I recall a time when I saw Joan Collins in "Dynasty" (c. 1983) and her character was called "Alexis Carrington Colby Dexter"... I had never known a lady to keep the names of all of her husbands one after the other. Well, Shirley MacLaine beat her to it - by about 20 years - as her portrayal of "Louisa May Foster Hopper Flint Anderson Benson". The film begins as an elegantly dressed woman tries to give the IRS a cheque for a couple of hundred million dollars. They think she is bonkers and refer her to a shrink to whom she reminisces about her hitherto marital relationships. Dean Martin in the first local bigwig to take a shine to her, but she falls for local shopkeeper Dick Van Dyke who manages to turn his tiny shop into a thriving business emporium before disaster strikes. Next she meets struggling artist Paul Neman in Paris; then Millionaire Robert Mitchum as she leaves Paris, then Gene Kelly in a cheap and cheerful diner in which she tries to get away from it all - she even proposes to her shrink - before, well it sort of goes full circle. This is a fun exposé of MacLaine's skills - singer, dancer, bon viveur, - and the male stars are very much in her orbit. Newman is particularly good (and handsome) as her painter who uses automated painting techniques to create his masterpieces, and poor old Bob Mitchum who seems to offer title more than a private plane and an arm for her to hold as she parades a line of elegant line of couture that would rival any Milan or Paris catwalk. There's a decent, if maybe too long, song and dance routine with Kelly too! The comedy is a bit predictable, and the sound-stage look of the thing is a bit too static at times, but the compendium nature of the storytelling is engaging, as is the star, and it flew by. Not great, but good.
2024-12-02
