'Thoroughly Modern Millie' & Her Campy Charms

Not a fan in any way, shape or form.

Julie looks like she's have a blast. Gavin is gorgeous. Bea steals it. Carol Fucking Channing is hilarious. MTM is the weak link. It's a fun movie.

Great poster for the French release.

RASPBERRIES

Please, OP, do you have anything different from what we've heard before?

Do you have any scintillating NEW perception?

Channing was irrelevant to the plot; Lllie was offensive to the easily-offended; John Gavin had the vivacity of an animatronic doll.

Was James Fox the first choice or was he a replacement?

Here's an excellent copy of the roadshow version of "Thoroughly Modern Millie."

I've actually never seen the film all the way through, but I did love the 2002 Broadway version back in the day (although with retrospect, the portrayal of the Asian characters was... yikes).

Did they ever explain why Millie and Jimmy had British accents?

This colorful film was produced by a faker brainless buffoon named Marty Fuss who, obviously, went to the right synagogue.

For all its flaws, I still love this movie. It should have been shorter and had more songs. The Broadway adaptation was a huge improvement in that regard

Ross Hunter was the one who wanted the roadshow version... George Roy Hill wanted a 2 hour comedy...

Here's a great short feature on the costumes of "Millie," by Jean Louis.

Thoroughly Modern Millipede

Was this written for Julie? It seems like it.

R15 It was thrown together for Julie because Sandy refused to hand over the copyright for 'The Boy Friend' to the Americans because he thought they'd vulgarise it..

It's much better than The Boyfriend -- and probably even better known today.

You're hopeless OP you should be highlighting John Gavin and Edward Fox instead of that long jawed warbler. Remember where you are!

^ I have to agree; Sandy's tunes were basic.

Fabulous! Lots of fun.

You're hopeless, R18, a Datalounger who can't tell the difference between James Fox and Edward Fox!

James Fox, who definitely got some love in my review...

I saw TMM as a roadshow when it first opened. It was fun, but tended to drag. It needed more musical numbers, less heavy-handed attempts at comedy. Even in 1967, evil Oriental villains were embarrassingly outdated. And that “Jewish Wedding Song” sequence was nothing more than padding, pandering to Jewish attendees.

It was revealing, too, to see legendary theater stars onscreen. Carol Channing and Beatrice Lillie gave their all, but unintentionally showed why their presences were better suited to the stage. Even in a movie, Channing can’t resist playing to the rafters, and the underused Lillie showed that her brittle style was now sadly outdated. For both, this was pretty much their swansong.

Actually, [R7], one of the best things about it was the joyous roadshow ad campaign, illustrated by the great Bob Peak, who managed to combine one symbol of the 20’s, the ubiquitous cloche hat, with the Dayglo pink look of the Swingin’ Sixties. A beautiful promise of fun.

For all their overlength, and sometimes messy production, I loved going to roadshows. They were an era of oversized expectations, in widescreen and stereo sound, often aiming to overwhelm their audiences, and they often succeeded. It is now sadly mostly impossible to see them the way they were originally intended.

I love the rhyme--

"They say it's criminal what women'll do".

R23- Roadshows?

What year were you born ?

1910

R13 I think Julie's 'vamp dress' is a toned-down version of this—

This film is much too long, and it has some good ideas that just don't work, like the Harold Lloyd sequence hanging off the skyscraper front, and the Jewish wedding song (probably included only for the camp aspect of Julie over-enunciating Hebrew words in her bizarre hyperposh accent). And Carol Channing is too much--even though her performance is meant to be over-the-top, it just doesn't work onscreen (you're too close to her--she was best viewed on the stage at a distance). And though John Gavin is gorgeous, he brings nothing to the table other than his square jaw. Finally, the film is meant to parody the "Yellow Peril" racism of the 20s, and instead today looks like it just recapitulates it.

Things about it I love:

*Julie's performance. this is the rare film where she really gets to show her dry comic gifts extensively, and she's very funny if you like dry humor. She's also in her best voice and looks terrific in the 20s fashions.

*The whole idea of a broken elevator that works only if you dance in it. (Funny every single time.)

*the fun songs.

*Beatrice Lillie's performance (done while she was already descending into dementia).

*The Tapioca dance number, which is a hilarious parody of overcomplicated dance numbers no one untrained would ever be able to do at a party in a film.

[quote] Channing can’t resist playing to the rafters

She looks like a grotesque clown on screen.

Julie Andrews is starring in a new version of this movie. It's called

Thoroughly Modern LESBIAN

I thought Mrs. Meers was a strong female character. Not so her lumpish sidekicks.

James Fox was cute. Quite different when he, a short time later, co-starred in Performance with Mick Jagger and Anita Pallenberg.

I was charmed by James Fox as Jimmy, as I only knew him from Performance and The Servant...

I always presumed that weird Jewish sequence was included to cash in on the success of Fiddler on the Roof (which was running on Broadway at the time).

I liked Mrs. Meer too. This is one of those movies I liken to comfort food. Just fun to watch,

I could barely get through it once, it is incredibly dull.

It was just too lightweight to achieve classic status. I'd gladly trade this and STAR! in for the Julie/DVD She Loves Me.

Do they make soy sauce pods for laundry?