Wow, this was worse and more entertaining than I remembered.
lzcutter wrote:Great mid-century modern set design and seeing the old Santa Monica Civic Auditorium is always fun.
I was utterly delighted by the depth of badness on display in this movie, though aside from the horrible performances, (though oddly,
Milton Berle, of all people, as an agent (!), seemed to be playing the closest approximation of a believable person here), I was most impressed with the over-decoration of every interior, which clearly sprang from the same over-stuffed imagination of a very good, well stocked art department. Though we went from rags to riches and squalor to alleged splendor, everyone, even in the flophouses, seemed to have used a decorator's refined, well thought-out sensibility when choosing that old rag to hang from the sink, or those swell reproductions of masterpieces (someone liked Rembrandt & Renoir best), that kept popping up on the plush walls of the offices, mansions and dives. I couldn't wait to see what oh, so deceptively casual, beautifully lit touch was going to show up in each scene. Nice to see
Boyd in the movie meeting the art director for this flick, the distinguished
Hal Pereira in the party scene at mogul
Joseph Cotten's house, (guess the director wanted to give him some well-deserved attention since Hal really must've worked his team like oxen to achieve the effects in this movie). Hal's the guy mumbling that he's an "art director" as
Stephen Boyd gives him the brush-off after a limp handshake when he greets the actor.
Oh, and let's give an appreciative nod for that football stadium of a marital bed occupied by Elke & Stephen!
mahlerii wrote:What nationality was Stephen Boyd? .
He was Irish, and, aside from some of his fresher work in his first couple of movies,
The Man Who Never Was, The Best of Everything, and
Lisa, he seems to have been um, a "limited" actor, shall we say--in a really entertaining way. (Sorry, but I didn't think he brought very much to
Ben Hur).
mahlerii wrote:Where was Edie Adams in the film? Was she Stephen Boyd's date for publicity?
Edie was the woman divorcing
Ernest Borgnine's private detective character in Mexico. She popped up a bit later in the film to "reveal all" to
Stephen Boyd, who was trying to milk her for info to prevent the revelation of his Machiavellian shenanigans prior to the Oscars.
I sure hope that TCM runs this doozy again!
with Tony Bennett 
, Elke Sommer and Stephen Boyd. Bill Maher has chosen this movie as a guest programmer: I wonder if he did so he could actually see it! I have been wanting to see this ever since I found out about it through my Golden Turkey Awards books. Tony Bennett is one of the best pop singers ever, but GT feels that his acting chops are not too hot. Now we can see for ourselves-perhaps this movie needs to be reevaluated. The music is by Percy Faith 
I hope the music isn't too mellow!
