Wow! Such a good movie.

Thanks for the memories!

A Disappointing Continuation

The story, direction, characters, and writing/dialogue is akin to taking a tranquilizer shot to the neck, but everything else was so well done.

There were several wonderful comedies in the sixties, exclusive of the Doris Day fluff. In this one, Shirley MacLaine has a problem with marriages. Well, not so much with the marriages, with the husbands. You see, marrying her is a death sentence. Each of the husbands starts out as a good catch, but over time they feel they must go for financial success. And succeed they do. As a matter of fact, they become incredibly rich. Unfortunately, through their greed or carelessness or some cosmic force, they meet their individual ends in some creative way, leaving Shirley with another fortune. She longs for the simple life without all the frills and is trying to find real love. The strength of this offering is the clever direction, the outlandish events, and the utter humor (the black kind) as the world collapses on these guys. I saw this film in high school and it was just as captivating today as it was then.

'What A Way To Go' is one of those quirky comedies of the 60's that probably wouldn't work today, although it certainly did back then! Shirley MacLaine never looked lovelier as the girl who just dreams of a simple life, yet finishes up with riches beyond her dreams, because of the men she marries, who, apart from Robert Mitcham, start off poor, but somehow manage to make millions, then die from their obsession with money! Among the husbands, Dick Van Dyke, Robert Mitcham, Paul Newman, Gene Kelly, and, Dean Martin, not to mention the always marvellous Robert Cummings as Shirley's psychiatrist! An all star fun romp, not to be analysed, just sit back and enjoy the ride, and let these masters of their craft do their thing!

Thirty years after being insulted by the Marx Brothers, Margaret Dumont is back in her final role as one of the most obnoxious mothers in screen history. She's so obnoxious and such a fish-wife that her husband (who never speaks a word) simply slides into the couch until he disappears. They somehow managed to squire Shirley MacLaine, and this poor girl gets the instant attention of two men: wealthy Dean Martin and hard-working but poor Dick Van Dyke. MacLaine doesn't want to marry for money no matter what the former Mrs. Flagstaff insists. "Money is the Root of All Evil", she has engraved on a pillow, but as MacLaine explains, that meant "Money is All".The audience is first introduced to the overly dressed MacLaine as a widow escorting the coffin of her most recent dead husband down her mansion steps, and in flashback, we learn of her humble upbringings, her marriage to a poor man who became wealthy, a struggling artist who became successful, a wealthy businessman who retired to the farm to get away from her "curse", and finally a poor dancer who becomes a big movie musical star. "On Our Little Houseboat Built For Two" has MacLaine dancing for the only time with Gene Kelly, and even if you can't stand this movie, you can't help but adore the cleverness of this number which comes out of nowhere.The other men in her life are Paul Newman (as the artist) and Robert Mitchum (as the retired businessman). This black comedy is of course, about death, and each of the men die hysterically in ways that must be seen to be believed. Obviously, this is not a film for all tastes, and some may be offended by it. MacLaine gets to wear the most outrageous of outfits throughout with hairstyles to match, giving way to her characters in later artistic flops like "Woman Times Seven" and "The Bliss of Mrs. Blossom", but also comparable to the deliciously tacky costumes and wigs for Rosalind Russell in "Oh Dad, Poor Dad, Mama's Hung You in the Closet, and I'm Feeling So Sad".This is a film which needs to be seen either on the big screen or in the DVD wide screen release. It is not meant to be seen at all in pan and scan as that looses most of the cinematic color of it and makes it a total blur. It is obvious that MacLaine and her many co-stars (which includes Robert Cummings as an amorous psychiatrist) had a ball in this. If you put aside your fear of "tacky", you too will have a great time as well.

I've just watched "What a Way to Go!" and I must confess I was seduced by its cast for some time, and that was the reason why I've wanted to watch it. By the end of the screening, I was a little disappointed perhaps more due to its dull plot than to anything else: Shirley Maclaine plays Louise May Foster, the heiress of a inheritance of more than 200 million dollars who intends to donate all of it to the government. Before she donates it she goes to a psychologist (Robert Cummings) and tells him where all this money comes from: from her ex-husbands, who turned out to die from unexpected (but at the same time funny) causes, all of them in the peak of their careers; a new millionaire who was Loiuse's first love and became her first husband (Dick Van Dyke); a painter(Paul Newman) that she met in Paris and that got rich selling paintings created by his own machinery; a fancy tycoon (Robert Mitchum) and a singer (Gene Kelly) who has got rich getting into the movie business. The only guy she dumped in her life was a spoiled businessman (Dean Martin), that she happens to meet again later on in the movie. Although its a high-quality production, with good moments (the comparisons that Louise makes about her relationships to different ages in the film history are the highlight), the result is a few laughs, and a feeling that such good actors were miscasted (Newman, Mitchum, Martin) maybe except for Gene Kelly, that steals the movie at the moment he is on it. By the end, the feeling is: it could be funnier and bolder. It is not.