A rollicking slapstick farce played to hilt by Peter O'Toole, Jeanne Moreau and especially Zero Mostel. O'Toole is a British soldier seeking an audience with amorous Russian Empress Moreau and has to deal with lunatic Mostel first. Once he gets to Moreau things get even wackier. Who knows what GB Shaw had in mind with all this craziness, but the movie is very fun. O'Toole is completely exasperated, Moreau is very funny and Mostel is utterly out of control. It's a sumptuous affair directed with a lot of class by Gordon Flemyng. It helps to have music by Dimitri Tiomkin, costumes by Margaret Furse, and cinematography by Oswald Morris. Jack Hawkins plays the British ambassador and there's a great role for Akim Tamiroff as one of Mostel's conniving underlings.
Review of Great Catherine
