"Goodbye Charlie" is supposed to be a comedy, but it's hard to sit through waiting for anything funny. There are a couple of lines, one early and one later. The only thing this film has to offer is a good effort by Debbie Reynolds at playing a sort of grown-up tomboy character - a takeoff from her earliest films. And then, Walter Matthau with his East European accent as a parody of immigrant film producers for which Hollywood was known in the first half of the 20th century. Modern audiences probably wouldn't catch on to that. But, Tony Curtis just has a long workout for about two-thirds of the film. He's constantly on the run.
The premise of the plot had possibilities for comedy, and has been used successfully in a couple of films. But not in this one. It's just not a funny movie. About two-thirds of the way one might think it has possibilities because of the far-out ending it seems to be leading up to. But the writers and Fox apparently couldn't see the possibility for a very funny, wacko ending. Instead, it ends with a standard Hollywood dose of syrup with a "surprise." Yet it just proves that the movie has gone to the dogs, along with Charlie.
This film was a box office flop, just as the Broadway Play of the same title closed with barely 100 (109) performances.
Here are the two lines that might easily be missed if one dozes off during the film.
Charlie, "Behind 'War and Peace.' Where else would you hide vodka in a bookcase?"
Sartori, "If I were not Hungarian by birth, I would be speechless."
The premise of the plot had possibilities for comedy, and has been used successfully in a couple of films. But not in this one. It's just not a funny movie. About two-thirds of the way one might think it has possibilities because of the far-out ending it seems to be leading up to. But the writers and Fox apparently couldn't see the possibility for a very funny, wacko ending. Instead, it ends with a standard Hollywood dose of syrup with a "surprise." Yet it just proves that the movie has gone to the dogs, along with Charlie.
This film was a box office flop, just as the Broadway Play of the same title closed with barely 100 (109) performances.
Here are the two lines that might easily be missed if one dozes off during the film.
Charlie, "Behind 'War and Peace.' Where else would you hide vodka in a bookcase?"
Sartori, "If I were not Hungarian by birth, I would be speechless."