I haven't laid eyes on this since the sixties, but remember that the women in it looked fantastic. My local North Hollywood, Ca. video place has a copy and soon I'll see it--perhaps even comment on it, who knows. Jerry and Dennis Weaver are still alive, so's Connie Stevens. Is Anita Ekberg?
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Cool. This was one of those bright colored, sixties films with situations that are weirdly weird, in spite of being a Jerry Lewis film. Once I see it, you can expect a comment. I talk a lot.
shareIf you happen to get your hands on a VHS Good Copy, please let me know, I have been looking for this movie for 30 years, a personal dream of mine to have it to own. [email protected]
shareI know--I haven't laid eyes on it since seeing it as a kid at a matinee--can you believe? There's probably a lot of adult content and references that went completely over my head at the time. So watching it again puts me as a kid in an adult body, or vice versa; It's still neat any way you slice it.
shareIt's playing on FMC (Fox Movie Channel) two more times in August...so if you know anyone with cable have them make you a copy.
I tried to watch it, it's on as I type this, but it's a little on the winded side, LOTS of dialog. The backround is interesting, and it's pretty cool to see all the prototype cars they used.
We have VHS! So I rented it last night--first laid eyes on this gem back in '66 when I was ten years old. Ten year olds shouldn't see movies like this, hehe.
Jerry Lewis does less of his wacky character here, and tries playing it straight, not for gonzo laughs. He's nearly laid back compared to Robert Morley's curtain rattling performance as Jerry and Connie Stevens "first married couple on the moon. He's a handler like Leo G. Carroll was for Napoleon Solo in the Man From Uncle. Brian Keith appears several times in short inserts as a gruff-but-still-gruffer General who orders third act action where Jerry must "secure the moon".
Sure, all the sets are drenched in futuristic lighting as the story is set sometime after the Sixties, doesn't say when though. So in the background are cool concept cars of the future, during the Earth based scenes. You see solid patches of red and brilliant white furniture,(and very cool clear, plastic pillows), straight outta movies like "In Like Flint" or the British set designer for Sixties movies Ken Adam.
The Moon base location has cool looking pods for sleeping/working--and yes the patented "Batman"-style, big, blinking lights computers are strewn all over your eyeline, which I totally loved as a kid. Lighting-wise, the production simply pours all available light at all times during the indoor moon scenes, which has a television-feel about it; later verified by the technical names, especially Jack Martin Smith, who worked scores of sci-fi/fantasy pics during the Sixties for TV and low budget independents.
The film is super-sexy with tease galore supplied by Anita Ekberg's fab legs, shot from at least three anges during her opening house call on the American Married couple living next door on the moon. There's all sort of adult-level innuendo that flew over my head at the time: things about wife swapping, watching two girls makeout on one's wedding night, and others that are cleverly enfolded into the dialog, some PC types of the Two-Thousands would call this "leering" and it probably is, hehe.
Dick Shawn as the Tarzan-like Russian counterpart to Jerry simply does his patented "thing" with grimacing and good accents. There's an extended sequence of everybody getting drunk and kinda swapping, which today's producers would be cutting out because bad things happen to people who drink to excess, right? --oh yeah everybody knows that. The drunk thing was big in the sixties for some reason. Dick Shawn's other picture that year "What Did You Do In The War, Daddy?" had him being drunk through days of story time.
Seeing this movie without any warning would certainly remind some of Austin Powers, it's inescapable really. However I saw this tonight with a 28 year old who reminded me, "Austin Powers got it's look from this not the other way around"
I taped this last time it was on Fox Movie Channel (still comes on occasionally). I LOVE 60's films but even this one I had a hard time sitting through. The sets and fashions are fun enough. But the script and acting leave a LOT to be desired. None of the principals in this film are known for their great acting ability. It's the minor characters that really walk away with this one. The so-veddy-British Robert Morley as the head of NASA, hysterical Howard Morris as Schmidlapp (love that name), Bobo Lewis (a 60's TV character staple) as the homely woman first chosen to go to the moon with Jerry.
It was as if they were trying to hard to appeal to children and adults alike. I would recommend it as a film that kids and parents can watch together as the adult jokes will go right over the little ones heads, and the action, bright colors, and short running time are tailor-made for them.
By far the 2 best kid/adult "watch together" Jerry Lewis films are "The Ladies Man" (my niece loves that amazing set) and "Whose Minding the Store?" (my nephew howls at Jerry Lewis destroying a dept. store. I have to keep a tight rein on him at Macy's!).
Seeing it as an adult one is reminded that Jerry Lewis was ribbing the all so important "space race" between the two great superpowers of the time. This was the material that most movies, including James Bond and its imitators, took very, very seriously. That's impressive for a straight-laced filmmaker like Jerry Lewis, so...cool.
It's a hard movie to watch because it's so damn slow in getting to it's payoffs, which are pretty slim. Robt. "we take better care of you" Morley probably does steal the film from all concerned. With Jerry's character being so restrained from his usual mayhem, there's not much else going on of interest--so that's an issue for today's audiences.
It is a pretty boring movie, it's actually less boring to "today's audiences" because they can check out all the cool "futuristic" things presented.
shareI saw it a couple months ago, and my 75 year old teacher watched it too. For him he had to walk away-it was too stupid for him!
The girls in it are gorgeous, you gotta admit it. Robt.Morley is better than I remembered. However it's a Jerry Lewis movie without the usual Jerry Lewis bells and whistles--and there is no compensating plot to make up for the missing comedy ingredients.
I kept thinking "Austin Powers" through all the super-colorful sets and costumes. I probably won't see it again, and this was my second glance at it since the sixties, typical suburban kid's matinee of the type that doesn't exist anymore.
Yes, this has been on Fox a couple times, I recorded the letterbox version on my dvd-r recorder. Sweet!
shareI saw this as a kid in the 60's . . .just remembered that I fell in love with Connie Stevens and her skin-tight outfits. Also remember cracking up at the drunk scene . . .Jerry Lewis stumbling around shouting "WODKA", lol ! I was hoping to find this movie on VHS or possibly in some Jerry Lewis DVD "comedy film pack", but I haven't seen it.
shareThat drunken scene was priceless! Catch drunk Anita Ekberg laying on the floor in a skimpy leotard, the tops of her go-go boots slipping down!
sharethis movie is on demand from amazon.com and available on dvd in region 2 pal format.
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