MGM took a shot at this tricky genre in its adaptation of a Broadway comedy by Alec Coppel, one of the "Vertigo" screenwriters. Alfred Hitchcock himself gets tossed into the frantic proceedings, but don't excite yourself.....he only pops up as a running gag, an offscreen character.
First of all, let us heap a ton of BQ love on the film's lead Glenn Ford, that criminally under-appreciated, underestimated and under-awarded movie star. Never an actor-ish actor, he basically played the same decent, likable guy( a version of himself) in over a hundred movies. And he did it all, jumping effortlessly from genre to genre.....dramas, thrillers, musicals, westerns and comedies.
For screwball comedies like "The Gazebo" he especially had the chops.....playing a harried, close-to-a-nervous-breakdown writer-director of live TV murder mysteries. The sweaty turmoil afflicting Ford doesn't come from his ulcer-inducing work of directing live television. No, it springs from his entrapment in a mystery of his own - he's the victim of a blackmailer, a voice on the phone who's systematically draining Ford's bank account, threatening to release embarrassing photos of Ford's wife, a Broadway musical star (Debbie Reynolds)
With barely concealed hypothetical questions designed to help him out of his dilemma, Ford picks the brains of his district attorney best friend (Carl Reiner), a smarmy sort who covets Debbie. Reiner, thinking Ford's spitballing a future script, suggests murder as a possible solution to rid oneself of a blackmailer.......an idea that Ford takes to heart.
At this point in a comedy-mystery, you either go with the flow or bail out, since this is where characters start making choices no one in their right mind would consider, unless they were in a movie. Being in such a movie, Ford decides to lure the blackmailer to his suburban home, shoot him dead and park his corpse underneath Debbie's newest, prize addition to their backyard.....an antique gazebo. And not much later, a frenzied Ford resorts to dialing up Hitchcock, desperately seeking advice from the master of suspense. Funny? Strangely....yes. And for this movie, that's a good thing.
For those of you who haven't discovered this little gem yet, we'll stop saying anymore about the plot, other than the pure enjoyment you'll have watching the storyline twist, turn and finally wrap it all up with one last snappy gag.
More of a smiler than a laugh-out-loud comedy.....playwright Coppel and screenwriter George Wells don't exactly Neil Simon-ize you with the nonstop one-liners...... but Ford's rising panic and Debbie Reynolds' gift for physical comedy (watch her try to dial a rotary phone while tied to a chair) keep the chuckles flowing. And for dessert, there's that classic scene stealer John McGiver, slyly mumbling his way through his role as Debbie's landscaping contractor...(constantly referring to the garden ornament as the 'Gayz-bo'....) Fresh from their 'North By Northwest' villainy, you'll also spot Robert Ellenstein and Martin Landau, both using 'Guys 'n Dolls' New York accents.
Our favorite sight gag....and the simplest to achieve.....Debbie Reynolds stuck in the middle of a car's front seat, her tiny frame squished in between two thugs on either side of her.......
And a BQ best avian actor award (along side the seagull who dive-bombed Tippi Hedren) to Herman the trained pigeon. You may well wonder what the hell purpose this pigeon serves.....but hang in there. Herman surprisingly comes through as the film's MVB...Most Valuable Bird.
Best consumed on a rainy afternoon, (and a perfect double feature with "The Trouble With Harry"), we'll cozy up to this cinematic cozy mystery with 4 stars (****) And hopefully, someone will investigate a "whatever happened to..." for Herman The Pigeon.......
No comments:
Post a Comment