favorite movie #56 and art in film: s.o.b.

Favorite movies that have had an impact on me - #56 - S.O.B. (1981) - Blake Edwards had a string of flops in the 1970s, starting with Darling Lili (which starred his wife Julie Andrews), which almost brought down Paramount Studios. His recovered after filming three very successful Pink Panther sequels, and then went on to film S.O.B., a film many thought to be his poison pen letter, his revenge on Hollywood.

But S.O.B. is not just a nasty flaming arrow pointed at an insider's view of Tinsel Town. It is also freaking hilarious. The story features a character similar to Edwards, Felix Farmer (Richard Mulligan), who has a mental breakdown after his latest film, Night Wind, starring his movie star wife Sally Miles (Julie Andrews), is a colossal flop at the box office. In Hollywood money is king, and Felix's flop affects everyone in his orbit. Edwards pulls no punches depicting that orbit: the wife, children, hangers on, agents, domestic help, sycophants, and anyone else in the immediate vicinity who wants be part of the scene. The only people faithful and supportive of the suicidal Felix are his three best friends: Tim Culley (William Holden), the director of Night Wind; Dr. Irving Finegarten (Robert Preston), Felix and Sally's doctor; and Ben Coogan (Robert Webber), Sally's press agent.

The Three Muscatels

Felix has a brainstorm — what he needs to do to save Night Wind is to reshoot it with lots of added sex scenes, which will require some new, suggestive footage of his wife Sally.

Felix Farmer (Richard Mulligan) : Can she work? 

Dr. Irving Finegarten (Robert Preston) : Is Batman a transvestite? Who knows? I was specifically requested to alleviate her anxiety. Work was never mentioned. 

Felix Farmer : Irving, she's got a very big scene to do! 

Sally Miles (Julie Andrews) : [laughing] I'm going to show my boobies. What do you think, Irving, you've seen my boobies. Hmm, are they worth showing? 

Dr. Irving Finegarten : Well, since I can only render an evaluation based on a completely impersonal, purely professional examination of the subject ... uh, subjects, I would have to say that in my humble opinion you've got a terrific pair of knockers.

Polly wolly doodle all the day ...

Edwards pulls no punches and the film never stops loading one crazy situation on top of another, with  hysterical results. The cast is top notch, too — it's fun to try and spot all of the familiar faces.

What a cast. Top row, L-R: Loretta Swit, Craig Stevens, Larry Hagman, Richard Mulligan, Robert Vaughan, Benson Fong, Marisa Berenson. Bottom row, L-R: Robert Loggia, William Holden, Julie Andrews, Robert Preston, Larry Storch, Shelley Winters, Stuart Margolin, Robert Webber.

As wonderful as everyone is, Robert Preston is simply amazing, and pretty much walks away with the film (as he did in 1982's Victor, Victoria) with his Dr. Feelgood-ish portrayal of Dr. Irving Finegarten.

Well, it depends on what you mean by "all right." I once cured an amateur skydiver of acute acrophobia. Now, you could say he was all right, because he was able to jump. But you could also say he was *not* all right, because he was so stoned he neglected to open his parachute.

Check out that family portrait

William Holden, Jennifer Edwards daughter of Blake), and Rosanna Arquette

film classic: the great race

I'm not sure how old I was when I first saw the classic 1965 Blake Edwards comedy The Great Race on television. But I do remember loving the silliness, the epic pie fight, and the amazing (19) costumes (designed by Edith Head) worn by Natalie Wood. One of my favorite Saturday morning cartoons when I was little was The Perils of Penelope Pitstop, a sort of feminist spin-off to The Wacky Racers. Penelope, getting into one dangerous situation after another, was far from a helpless female (despite her silent-movie cries of "Help! Help!" and always managed to triumph over her arch-enemy, The Hooded Claw (voiced by Paul Lynde), and look great while doing it. I may not have consciously made the connection until much later, with repeated viewings, but The Great Race was clearly an inspiration for both cartoons.

Professor Fate, "What's next?"
Max, "Car number five, the engine falls out!"
Professor Fate, "Car number five! Ha ha ha ha! ... Max ... we're number five."

Penelope Pitstop (top) and Maggie DuBois (Natalie Wood)

Director Edwards has acknowledged that The Great Race was also inspired by silent comedies, especially the slapstick featured in Laurel and Hardy (to whom Edwards dedicated the film). Edwards was riding high on the successes of The Pink Panther and A Shot in the Dark, and The Great Race had a huge budget — it cost $12 million to make, the most expensive comedy film for its day. Much of the budget went to securing its star cast — Jack Lemmon in a dual role, as the scheming Professor Fate and Prince Friedrich; Tony Curtis as the spotless, ever-clad-in-white hero The Great Leslie; and Natalie Wood as suffragette Maggie DuBois, as loose and funny as we would ever see her in movies.

The Great Leslie (Tony Curtis) and Maggie DuBois sip champagne while stranded on an iceberg.

On a more recent viewing of The Great Race it also became abundantly clear that it was a comic source for many subsequent movies — especially for some of Mel Brooks's comedies, like Blazing Saddles and Space Balls. Edwards pulled out all the stops. Just about every film genre is showcased: a western segment, complete with saloon singer Dorothy Provine and a barroom brawl brings Blazing Saddles to mind. Other mini-parodies within the film include a romantic desert tent, a la The Sheik, as well as a climactic sword fight, that wouldn't be out of place in any Errol Flynn or 1940s swashbuckler, between Curtis and Ross Martin as Baron Rolfe von Stuppe. The amazing pie fight sequence has been replicated but never equaled, although Lemmon didn't count it as his favorite time on the set, "A pie hitting you in the face feels like a ton of cement."

Jack Lemmon as Prince Friedrich ("Haw haw haw!")

Cinema's greatest pie fight — watch for Max's (Peter Falk) entrance about halfway through.

An interesting behind-the-scenes tidbit — Tony Curtis was not the original choice for The Great Leslie. Edwards wanted Robert Wagner, but he and Wood had recently divorced, and she was still reeling from the impact. Wood was distraught throughout the shoot, and reportedly took too many sleeping pills after filming wrapped (she was fortunately awake enough to call a friend for help, who got her to a hospital), but her personal distress never shows for an instant on film. Charlton Heston (!) is also rumored to have been offered the part.

The Great Leslie, Maggie DuBois, and Professor Fate with The Leslie Special in Paris.

Max, "Red sky. Gonna be a storm."
Professor Fate, "What are you babbling about?"
Max, "Red sky in the morning, sailor take warning."
Professor Fate, "Why, you simple-headed gherkin, do you know the chances of a storm in this part of the world at this time of the year?"
Max, "No, what?"
Professor Fate, "Hundred to one." 

[Thunderclap — it begins to pour rain]

Curtis and Wood are winning romantic leads, but as usual, Jack Lemmon walks away with the film. He is brilliant, whether he is scolding his sidekick Max (Peter Falk) on another evil plan gone awry, or as the foppish, perpetually drunk Prince Friedrich — no one in the film is having as good a time as he is, except possibly the audience. Let Lemmon, Curtis and Wood take you on a wacky, laugh-filled journey — The Great Race is still as funny today as when it first premiered in 1965.


Notes:

Zeitlin, David. "Greatest pie fight ever creates a horrendous SPLAAT!" LIFE Jul 9, 1965. pp. 84–88.