The World of Henry Orient

The World of Henry Orient (1964) directed by George Roy Hill

I thought this was going to be a comedy starring Peter Sellers.  He's in it, playing a pianist, and he's funny, but he's not the star.  It's mostly about 2 young teens following him around after one develops a crush on him.  It's a weird film, half wholesome Disneyesque giggly girl bonding, and half Benny Hill G rated sex comedy with one particularly obvious oggling upskirt sequence when the girls are running down the street hopping over fire hydrants and the camera.  What??!!  Maybe I'm just a prude, but that felt yuck.  It's  thematically odd, having the adolescent boy craziness and the joys of girl friendship contrasting with the grown up sex comedy.  Made me feel uncomfortable some.  It's played very lighthearted though, and not much actually happens in the flick aside from girl drama. The scenes of them playing games of pretend and being enthusastic about their stategies following Henry Orient around reminded me of the movies by Mary Kate and Ashley Olson that my neices liked to watch - sweet but kinda tedious too. There was a lot of slapstick in those also.

I really enjoyed Peter Sellers as the buffoonish object of affection.  He's pretty hilarious as a lazy pianist obscuring his Brooklyn roots with fake European airs.  I could see Sacha Baron Cohen doing this role easily.  Anyhow, he's desperate to get married Paula Prentiss back to his apartment to finalize his seduction, but the girls stalking him, keep thwarting these plans.

Angela Lansbury does nasty neglectful adulterous mom very very well, reminiscent of her role in The Manchurian Candidate.  She`s a real piece of work.  This flick was a miss for me, but I would have liked one that focused on the adulterous affairs of both her and Peter Sellers, seemed a bit riper for material along their plot lines. I prefer my sleazy lasciviousness more risque and I'll pass on the family friendly girlish antics.

Adding to the sleaze factor is the fact that the director seduced one of the girls.  According to her post on imdb, Tippy Walker's first love was George Roy Hill.  During the filming, he took her aside one day telling her, he was going to teach her how to French kiss.  If I was 16, I might be naive enough to find that romantic, but I'm pretty sure most everyone would agree, that's f'd up.  I guess the relationship was fairly chaste, but it was a secret and it messed her up.  Read her description under whitedogandharriet in this thread.

Gaslight

 directed by George Cukor (1944)

 Jesus does Isabella Rossellini ever look like her mom Ingrid Bergman.

 Aside from that observation, I forgot to write anything about this movie right after I watched it, so this review will be brief.

It was good.  The story is great, except for a rather anticlimactic ending, and the acting is stellar by everyone involved.  Joseph Cotton is a snoopy American with a snazzy manner, suspicious of that foreigner Charles Boyer. While Boyer is sleazy and supercilious, he's awsome spooky too.  Ingrid Bergman is the fragile object of affection, eyed possessively by both men and she's more than just a pretty face.  It takes skill to appear vulnerable and tormented.  Angela Lansbury is great in her role as a maid on the make, and she's pretty gorgeous and nasty too.  It's a good portrayal of the upper classes in the fussy and mannerly Victorian era.  I liked the sets and costumes, it looks beautiful, and it's altogether, a pretty great thriller, that's entirely entertaining.  I can see why the term gaslight came in to use, because it's such a memorable production particularly in terms of illustrating the diabolical type of evil it would take to "gaslight" someone.  It makes sense that the title was coined as a term and referenced over time so often because it well depicts the matrix of deceit and manipulation the abusive/Svengali male entangles around their thrall in order to control them and this is an insidious dynamic which gets play in most all abusive relationships. 

I got caught up in the story too.  The villain is a terrible man, and what he does is  soooo wrong.  I was getting mad watching him be such a snakey jerk.  Still, it's soooo sexist!   It's redonkulous how often female characters are written as lambs to the slaughter victims. Whatever though, because it's worth a look.  It's a fun psycho-killer showdown, satisfaction guaranteed!