dbeckowitz

. I saw this movie one time, on TV. I was 12. That would have been around 1960. And I've never forgotten it. My mother and myself, and my younger sister, laughed through the whole thing til our sides hurt. It struck so close to home for all three of us. I've been looking for the thing to come out on tape all my adult life. But it doesn't matter when it comes out. As long as it does one day, I won't have outgrown it. .

. This is a side splitting laugh fest. Probably the best thing Kovaks ever did. And it was smart too. Even subtle in places. And Delores Hart ( a cross between Sue Lyon and Grace Kelly) sent me rocketing into puberty. And then, she went and became a catholic nun. What a bring down.

But HEY ! Robert Wagner was in this little gem. And I understand he currently has a gig with the IMDb. Maybe he can bear some influence, . . . and GET THIS THING ON TAPE SO WE CAN ALL SEE IT AGAIN.

Oh yeah. The first funniest film: . . . His Girl Friday. .

One of those rare adventure films where the villain is nearly as admirable a character as the hero. Perhaps only Orson Wells could pull that off. In fact, the dynamic formula of Welles' villainy played against the shadowed virtues of Tyrone Power are here-in reminiscent of that same combination in another rarely seen gem, Prince of Foxes. A good film library should contain them both. I don't think either of them are actually available commercially. Life can be so cruel.

. Just a note: The OTHER best sword fight on film can be found in the Errol Flynn version of The Adventures of Robin Hood. Not so incidentally, it too included the formidable Basil Rathbone. That boy was the genuine article.