Review of What`s New, Pussycat

Introduction

Okay, let`s get "What`s New Pussycat?" into historical context, shall we? Made in 1965, it`s one of the movies-of-its-time for the swinging sixties like its stablemate "Casino Royale". Both movies were produced by Charles K Feldman at the end of his career (he said working with Sellers would kill him, and he was right.) "Pussycat" was directed by workmanlike director and former editor Clive Donner, who had been working in British films since the 1950s but who had few movies of great note to his name.

"Pussycat", however, was the movie debut as both actor and writer of Woody Allen, and ultimately made him take up directing he was that put out with Clive Donner`s direction. He had written the movie as an autobiographical vehicle for (and spoof of) Warren Beatty, for whom "What`s New, Pussycat" was a chat-up line. When Beatty read the script, he allegedly turned down the part because it wasn`t big enough. The role then passed to Peter O`Toole, a curious choice, but when one looks at the movie as a whole then sense is something obviously lacking from the production.

Peter Sellers` collaboration with Blake Edwards "The Party" was designed to be largely improvised, but in comparison to "Pussycat" it`s a masterpiece of control. Woody Allen must have been tearing his hair out as it`s obvious from a good many scenes that Clive Donner the director simply wound up Sellers and released him to bounce off the walls at will. Sellers played Doctor Fritz Fassbender, psychiatrist to O`Toole`s magazine editor. O`Toole`s character Michael James was (as one would expect) a committment-phobic with a talent for attracting women of promiscuous tendencies. These women included Capucine (doing her usual sophisticated Parisienne act) and Paula Prentiss (as a dizzy stripper prone to taking pill overdoses). Life could be so much simpler if he could settle down with fiance Carol (Romy Schneider), but that was where his committment-phobia and therefore Dr Fassbender came in.

Woody Allen`s character Victor Shakapopolis worked at the strip joint where Liz (Prentiss) worked. There is a flash of sheer Allenism in the scene where he tells O`Toole he has got a job in a strip joint helping the girls with their costumes. Twenty francs a week. O`Toole says that isn`t much and he shrugs, "It`s all I can afford."

Allen`s later antipathy towards the movie stems from the fact he had written the piece as a low-budget, black-and-white piece, and it had snowballed under Feldman`s producership and Donner`s lack of directorial control. Sellers was to blame for the movie`s ultimate untidiness, improvising gags at the cost of Allen`s script.

Fortunately for all concerned, the movie was a smash hit at the box office, ensuring the production down the line of "Casino Royale" and launching Woody Allen on his career.

Trivia hounds may be interested to know that the scene where Dr Fassbender tries to organise his suicide/ Viking funeral got the movie banned in Norway because he`d wrapped himself in their flag.

Video

I would have put money on this picture being in glorious Panavision, so I was startled to find that it was shot 1.66:1 (European Flat Widescreen), and is presented here at 1.78:1. The image has not weathered terribly well, and there is some wear and tear evident. Neither is the picture as sharp as one might expect.

Audio

MGM have tweaked things to get the basic optical soundtrack of the picture sounding halfway reasonable, but obviously no elements are available to remix the movie. The soundtrack remains resolutely and disappointingly Mono (Dolby Digital 2.0). Like Casino Royale, "Pussycat" sports a score by Burt Bacharach and Hal David, but other than the glorious title track with its tack pianos and Tom Jones there are no real showstopper tunes.

Features

Subtitles, but that`s your lot.

Conclusion

This movie could only have been made in the swinging sixties, and frequently gives the impression that the cast and crew were smoking something other than Woodbines between scenes. Like its stablemate "Casino Royale" (released two years later), "Pussycat" degenerates in its last reel into anarchy and a totally pointless go-kart getaway that gives the impression of being dreamed up on the spur of the moment by a suitably stoned crewmember. You have to watch it with a slightly indulgent eye, as a document of its time. I have a bit of a soft spot for this movie, but casting a critical eye over this release I`ll concede that it`s not one of Sellers` finest.