Review of That Riviera Touch

If Sid Collin and Dick Hills had written this as a five minute sketch then the boys would have made something of it.As a full - length movie it is - sadly - very thin stuff.In 1966 they had yet to reach their peak as audience - pullers,but Eric and Ernie had already been around for a long time on Variety Halls,radio and TV when Rank decided to follow up the undistinguished "The Intelligence Men" with what they obviously hoped was going to be a happier and more successful second picture.Their optimism was ill - founded.Away from the intimacy and immediacy of a responsive audience the double act floundered badly.Having a guest star or two on a TV show was one thing.......sharing the screen with so many other people detracted from their ability to dominate - they weren't strong enough to make everybody else subordinate.Unlike their heroes Abbot and Costello,Morecambe and Wise just didn't fill the screen with their presence.Putting them in a "Haunted House" type scenario merely served to demonstrate their inferiority to the American cross - talking comics. The silly plot about some stolen jewellery is an irrelevance,an excuse to get the boys out of the studio (another mistake).You may take some slight pleasure in recognising references to their comedic roots Jacques Tati,Laurel and Hardy,Bud and Lou and even Norman Wisdom get a nod,but overall,"That Riviera Touch" is a wasted opportunity for two of England's most beloved comedians who,after the Subsequent "The Magnificent Two" never darkened the door of a movie studio again. Whether it was an excess of hubris or the promise of untold wealth that tempted them in the first place I don't know,but it is a matter of lasting regret that it never worked out.