I had not seen this film in over thirty years and caught it just this past week while on holiday. I still remembered the song! And in over thirty years, it was the scenes with Lorre I recalled best (I wonder why?).
But Red Buttons as the romantic leading man for Barbara Eden was a bit difficult to get into. Eden of course, was full of her usual magic, really coming across a bit subdued from her other work, such as Dr. Lao and I Dream of Jeannie. She works best with all her emotions and thoughts firmly expressed and never fluctuating. Richard Haydn with the tea kettle was more captivating than Fabian and Barbara Luna's romance (why did both women have to enter as slaves?). In actuality, Fabian, Luna and Hardwicke were very uninteresting, Buttons attempting to go from a charmer to a bungler got tiresome, only Lorre and Haydn stayed in character. Nevertheless, the cast was well-rounded out, the adventure was strong and solid and the finale was a winner (something else I had also remembered from over three decades ago as well. I like when I remember the endings of movies). Good fun movie that I would have loved to have seen become one of Allen's tv shows. Shame it didn't. And the monkey was left-handed.
But Red Buttons as the romantic leading man for Barbara Eden was a bit difficult to get into. Eden of course, was full of her usual magic, really coming across a bit subdued from her other work, such as Dr. Lao and I Dream of Jeannie. She works best with all her emotions and thoughts firmly expressed and never fluctuating. Richard Haydn with the tea kettle was more captivating than Fabian and Barbara Luna's romance (why did both women have to enter as slaves?). In actuality, Fabian, Luna and Hardwicke were very uninteresting, Buttons attempting to go from a charmer to a bungler got tiresome, only Lorre and Haydn stayed in character. Nevertheless, the cast was well-rounded out, the adventure was strong and solid and the finale was a winner (something else I had also remembered from over three decades ago as well. I like when I remember the endings of movies). Good fun movie that I would have loved to have seen become one of Allen's tv shows. Shame it didn't. And the monkey was left-handed.