The last part of Rosalind Russell's film career saw her appearing in a variety of film versions of Broadway plays, ranking from classic ("Picnic" and "Auntie Mame") to miscast ("A Majority of One") to critically mixed ("Gypsy").
This play, one of the most unforgettable titles in Broadway history (and a notorious flop), is about the most domineering of all mothers, a woman who hates her deceased husband so much that she keeps his casket and literally hangs his stuffed corpse in the closet, I guess hiring more maids to take care of the smell when that started to occur was out of the question since he supposedly flaunted an affair with their maid in her face and she ended up serving them. Here, the late hubby is none other than Jonathan Winters, and he narrates the story, following one of the most bizarre movie theme songs in movie history, dropping wisecracks such as "We fell in love when I removed the thorn from her paw".
Robert Morse ("How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying") plays their dominated son, treated by his mommie dearest as if he was still a tot. Russell looks like an aging drag queen here, clad in funky 60's outfits with matching wigs and even more bizarre make-up. You'll want to watch the entire movie just to see what she will show up in next if you can stomach the content.
The film flashes back to Winters and Russell's marriage, thanks to an actual film she has of it which she shows to the eccentric Hugh Griffith, her new man. Of course, this is shown through her point of view before she became this harpy, and if you can get past the idea of seeing this 60-something year old woman trying to pass for her 20's and 30's, you can find some amusement in the black comedy unraveling on the screen. The ultra-talented Barbara Harris plays the young miss who becomes a formidable competitor for Russell for both Griffith and Morse's affections. Eventually, this becomes loud and braying, hurting the ears with each syllable the normally lovable Roz is forced to say. As directed by Richard Quine, this is a mod, mod movie that shows why the 1960's are sometimes best left in the past.
This play, one of the most unforgettable titles in Broadway history (and a notorious flop), is about the most domineering of all mothers, a woman who hates her deceased husband so much that she keeps his casket and literally hangs his stuffed corpse in the closet, I guess hiring more maids to take care of the smell when that started to occur was out of the question since he supposedly flaunted an affair with their maid in her face and she ended up serving them. Here, the late hubby is none other than Jonathan Winters, and he narrates the story, following one of the most bizarre movie theme songs in movie history, dropping wisecracks such as "We fell in love when I removed the thorn from her paw".
Robert Morse ("How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying") plays their dominated son, treated by his mommie dearest as if he was still a tot. Russell looks like an aging drag queen here, clad in funky 60's outfits with matching wigs and even more bizarre make-up. You'll want to watch the entire movie just to see what she will show up in next if you can stomach the content.
The film flashes back to Winters and Russell's marriage, thanks to an actual film she has of it which she shows to the eccentric Hugh Griffith, her new man. Of course, this is shown through her point of view before she became this harpy, and if you can get past the idea of seeing this 60-something year old woman trying to pass for her 20's and 30's, you can find some amusement in the black comedy unraveling on the screen. The ultra-talented Barbara Harris plays the young miss who becomes a formidable competitor for Russell for both Griffith and Morse's affections. Eventually, this becomes loud and braying, hurting the ears with each syllable the normally lovable Roz is forced to say. As directed by Richard Quine, this is a mod, mod movie that shows why the 1960's are sometimes best left in the past.