Tommy is clearly not a good leading man or actor. He was hilarious on the Smothers Brothers show, but was just not up to the task here. And it felt like de Palma was asleep at the wheel. Not dreadful, just dull, which actually is worse. Dreadful movies are quite fun to watch, dull ones are torture. In summary, don't spend a fortune finding this one.
This film sees Tommy Smothers play a character who quits his job to become a magician. I see no particular reason for a Brian de Palma fan to watch this. It felt flat and dull most of the time. Orson hams it up this time, playing a magician who mentors Tommy for about five minutes. Its a cool scene, and has a resonance with Orson's life considering he was a life-long practicing magician.
The film had good comic potential, but Tommy is clearly not a good leading man or actor. He was hilarious on the Smothers Brothers show, but was just not up to the task here. And it felt like de Palma was asleep at the wheel. Not dreadful, just dull, which actually is worse. Dreadful movies are quite fun to watch, dull ones are torture. In summary, don't spend a fortune finding this one.