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The Screwball Sixties
Three comedies from the sixties:
The Glass Bottom Boat -- 1966
Who's Minding The Mint? -- 1967
How To Commit Marriage -- 1969
Outlandish and absurd fun characterize these three classic movies, along with large ensemble casts stuffed with stars and well-known character actors.
THE GLASS BOTTOM BOAT stars the late and legendary actress Doris Day. (In-line footnote -- a LOT of actors mentioned here deserve the adjective "legendary" in front of their names. Just assume it is there.) Appearing with her include Dick Martin (shortly to be of Rowan & Martin), Arthur Godfrey, Edward Andrews, Paul Lynde, Dom DeLuise, and Theodore Marcuse (you'll probably recognize him).
This could be the archetype of the '60s Cold War spy spoof. Doris Jennifer Nelson, who works at a NASA-connected research complex, and moonlights as a mermaid for the benefit of her father's (Arthur Godfrey) glass bottom boat tours. She and Godfrey perform a magnificent duet of her signature song, "Que Sera Sera" early in the show. Through a series of misunderstandings, Doris is suspected of being a Russian spy. When she finds out about the shenanigans -- well! What else can she do but play along?!? She basically trolls them all with evidence of Russian collusion, helped along, unwittingly, by her nosy neighbors, Gladys & Abner Kravitz. Yes, they're here too, with different names, but their same beloved characters from "Bewitched". She also trolls along the several gentlemen who have her set in their romantic sights. One scene, later in the movie, has additional amusing overtones: two of the men end up sitting in bed together with bottles of champagne, both waiting for her. They are discovered, and glared at with shock and disdain by secret agent Paul Lynde! (If you don't understand why that's amusing, just look up where he died.)
One particularly intriguing scene envisions a "kitchen of the future". Among other things, it features what is essentially a Roomba! They may have missed the mark with an infrared oven rather than a microwave, but THAT certainly has come to pass!
Also featured along the way are some beautiful stock footage of Catalina, from whence the titular glass bottom boat hails, oh yes, and a rather important character named Vladimir.
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WHO'S MINDING THE MINT is a frothy farce starring the late Jim Hutton, quite all right if you just asked "Who?" He starred mostly as a soldier or tough-guy type in a LOT of movies. The REST of the cast are the big names! Gracing the screen here are Milton Berle, Joey Bishop (one of Sinatra's Rat Pack, if you didn't know), Bob Denver, Victor Buono, Walter Brennan, Jack Gilford (you'll know him -- just think of Cracker Jacks), and Jamie Farr.
Hutton is employed at the Bureau of Engraving and Printing in Washington, D.C. One day, through a series of comic misadventures (what other kind???), he innocently brings home $50,000 in brand new hundred dollar bills -- and sends them down the garbage grinder! His solution is simple and obvious enough: sneak into the Bureau at night, and print off a new run of bills to replace what he ruined! What could be simpler?
But from there it gets complicated, as more and more accomplices are required. And his accomplices are less scrupulous than himself. They figure HE'S getting 50 grand for free -- why shouldn't they EACH get 50 grand?!? For that matter -- why shouldn't they get A MILLION each?!?!? It all sounds almost too good to be true . . .
One especially endearing character is named Inky -- Inky is a beagle owned by Walter Brennan's character, Pops. She ends up along on the caper because she is about to give birth and Pops can't leave her alone!
One character to look out for is an unnamed and uncredited janitor played by a man named Emil Sitka. That name may seem familiar, especially if you're a Three Stooges fan. Sitka not only played the heavy against the Stooges in many of their films, he actually became a Stooge himself, at least in theory, when Larry had to retire from the act. However, the planned film with him debuting as a Stooge was never made.
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HOW TO COMMIT MARRIAGE is more of a romantic/sex farce than the others, but still squarely in the screwball genre, and if you don't believe me, just ask what OTHER kind of movie would feature a monkey playing golf with Bob Hope and Jackie Gleason???
Well, the barebones plot is simply this -- a young couple, David and Nancy, have a baby out of wedlock (yes folks, this WAS a scandal in 1969), and Nancy's parents secretly adopt him under a different name. This simple premise is complicated by the fact that they have recently divorced, and David's father despises Nancy's father, and the divorced mother & father are none too fond of each other either. Add on top David and Nancy are involved with a touring rock group called The Comfortable Chair, and are devotees of a popular pop guru called The Baba Ziba, and you can see how things can easily become confusing. Still with us here?
So. The girl's parents are Bob Hope (no explanation needed) and Jane Wyman (Pres. Ronald Reagan's first wife). Jackie Gleason (The Great One) is the boy's father, and Tina Louise (Ginger -- yes, THAT Ginger) is --well, she's his current squeeze. He is also a tycoon music producer, currently managing a group called The Comfortable Chair. This was a real group, and according to reliable sources, was rather popular in California, but never made it nationally, despite their exposure in this film. We are treated to a full performance of one of their original songs, "A Child's Garden", and personally, I thought it was pretty good --- it's dreamy hippy acid rock. The band (in reality) was produced by Densmore and Krieger of The Doors.
Back to the plot -- David & Nancy, the unmarried couple, are devotees of The Baba Ziba, who is sort of a parody of real pop guru Maharishi Mahesh Yogi. He is the one who has advised them to stay unwed and to adopt out their baby. So when the Baba comes to town for a rally, the obvious solution is for Bob Hope to conk the Baba on the head backstage, dress up as him, and tell the kids he was wrong, that they should get married, and keep the baby. Oh, and The Baba Ziba is portrayed in inimitable style by character actor and Tonight Show regular, Professor Irwin Corey.
A noteworthy appearance is by Leslie Nielsen, appearing here as Jane Wyman's new romantic interest. His part can be described as lightly comedic, rather than the straight drama he was mostly known for in these pre-Airplane! days, and may have been his first venture into the genre. Another is Tim Matheson as the young unwed father, who would later go on to be known best as Otter in "Animal House".
A memorable scene is Gleason berating the band for its singing, because almost every word is understandable, and for the music being too musical; and another is the extended sequence with Hope playing golf with Mildred the chimp. SPOILER ALERT: Mildred beats him. Another noteworthy scene is late in the movie, with Hope and Wyman, who are ALMOST living together again with the baby. What is, or was, "their song" comes on the radio, and as they sit listening, we see them superimposed, ghost-like, over the scene, dancing together in their memories of happier days.
So there you have it, folks. THIS was the Sixties. Enjoy!
PS - a couple of minor technical notes. The Glass Bottom Boat is as it was found, in brilliant widescreen HD. How To Commit Marriage is my own DVD rip, brand new, as the only copies I could find on line weren't terribly good. It is billed as "Digitally Remastered". Unfortunately, Who's Minding The Mint isn't all that great visually. According to sources, it has never been remastered for DVD, so the DVDs available for it are just cheap knockoffs of the VHS release. Until things change, I'm afraid this is as good as it gets. But it's still good for laughs!
