This is one of Billy Wilder's lesser known films and when it opened in the early 1970's it was dismissed by most critics. One of the reasons is it's incredible length. Story is about an American businessman named Wendell Armbruster (Jack Lemmon) who travels to Italy to claim the body of his father who has died in a car crash. He wants the body transported back to the states immediately so that he can have a big funeral on closed circuit television for his company. When he arrives he meets Carlucci (Clive Revill) who is the manager of the hotel that his father stays at and he is informed that his father did not die alone in the car and he meets Pamela Piggott (Juliet Mills). Pamela's mother also died in the car and Wendell discovers that his father has been having an affair for the last ten years. Both Wendell and Pamela have a difficult time getting the bodies ready to be shipped because special coffins have to be ordered and transportation forms have to be signed by judges that are nowhere to be found. Pamela complains about her weight and she also suggests that both bodies stay in Italy to be buried but Wendell objects. Then both bodies are stolen and held for ransom but back at the hotel a bellhop named Bruno (Gianfranco Barra) has photo's and is blackmailing Wendell because he wants a visa to go back to America. This film was made after Billy Wilder's best years but he was still a very good director and would go on to direct some very good films. This is not one of his best although it's not a bad film. The big thing that hurts the film is it's two and a half hour length! Did this really have to be 2 1/2 hours long? I can't imagine sitting in a theater watching a fairly good romantic/comedy for that long and I've sat through a lot of long films. There are some scenes that just go on too long and at certain points the film would start to meander. But I am giving this a mild recommendation and one reason would be that this definitely plays better when your at home watching it on television. Another plus for this film is the wonderful performance of Revill. His character is vital to the story and he actually helps hold the film together. We all should be so lucky to have a gentleman like this watching our backs! And I thought Lemmon had good chemistry with Mills. She never got enough opportunities in her career to show what a good actress she is. And I have one thing to say about the nudity that was asked of her in this film. I don't care if it's not proper to say this but her nudity was one of the highlights of the film. As a man who grew up in the 60's and 70's and watched "Nanny and the Professor" this was really something to behold. I thought she looked beautiful and I think it was in the film to show the viewers that her character shouldn't complain too much about her weight. Like in all of Wilder's films the dialogue is sharp and crisp, "That's a lot of Trotta's"! Far from being one of Wilder's better films but the performances by Lemmon, Mills and Revill make up for the overlong story.
Review of Avanti!
