Review of Romanoff and Juliet

SPOILERS *** As the Concordia delegate (who is also the president) abstains from voting at the UN, he gets into the cutest car by opening the FRONT, and pulling it closed behind him. Peter Sellers sometimes used that same model in his films. Peter Ustinov wrote, directed, and stars in a Romeo and Juliet knockoff. Now usually that's a terrible thing, but here, he actually does pretty well at all three. Ustinov made this in between his two Oscars -- for Spartacus and Topkapi. Funny scene where the soviet and American embassies pay to listen in on each other's phone calls. The president's trick is to match up the children of the Russian and American ambassador. Some fun little gags -- the delivery boy is called "Attila"... and they keep promising him chocolate to bribe him. and when everyone tries to sway the President's vote with gifts, he must refuse each gift due to the small size of his country. the official plane of the country is a stripped down war plane. with goats on board. Ustinov and Sandra Dee are the big names here. You'll also see John Gavin (the russians' son).. he had done Spartacus with Ustinov. This one chugs along at a pretty slow pace. Some clever lines and Ustinov's chuckling word play. Once the president has fixed up the kids, that story-line disappears until right before the end. The majority of the film is about plotting the Americans and the russians against each other. and that prepping for war scene at the end goes on waaaaay too long. and SPOILER **** we never DO find out how he votes. There's the McGuffin. But there is the fun Concordia salute ! It's pretty funny. Underwear tax.