This is a mixed bag of songs, dances and sketches, but there is no denying the talent involved. There will be a definite case of curiosity here with two future "Bewitched" supporting characters (who sometimes seemed like twins in real life), a "Hogan's Heroes" hero who was a real life concentration camp survivor, and a future "Catwoman". The rest of the cast (with the exception of Carol Lawrence who is pretty much overshadowed here) consists of obscure faces even Broadway aficionados won't recognize. The sketches range from funny to lame, and the songs for the most part are not remembered today.
Eartha Kitt is definitely instantly recognizable, and gets to sing her pop standard "Santa Baby" here which has been greatly remade but never topped. She also scores with "Monotonous" and sings a song in French with Robert Clary, the future "Hogan's Heroes" Frenchman who definitely is the most romantic presence here. Clary, the real life concentration camp survivor I mentioned, also scored highly in daytime drama, singing on-screen during his many years as Robert LeClaire on "Days of Our Lives" and also performing on both "The Young and the Restless" in its early days and years later on "The Bold and the Beautiful". Kitt purrs just like a kitten, and her brief tenure as Catwoman on "Batman" later on has made her both a sex symbol as well as camp icon.
People joke that sometimes Alice Ghostley seemed to be really Paul Lynde in drag, but they were real life close friends who just happened to share similar vocal mannerisms. Ghostley, be-speckled and frumpy, is a perfect look-alike for "Auntie Mame's" Agnes Gooch as she sings the alluring "Boston", a song written by "Fiddler on the Roof's" Sheldon Harnick. Lynde's sketches range from hysterical to eye-rolling, but he completely scores in the sketch about a hunter covered in bandages and hobbling on crutches sharing his experience while hunting big game in Africa. Lynde was one of the sketch writers, along with a future film comedy legend billed here as "Melvin Brooks".
Prints of this look extremely cheap, sort of like the recently made film version of "Top Banananna". This gives a dated and almost television look to the film. However, both movies were made for big screen release, and they pale in comparison to the musical classics released by the major studios during this time. So while the film ranks as "good", it is more because of the great talents that came out of it and individual moments rather than the film as a whole. Perhaps video and DVD are better viewings for this because at least you can fast-forward.
Eartha Kitt is definitely instantly recognizable, and gets to sing her pop standard "Santa Baby" here which has been greatly remade but never topped. She also scores with "Monotonous" and sings a song in French with Robert Clary, the future "Hogan's Heroes" Frenchman who definitely is the most romantic presence here. Clary, the real life concentration camp survivor I mentioned, also scored highly in daytime drama, singing on-screen during his many years as Robert LeClaire on "Days of Our Lives" and also performing on both "The Young and the Restless" in its early days and years later on "The Bold and the Beautiful". Kitt purrs just like a kitten, and her brief tenure as Catwoman on "Batman" later on has made her both a sex symbol as well as camp icon.
People joke that sometimes Alice Ghostley seemed to be really Paul Lynde in drag, but they were real life close friends who just happened to share similar vocal mannerisms. Ghostley, be-speckled and frumpy, is a perfect look-alike for "Auntie Mame's" Agnes Gooch as she sings the alluring "Boston", a song written by "Fiddler on the Roof's" Sheldon Harnick. Lynde's sketches range from hysterical to eye-rolling, but he completely scores in the sketch about a hunter covered in bandages and hobbling on crutches sharing his experience while hunting big game in Africa. Lynde was one of the sketch writers, along with a future film comedy legend billed here as "Melvin Brooks".
Prints of this look extremely cheap, sort of like the recently made film version of "Top Banananna". This gives a dated and almost television look to the film. However, both movies were made for big screen release, and they pale in comparison to the musical classics released by the major studios during this time. So while the film ranks as "good", it is more because of the great talents that came out of it and individual moments rather than the film as a whole. Perhaps video and DVD are better viewings for this because at least you can fast-forward.