To judge anything out of Hollywood on a par with some of the incredible live performances of today's megastars is "apples n' oranges." That's why everyone still refers to it as "The Factory." Particularly now with most everything is loaded with computerized graphics - to satisfy my preteen grandchildren's Xbox fantasyworld. Back when Hollywood could crank out these pieces of trash allowing us to roll around on the living room floor laughing until we ache all over even now is the epitome of why "The Factory" churned out this stuff. Seeing very gay Raymond "Ironside" Burr sashay around in my grannies old drapes (AND THAT HILARIOUS TURBAN) is right up there with the old Mummy, Dracula, Werewolf and Frankenstein films. My dinner guests absolutely chortle with glee when I pull out one of these chestnuts, and then there's all those perfectly tacky buccaneer movies with John Payne, Steve Reeves and Maureen O'Hara.
Reviews
3 Reviews
The Sterile Cuckoo
(1969)
yes, zacdawac, liza's mom last film was a great one
27 June 2014
In your good review of The Sterile Cuckoo your remark that Liza's mom didn't perform as real or sensitive or genuine in all of her movies. Yes, most would agree since Judy Garland's film roles centered mostly on what Judy did best - "entertaining." Other than her heart-wrenching testimony on the witness stand in Judgment at Nuremberg or trying to help a mentally retarded young man in A Child Is Waiting, in I Could Go On Singing was a showcase for Judy, both as actress and as a performer, (her scenes at the Palladium were probably as close as the movies ever get to capturing her on-stage persona), she's exhilarating and incredibly moving. And trying to reconnect with her young son left with her ex-husband is truly special. When she gets around to her drunken 'I can't be spread so thin' speech all traces of the character have been wiped clean and it's Judy, raw and emotional, on screen. This was her final film, and you can say she went out on a high.
Buona Sera, Mrs. Campbell
(1968)
Very delightful but flawed
17 March 2014
I agree with ptb-8. Buona Sera Mrs. Campbell was well written and a heartfelt comedy. Ortolani's charming and catchy theme song reminds me of another favorite Italian movie The Yellow Rolls Royce. But I'm glad it's unappreciated and forgotten today. Yes, MRS CAMPBELL is a good example of the marriage farces of Hollywood churned out in the 60s and those films did entertain us. But every time it comes on I cannot help realize how far Holllywood stooped to ridicule decent Eurooean women who suffered all sorts of indignity and hardship during a world war. At least Hollywood allowed Ms. Lollobrigida to explain to her boyfriend and housekeeper why she allowed 3 American men believe to be the father of her daughter. I would've enjoyed hearing the Hollywood studio execs talk her into making this film. And when the ex GIs tally up the amount of money they sent to Mrs. Campbell over the years. "You averaged 85 a month, you - a hundred and fifteen, me - a hundred a forty... which, over twenty years, compounded at six percent interest, would come to a hundred and ninety seven thousand dollars." They are amazed. "We paid more war damages than Germany!" We're asked to find humor somewhere. Other than 3 men believing to be the father of a woman's daughter Mrs. Campbell has nothing in common with Mamma Mia. In Mamma Mia, she does not swindle the men out of a hundred and ninety seven thousand dollars, or lie to their wives that her "husband" died in a heroic war battle. Altho I did enjoy the scene when Mrs. Campbell true motivation is revealed. Her scene with the Countess was beautiful showing that perpetrating a cock n' bull story was her only way to avoid a shameful unwed pregnancy.
Tell Your Friends