MovieChat Forums > What's New Pussycat (1965) Discussion > ughhhhh..........

ughhhhh..........

posted 16 years ago by magenta1000
22 replies | jump to latest

I normally love these 60's comedies--The Pink Panther, A Shot in the Dark, Casino Royale........I also normally love Peter O'Toole in movies.

But, ugh, I really did not like this. The jokes were occasionally funny (usually Woody Allen), but most of the time they were just stupid. And Peter O'Toole was the most annoying character.....I felt doom approaching whenever he came onscreen.

I know you'll all hate me for all of that, but I was so surprised by how bad I thought this was I had to vent it somewhere.............

Earlier this evening, I was in the hall. I know because I was there.--Clue

[–] kakithecoolloser 16 years ago

i didn't even mean to watch this. it just came on WETA last night and i couldn't help but watch. it was so effing ridiculous, i feel like i have to buy it so i can watch it about 800,003 more times.

Since when is skepticism un-american?

[–] backofthevan 16 years ago

I wonder how old you guys are (not in an insulting way), it's just that this is a quintessentially '60s movie, just perfect for that time, and was hugely popular with people who could relate to it in so many different ways.

It was considered bright and funny and delightful at the time, innovative, clever... I saw it when it was first released and people were just lapping it up, loving it. It was a wonderful example of the mood at that time, the height of the Beatles' popularity, and if you know how popular A Hard Day's Night was, and Help! – silliness was very much in vogue.

It's more than 40 years old now, don't expect it to mesh with today's attitudes/interest/sensibilities, etc.

[–] phill-rosen 16 years ago

I am 29 years old and this is one of my favorite comedies. Of course I am a massive Sellers fan. However I am not unique, most of my friends love it including my girlfriend.

I don't think it needs much explaining, its just hilarious from the first frame to the last. The psycho analyst group sessions with Dr. Fritz Fassbender usually have me gasping for air.

[–] rdoyle29 8 years ago

I'm 47, and this is a fairly dull, unfunny film.

[–] Blueghost 16 years ago

This film used to air within a week or two of "Casino Royale" and occasionally "Pink Panther". I never thought they were exceptionally humorous, but rather silly in their own special way, and, on that level, worth a view. Otherwise you're right, they're rather forgettable.

[–] kakithecoolloser 16 years ago

I wasn't trying to insult the movie. I hate when people come on boards to do that. I loved it. It just surprised me how ridiculous it looked and waas wondering if anyone else thought so. No one in the other boards mentioned it. I guess people of my generation and even older than me don't get the pop culture surrounding it.
This movie has prompted me to have a Woody-Allen-movie-thon.
I thought it was fabulous!

Since when is skepticism un-american?http://www.lost.eu/6d99b

[–] onepotato2 15 years ago

Ugh, you want to see forgettable? Rent the Sellers vehicle "The Mouse that Raored."

"What's new Pussycat?" is Shakespeare compared to that.

The "zany antics" in WNP? are horrible but at least it has some funny lines. I wouldn't reccomend watching it, but having it on in the background while you're working on something can be entertaining.

[–] [email protected] 15 years ago

Awww, I like that movie! It maybe shows its age, but I like the odd parallels to "Dr. Strangelove" (a war nobody knows about, a doomsday weapon, triple Sellers roles)...I would love to find the duchy of Grand Fenwick and retire there.

Sellers as a dotty great-aunt of a duchess cracks me up:
Captured US General: "I know the entire Geneva Convention by heart!"
Duchess: "Oh how nice, you must recite it for me one evening; I play the harpsichord!"

Now "The Bobo" - there's a Sellers movie that gets no respect. It never runs on tv anymore and isn't available on video...he made it when he was trying to remake himself as a romantic lead and there is very little attempt at overt humor - or at least I *hope* that's what the intent was.

But heck, I still like it...

[–] theverylastboyscout 16 years ago

This movie is the essence of the 60ies

I was born in the early 70ies, but everyone of my parents generation used to know it and when I was a kid everytime it was broadcast on TV, they all went like "Oh, tonight there´s "What´s new pussycat" on TV, we´ve got to watch it"

And I think it passed the test of time with flying colours.
Even nowadays it´s pretty well-known, unlike many other funny 60ies movies.
For example, nobody remembered the old "Casino Royale" anymore, when the new version with Daniel Craig came out 2006.
And a lot of people don´t know that there have been 2 realy funny movies with the Beatles.
But "Pussycat" still makes people laugh

[–] ziocantante 16 years ago

I had seen and loved the old Casino Royale something like 20 years ago. Never seen this one until now: after I heard the song by Tom Jones at the end of the "Flushed Away" animation, I looked for it on the internet and bumped into the movie instead... Loved it. Just overwhelmed by the amount of stunning beauties in there ...

[–] ranmel 16 years ago

I agree totally.

I love Peter Sellers and will watch any movie that he is in, but this was just not funny. The cast was great, but I think the writing (sorry Woody)and the director could have been better. (Maybe Blake Edwards could have saved it.)

I think my brother put it best..."They showed up in Paris with no script and a bunch of LSD."

[–] kewlcrueldude 16 years ago

I first saw this movie during its initial theatrical release when I was a teenager and I thought it was hilarious. Woody Allen was just cutting his teeth, and there is a refreshing audacity to his script (and his performance) that foreshadows his best later work. Bacharach's score is inspired, and the large cast is remarkable--especially Paula Prentiss. Her performance still cracks me up. I saw Pussycat again tonight and still enjoy it. Like Hair, which I saw last night again and loved--having first seen it during its Broadway preview at the Biltmore forty years ago. I guess you had to have been there to really appreciate these things.

[–] pbl1 16 years ago

gawdawful!

What the $%*& is a Chinese Downhill?!?

[–] fernmann7 16 years ago

I agree. This movie is the essence of the 1960s. I was born in '62 and the entire entertainment decade, esp. on TV, was characterized by a comedic sense of ridiculous characters, dialogue and settings.

[–] nuv 16 years ago

Well...like many here, I grew up in the 70s watching this (read: being forced to watch this since there was only 1 color TV in the house, and the parental units wouldn't let us watch anything else, not that there was much else to choose from in the days before cable TV...but I digress). And despite the truely hilarious moments that include Woody Allen and/or Peter Sellers, this film is otherwise pretty dull.

I tried watching it again on TCM last weekend...lasted about 20 minutes, which was longer than I expected. But compared to Pink Panther and a whole slew of other 60's sex-comedies, this one fell flat for me. I think letting Warren Beatty leave the film was a great mistake, because I always thought of him being more appropriate than Peter O'Toole...don't get me wrong, O'Toole is a great actor, and he's had some funny roles ("My Brilliant Career" being the best). And everytime he talks about the wild-n-boozing tales of his youth, whoring about London with Richard Harris and the other British acting greats, he's a delight to listen to. But not in WNP.

magenta1000, I got your back on this one...

BTW: My god, did this come out in 1965? I really thought it was a little later in the 60's than that.

[–] Mutant_Enemy_Girl 16 years ago

My mom and I caught this on OETA's Movie Club and we loved it. My mom gre up in the 60's and I was born in 1990, but I grew up watching OETA(partly since we only had basic cable which was about 8 channels including that for the first 9 years of my life, but not complaining at all about it) and their movies and old movies from around that time so I wasn't distracted from the "sixties-vibe" of it. We just thought that it was a really funny movie that happened to be made in the 60's.

And I thought O'Toole was great in this. Sellers and Allen were also great. Yeah, basically, I loved the movie in it's whole.

Last movie I watched:Tropic Thunder
"I don't question your existence."~God
J.U.A.

[–] slokes 14 years ago

<<And despite the truely hilarious moments that include Woody Allen and/or Peter Sellers, this film is otherwise pretty dull...

...don't get me wrong, O'Toole is a great actor, and he's had some funny roles ("My Brilliant Career" being the best). And everytime he talks about the wild-n-boozing tales of his youth, whoring about London with Richard Harris and the other British acting greats, he's a delight to listen to. But not in WNP.>>

You meant to write "My Favorite Year", I believe, nuv, but I agree with you otherwise. There's a lot of fun and inventiveness buried in this film, but on the whole its a sloppy mess more frustrating than enjoyable.

[–] g-moff 14 years ago

agree. I am also a huge Sellers fan and he is hilarious enough here imho, but the movie has a few lenghts, especially with Toole scenes. Compared to "The Party", any Pink Panther or "Casino Royale" (which btw is totally underrated) this movie ain't that great, but on the other hand it shows a lot of that famous liberal & euphoric 60ies atmosphere. 6 of 10