Just what I expected

How sad is this?

Expected more

One of the most extraordinary films you will see this year. Take that as you want.

Shirley MacLaine stars as the wife of brassiere magnate Richard Attenborough. Happily married if somewhat lonely, she ends up sleeping with James Booth, a fellow who works for her husband who swings by to help her fix the sewing machine. Now he won't leave. He moves into the attic, and she has to juggle a husband and a lover under one roof. A bit of a relic of it's era with lots of whacky swinging sixties visuals. It's an amusing film that largely loses it's way during it's repetitive final act. Freddie Jones dominates the film in his handful of appearances as a very eccentric cop investigating Booth's disappearance. John Cleese and Barry Humphries appear in very small roles.

A relic of its time this poorly conceived so called comedy coupled with Sweet Charity and several other losers killed off Shirley's film career the first time around. Within two years she was finished on screen and was out of pictures for almost a decade until her comeback in The Turning Point. This is one of the unfortunate crop of late 60's movies that tried to cash in on the so called youth wave with the overuse of psychedelic colors and disjointed scenes rather than a cohesive script. The desired effect, whatever that was, is not achieved all that is accomplished is to bore the audience and leave them with eye strain from the overdone color scheme. Skip it!

Robert Blossom, an English brassiere manufacturer, is a perfectionist. His designs are always being updated so that ladies buying the product will get the best use of it. He is married to Harriet, an American from Ohio, who is clearly bored with her life. She spends all her energies in decorating her suburban London home in what could be taken for a modified psychedelic style, so prevalent from that era. In addition, she is a painter and she likes to create her own clothes.When Harriet's old sewing machine breaks, she asks Robert for help. Mr. Blossom sends Ambrose Tuttle, a mechanic to his home to repair the damage. Ambrose, who has been with the firm for only a short while, is dazzled by the beautiful woman he meets. Harriet, a kind hearted woman has a soft spot for the man that tells her he is an orphan who never knew his parents. Harriet, who has a spare bed in the attic, invites Ambrose to have it. Well, Ambrose goes a bit further, he decides to move in.Suddenly, Robert begins hearing strange sounds in the house. He is a man that loves conducting the musical recordings in the evening. As the annoying noises keep waking him up, he decides to have a detective look into the matter. Detective Dylan, and his assistant, arrive on the scene, but they never suspect someone like the missing mechanic is right there carrying an affair with Mrs. Tuttle.This British farce, directed by Joseph McGraw, is based on a short story by an American writer, Josef Shaftel, which evidently was turned into a play by Alec Coppel, who co-adapted his own material. The comedy was probably a vehicle for its star, Shirley MacLaine, who is seen as Mrs. Blossom. The copy which was presented on cable recently, had a pristine quality and even though it is just a piece of fluff, the great production design by Assheton Gorton and the art direction of Bill Alexander and George Lack, take the viewer to that era of where London was the center of the Mod fashion and a style that was imitated by everyone. Geoffrey Sheldon photographs all the vivid colors contrasting with the stark white paint of the interior of the house. Riz Ortolani contributed the music score.A subdued Shirley MacLaine proved to be a nice surprise. In contrast, the energetic James Booth is all over the place as Ambrose. Richard Attemborough plays the perfectionist Robert Blossom. Freddie Jones is detective Dylan. John Cleese and Patricia Routledge are seen in small supporting roles.

Gotta just love this swinging feast of fun and frolics. Jam packed visual gags oodles of charm. Attenboroughs a comic tour De force, note how he attacks the intruder sliding along the dining table on his belly. Maclaine is in essence an unparalleled joy and ravishing to boot. Booth is Mr smooth cool and infectiously charming. Supporting Jones is a scream of camp perfection quietly assisted by the understating Rushden. Throw in some cameo gems by Cleese, Dunn and alike and we've got a perfect ten. Perfectly cast with zippy direction by the wonderful Joe McGrath. 90 minutes of sheer bliss so "let em eat chocolate cake"