And he's going to really turn the life of his (much) older brother Frank Sinatra upside down. Newcomer Tony Brill portrays an innocent unaware of what he is getting himself in for moving onto Sutton Place in Manhattan. Free of his meddling parents (Molly Picon and Lee J. Cobb) and their Yonkers home, Brill allows brother Sinatra to take him out on a glorious shopping spree to mold him into a younger version of his older brother. Before you know it, Brill has taken over and Sinatra finds himself acting like his domineering father whose constant slamming of doors causes chandeliers to fall.
This hysterically funny Neil Simon comedy isn't a great movie, but gets a higher rating simply because of its laugh quotient. There are also several moments that seemed like song cues, and one time, when Sinatra breaks into the title song (during the shopping spree), it actually happens. Brill is hysterically funny going from innocent to ring-a-ding-ding playboy, throwing a "Breakfast at Tiffany's" like party, and getting perhaps too big for his britches when Sinatra gets him to pretend to be a movie producer from Hollywood.
Cobb and Picon are so funny, but nothing is more hysterical than watching the lovable Picon playing reluctant frustrated secretary when she begins to answer Sinatra's phone calls after popping in on Brill unannounced to beg him to return home. The sight of this diminutive woman running around this obvious playboy's apartment looking for a pencil is a visual you won't forget. Picon makes her Jewish mother endearing and so lovable that you want to just pick her up and hug her.
While Picon and Sinatra don't share scenes until the end (because of the obvious difference in their appearances), I half expected Picon to tell Sinatra "We needed to share one scene in this movie" when he asked her why she was there. It is mentioned that Sinatra (who works for Cobb's factory that makes glass fruit) takes off both Jewish and Catholic holidays (as well as Halloween!) so perhaps Cobb and Picon have a mixed marriage; That is never confirmed.
Then, there are the ladies in Sinatra's life: the beautiful red-headed Jill St. John (too intelligent seeming to be playing a bubble-head), Phyllis McGuire (as the sadomasochistic business associate from Dallas) and Barbara Rush (as the wife and mother type). The film may seem a bit too much like a stage play in some scenes (minus the songs it seems to be about to break into), but is still a lot of fun.
This hysterically funny Neil Simon comedy isn't a great movie, but gets a higher rating simply because of its laugh quotient. There are also several moments that seemed like song cues, and one time, when Sinatra breaks into the title song (during the shopping spree), it actually happens. Brill is hysterically funny going from innocent to ring-a-ding-ding playboy, throwing a "Breakfast at Tiffany's" like party, and getting perhaps too big for his britches when Sinatra gets him to pretend to be a movie producer from Hollywood.
Cobb and Picon are so funny, but nothing is more hysterical than watching the lovable Picon playing reluctant frustrated secretary when she begins to answer Sinatra's phone calls after popping in on Brill unannounced to beg him to return home. The sight of this diminutive woman running around this obvious playboy's apartment looking for a pencil is a visual you won't forget. Picon makes her Jewish mother endearing and so lovable that you want to just pick her up and hug her.
While Picon and Sinatra don't share scenes until the end (because of the obvious difference in their appearances), I half expected Picon to tell Sinatra "We needed to share one scene in this movie" when he asked her why she was there. It is mentioned that Sinatra (who works for Cobb's factory that makes glass fruit) takes off both Jewish and Catholic holidays (as well as Halloween!) so perhaps Cobb and Picon have a mixed marriage; That is never confirmed.
Then, there are the ladies in Sinatra's life: the beautiful red-headed Jill St. John (too intelligent seeming to be playing a bubble-head), Phyllis McGuire (as the sadomasochistic business associate from Dallas) and Barbara Rush (as the wife and mother type). The film may seem a bit too much like a stage play in some scenes (minus the songs it seems to be about to break into), but is still a lot of fun.