Review of Panic Button

A laugh-less low water mark in the very long career of Maurice Chevalier. He's a washed up actor hired to appear in a television version of ROMEO & JULIET (his co-star being none other than Jayne Mansfield) that is an almost certain disaster. The backers of the production are looking for a losing proposition as a tax shelter. Though the premise is pretty similar to the later Mel Brooks masterpiece THE PRODUCERS, this film lacks any of that classic's wit or subversiveness. Instead, it's a labored, lame brained mess that wastes Chevalier, Eleanor Parker and Akim Tamiroff and makes very ill-use of the great Mansfield. It's directed by George Sherman and Giuliano Carnimeo. Blech.