'HARRY AND WALTER GO TO NEW YORK'.....IN SEARCH OF LAUGHS.....WHICH THEY NEVER FIND....

 Harry and Walter Go to New York (1976)

       Yet another film that falls into the category of "Who ever thought this was a good idea?"

        A lavishly budgeted, overproduced comedy, it recreates the teeming streets, theaters and vaudeville nightclubs of 1890's New York. And all of it photographed (as usual for period films made in the 1970's) in that muted, brownish desaturated color that signified 'a long, long time ago'. 

        And packed with the biggest superstars of the 70's....James Caan, Elliot Gould, Michael Caine and Diane Keaton. With direction handled by top A-list director Mark Rydell ("The Reivers", "The Cowboys", "Cinderella Liberty")

          Only one huuuge problem here.....especially for a comedy.....

          There's not a single minute of its 111 minute running time that's funny. Or even remotely amusing. In fact, it's damn painful to watch. All that money, time and talent thrown at the screen.....for nothing at all. 

         You'd need the Hubbell telescope to detect any humor in the script concocted by John Byrum and Robert Kaufman. With no trace of fun in sight, director Rydell concentrated on the decor and overall atmosphere, while allowing Caan and Gould to carry on like a dire blend of Abbott and Costello, Jerry Lewis and the Three Stooges.  They're excruciating to watch in action, dripping in flop sweat and desperation. 

        The boys play Harry and Walter, terrible vaudevillians and petty thieves who find themselves locked up in prison along with suave, aristocratic gentleman safecracker Adam Worth (Caine, the only cast member who survives with his dignity intact.) Worth despises the bumbling duo, who accidentally set fire to the thief's luxurious, furnished prison cell. (Apparently, Worth's charm and reputation makes him beloved among the prison staff.)

     Back in the big city, our dumb duo conspire to thwart Worth's next bank heist by robbing the bank ahead of him........with the aid of fiery progressive pamphleteer Lissa Chestnut (Keaton, in a waste-of-time role for her). This ridiculous caper involves the boys crashing a performance of an absurd musical, upending it with their own improvised, massively unfunny clowning, like a hellish remake of "A Night At The Opera". (At one point in this tortuous sequence, Gould dons blackface. Enough said.)

         The only diversion anyone might take out of this trainwreck comes from the film's enormous roster of familiar faces in the supporting cast.....Charles Durning, Burt Young, Lesley Ann Warren, Jack Guilford, Bert Remsen, Ted Cassidy and many more.

         Catastrophic from beginning to end, "Harry and Walter....", to absolutely nobody's surprise, flopped the instant it hit theaters, with the cast and filmmakers quickly disowning it. We wouldn't even recommend this film for fans of the actors involved.....for them, it might prove too  heartbreaking to sit through. 

         Unfit on any and every level. Zero stars (0). Avoid it whenever it rears its ugly head....