Chaplin's last (and by far worst) film was also the first one he shot in color. It is an often bizarre but strangely appealing film that doesn't work either as a comedy nor as a love story: Sophia Loren plays the little tramp just like Chaplin would have done it thirty years earlier and Brando gives the most unusual (and maybe worst) performance of his lifetime. The supporting cast, though, is magnificent: Patrick Cargill steals every scene he's in as Brando's kinky butler Hudson, Margaret Rutherford does a heartbreakingly funny cameo as an old lady mistaken as Miss Loren, Geraldine Chaplin appears briefly as a detached society girl, Sydney Chaplin and Michael Medwin prove their comedic skills and Charlie himself tops it off in a one-minute-shtick as a seasick steward.
The secret star of "A Countess from Hong Kong", though, is Tippi Hedren in her small role as Brando's snobbish wife who gets dumped for the whore/Countess. She is icier, prettier and even more sophisticated than in her two Hitchcock movies. To me, her Martha remains one of the best performances she gave in her career.
Brando and Loren. One of film history's most famous cases of miscasting! As a pair, they just don't match, there is no spark or affection or whatever between them. Unfortunately, this was supposed to carry the movie for two hours.
Universal tried to tighten the ill-fated comedy by shortening and re-dubbing it for the video release (it's now 103 instead of 118 minutes, and some other actors dubbed some of Brando's and Hedren's lines), but this only made it worse and almost unwatchable. I was fortunate enough to watch the unedited version of the film a couple of years back on TV, and I kind of liked it even though I noticed its shortcomings.
One of the biggest mistakes, I think, lies in Chaplin's script itself. Apparently, he wrote it in 1931 as a vehicle for himself and his then-wife, Paulette Goddard, and didn't change a single line when he shot it 35 years later. This, among other things, makes "A Countess from Hong Kong" look strangely old-fashioned and out of time. It might not be everyone's cup of tea, and it failed miserably when it came out, but it's one of the "great sick films" and definitely worth a look.
The secret star of "A Countess from Hong Kong", though, is Tippi Hedren in her small role as Brando's snobbish wife who gets dumped for the whore/Countess. She is icier, prettier and even more sophisticated than in her two Hitchcock movies. To me, her Martha remains one of the best performances she gave in her career.
Brando and Loren. One of film history's most famous cases of miscasting! As a pair, they just don't match, there is no spark or affection or whatever between them. Unfortunately, this was supposed to carry the movie for two hours.
Universal tried to tighten the ill-fated comedy by shortening and re-dubbing it for the video release (it's now 103 instead of 118 minutes, and some other actors dubbed some of Brando's and Hedren's lines), but this only made it worse and almost unwatchable. I was fortunate enough to watch the unedited version of the film a couple of years back on TV, and I kind of liked it even though I noticed its shortcomings.
One of the biggest mistakes, I think, lies in Chaplin's script itself. Apparently, he wrote it in 1931 as a vehicle for himself and his then-wife, Paulette Goddard, and didn't change a single line when he shot it 35 years later. This, among other things, makes "A Countess from Hong Kong" look strangely old-fashioned and out of time. It might not be everyone's cup of tea, and it failed miserably when it came out, but it's one of the "great sick films" and definitely worth a look.