There must have been something in the water at the Studio where this one was made. How else to explain one of the most bizarre concepts in cinema history? Consider the following: an eighty-something Mae West is cast as a twenty-something sexpot who is hotly pursued by six (hence the title) young (or youngish) men. In the course of this, she interrupts a UN meeting, thwarts a gangster and makes goo eyes at a body building team (who all seem more interested in each other than in her - and who could blame them?)
But there's more! Mae sings! Well, sort of. Periodically the action, such as it is, grinds to a dead halt while Mae croons some totally unrelated ballad. Her romantic interested is played by Timothy Dalton, who mumbles a tone deaf rendition of Neil Sedaka at West, and who deserved an Oscar for keeping a straight face when he sings the lyrics "Young and beautiful, your looks will never be gone." All the while West is posturing like mad, looking like something they found in the wreck of the "Titanic".
For all of its ineptitude, its gratuitous cruelty and its blatant disregard for good taste, it is hard not to like "Sextette". It is amongst the most requested films in my video collection, and the poster hangs in my lounge room. I really have tremendous affection for it. It has a certain innocence to it; everybody seems to be enjoying themselves so much. And to be fair, West is remarkably well preserved for eighty five (though it is a long, long stretch to pretend that she's the platinum blonde goddess she's meant to be.) One should be revolted yet one isn't; it's all good fun, if not quite in the way it was intended. And if nothing else it took guts for West to make this movie. Nobody could deny that.
But there's more! Mae sings! Well, sort of. Periodically the action, such as it is, grinds to a dead halt while Mae croons some totally unrelated ballad. Her romantic interested is played by Timothy Dalton, who mumbles a tone deaf rendition of Neil Sedaka at West, and who deserved an Oscar for keeping a straight face when he sings the lyrics "Young and beautiful, your looks will never be gone." All the while West is posturing like mad, looking like something they found in the wreck of the "Titanic".
For all of its ineptitude, its gratuitous cruelty and its blatant disregard for good taste, it is hard not to like "Sextette". It is amongst the most requested films in my video collection, and the poster hangs in my lounge room. I really have tremendous affection for it. It has a certain innocence to it; everybody seems to be enjoying themselves so much. And to be fair, West is remarkably well preserved for eighty five (though it is a long, long stretch to pretend that she's the platinum blonde goddess she's meant to be.) One should be revolted yet one isn't; it's all good fun, if not quite in the way it was intended. And if nothing else it took guts for West to make this movie. Nobody could deny that.