MissSimonetta I imagine this movie receives so many negative reactions because it is not the romantic comedy it was advertised as or that one would expect. This is less Sabrina and more Mel Brooks with a healthy helping of meta-fictional commentary on Hollywood tropes and the writing process. Paris When It Sizzles is goofy camp more in the vein of The Great Race than anything. If you're a writer or storyteller in any medium, then surely you will understand Holden's pain as he constantly runs out of drive and inspiration, going through draft after draft. The film within the film changes genre, characterization, and tone constantly. Everything about screen writing is parodied or lamp-shaded: the Production Code, plot structure, writing for specific actors, adhering to conventions, making sure the money is present on the screen. The movie also often feels like Old Hollywood taking potshots at the next generation of filmmakers: the French New Wave and the "mumbling" of method actors are comedy fodder as well.The film only flounders toward the end. The romance between Hepburn and Holden in the frame story begins as an interesting subversion of the romantic clichés Holden's screenwriter puts down in his phoned-in screenplays, but toward the end it takes a conventional turn that feels rather tacked on. The film spoofs Hollywood conventions only to succumb to their escapist charms in the end. Now this may or may not be a serious flaw depending upon your perspective. It didn't hurt the film too much for me, but I can see someone wanting more satire being disappointed.Your enjoyment of this film heavily relies on knowing what to expect going into it. This movie is quite unlike Audrey Hepburn's other romantic vehicles from the 1950s and it doesn't have the style and sophistication of Breakfast at Tiffany's or Charade, but it is a fun, smart movie and she is great in it.

White Cloud This picture was widely panned (see Barry Paris' bio of Audrey), but I think the critics were looking at the film too narrowly. I saw it for the first time about a month ago, and my basic impression was that God is in his heaven and all is well in the motion picture business (at least in 1962 when this picture was made).Much has been written about Audrey, who did the movie because she owed Paramont one more picture, even though she was nervous about appearing again with her former paramour, Holden.I especially liked Noel Coward, and not much has been said about him. Coward wrote hundreds of screen plays in addition to doing some acting. In his final scene (with Holden) - the grotesque edifice one - I am not sure he was acting. It seemed too real.Anyway, it ended when those two highly paid heads came together for that ultimate, final, and inevitable, studio-rent paying, theater-filling, popcorn-selling, kiss.

imdb2-556-923983 This movie isn't everyone's cup of tea. Hepburn called it her least favorite film. Audiences shunned it. At the time of writing, IMDb gives it a measly 6.0 rating. Nevertheless, it is one of my all-time favorite movies.The problem with this film is that it isn't what everyone seems to be expecting it to be: a mindless romantic comedy. Quite on the contrary: this is a work that I can only compare with "Adaptation". It is a story about how stories actually get written: non-linearly, spasmodically, through much self-doubt and simultaneously excessive (narcissistic, really) introspection. (Although, to be fair, in Hollywood the practice has mostly been to call in a whole bunch of writers to fix up the messes left by writers of earlier drafts, so this is least true of how Hollywood movie scripts get written, but it is true just about everywhere else.) Like "Adaptation", this is a movie that takes the plunge into the mind of the writer as he creates a miniature, constantly shifting and bubbling world for us to visit, only to find a second world inside that first, and probably more where that came from. I don't think that you can appreciate it without having written something yourself, but if you have, then you know the feeling: life mimicking art, mimicking life, mimicking art. Personally, for me, the greatest cameo in this movie isn't the appearance of Tony Curtis or Frank Sinatra, but the fact that in mid-shooting William Holden had to be checked into a rehab clinic. How's that for life and art? Again, like in "Adaptation", the story makes no sense, and, in fact, cannot make any sense. Its what the movie is about. To let us watch and keep our sanity, humor is used abundantly. It is well written wit and quite funny, but it isn't what this movie is about, and taking it to be what the movie is about is perhaps what led to its being so underrated."Pay no attention to the man behind the curtain" says the Wizard of Oz, and as far as box office success goes, he's right. Audiences don't like it when the magician shows how the trick is performed. This movie is a prime example. Another is Schwarzenegger's "Last Action Hero". If you like romantic comedies, you should probably avoid this movie. If you want to see a smart film about the madness of writing, this is a soft introduction to the topic.

Maddyclassicfilms Directed by Richard Quine,Paris When it Sizzles is a seriously underrated film that was ahead of it's time in terms of plot and how it's shot.On release it didn't do well and there were serious problems with leading man William Holden.He and Hepburn were back together for the first time since the end of their love affair during the making of Sabrina.She had broken it off when she discovered he couldn't have children,the one thing she desired above all else.He began drinking heavily and often messed up his delivery of lines.The bad reaction on release seems to stem from the content of the film.It's an often hysterical dig at the way audiences just assume a film comes together on it's own,giving no thought to the creative process involved.Also it has great fun playing around with genre and character in a hap hazard array of ways.Most likely audiences just wanted a straight romance,what they got was something else entirely.Gaby(Audrey Hepburn)is hired to become an assistant to famous screenwriter Richard Benson(William Holden)at his hotel room in Paris.The two begin to write a screenplay for a new romantic film.As they begin to write the plots they imagine for the characters are shown on screen,acted out by Hepburn and Holden,featuring some funny cameo appearances especially Tony Curtis as a young method actor. A delightful blend of romance,humour and satire,Paris When it Sizzles is a good old style romantic comedy that features a fine cast and if your attentive fun is poked at films and acting styles without being nasty in any way.