iamemily12
I have been unsuccessfully chasing this movie for 20 yrs. I was 7 when i watched this movie and it has stayed with me since as one of the funniest movies ever. Marty Feldman was a genius.It has now been 31 years since i saw it and it is still as clear in my mind as yesterday. Anne Margaret plays the damsel in distress perfectly and if anyone is lucky enough to have a friend who owns a copy.. borrow it, you will be left with a feel-good smile for a while! If anyone could burn me a copy I would be happy to pay (but not a zillion dollars please...single mother of 3 and struggling!) email me please: iamemily12 at g mail dot com. :)
moonspinner55
Marty Feldman directed and stars in this satire of adventure movies of the 1930s, yet his cheerfully lewd sense of humor can be felt in the screenplay as well (he's only given a story credit, though some of the sex jokes seem to have come straight from his warped mind). Adopted twin brothers, heirs to the fortune of the ailing Sir Hector Geste, compete with their lascivious stepmother over ownership of a priceless sapphire, leading to a showdown in North Africa. Feldman uses his googly-eyed craziness for all its worth, though he is generous with the other players, particularly a winking, naughty Ann-Margret and a bemused Henry Gibson. The humor, though no more raunchy than a "Benny Hill" sketch, is a bit embarrassing however; Feldman is from the old school of British comedians, and he hammers home tired schoolboy gags as if they were uproarious (one joke, involving the opening of dual locks on a safe, seemed to get the biggest laugh, though the sniggering staging here is merely juvenile). Feldman's pacing and comic rhythm are fine, but prudish viewers need not apply. ** from ****
adisondewit
This movie played a thousand times when we got cable TV for the first time and it quickly became one of my late night favorites. Ann-Margret was never more beautiful and neither was Michael York! I watched it every time I could, probably 15 or 20 times. Years later, wondering if its attraction was merely to my adolescent humor, I watched it again and enjoyed it just as much when in my 30's. It has great lines, great laughs, great characters. I find that I still use quotes from this movie in my everyday conversations long after I'd forgotten where they came from. The slapstick humor of the late '70s is in full bloom in this movie and it's a close cousin in silliness to "Murder By Death".
victor.fernandes
When I saw the opening title sequence with the Universal logo spinning and Marty popping it up like a baloon I cracked myself up. I didn't know any of the actors when I first saw it when I was younger but as time passed by I began to realize how important Marty was to worldwide comedy. He was so funny on YOUNG FRANKENSTEIN but here is HIS own film and he can do whatever he feels like. I love Mel Brook's work but I this film is one of the first film-spoofs like TOP SECRET! and HOT SHOTS! The sequence where Marty escapes out of prision is a homage to Charlie Chaplin, doubtlessly. Michael York is a young hero but the gags all fall onto Marty. He's the funny one and gets all the attention. York is the sidekick, really. I really don't know how they managed to get a cross-eyed kid to play Marty as a child but the resemblance is remarkable. James Earl Jones is fantastic too as a desert bandit. Highly recommended for a few laughs!!!!!!!!!
AD
