Product: Sextette (1978)
Rating: 4.0
Strictly For Fans? Yes, and Lots of Fun!
This new edition of Sextette presents the film in Widescreen for the first time, with a new transfer from the original print. This corrects the fact that when the previous DVD release was pressed, an inferior print of the film was used, which meant that the VHS version was actually better than the DVD.As a fan of the late, great Mae West I would like to take the time to correct some factual errors repeated on the Amazon page for the original DVD by some of the other reviewers, and add a few comments of my own. Miss West was 84 when she made this film in 1977; she died three years later on November 22, 1980, at the age of 87. She did in fact attend the Hollywood premiere, and received a Lifetime Achievement award from After Dark magazine the same year. The play Sextette was a minor comedy she starred in and wrote in 1961, not the 1920's. When she toured with the stage play she was 68. While it certainly is true that she was but a parody of herself by the time she made the film, many of her fans were grateful for the chance to see her perform one last time, as both her screen and television appearances were far too few in relation to her talent and comedic genius.The cast included many big-league supporting actors and cameos. Timothy Dalton, George Raft, Rona Barrett, Dom De Louise, Tony Curtis, Ringo Starr, George Hamilton, Walter Pidgeon and even Alice Cooper all had scenes with the star, resulting in a film that can only be classified as pure camp. It was a tribute to Miss West's reputation that so many of these stars were anxious to work with her. I once met a lighting technician who was assigned to the original stage tour of Sextette, and he confirmed what I had always heard - Mae West was regarded as a total professional and a consummate artist by all who worked with her, and absolutely loved by the crews on both her movies and plays.Many critics were quick to promote the rumor that she was totally senile at the time of filming, and there were many rumors about how she had to have her lines fed to her through an ear-piece. This rumor is belied by watching her lip-synch her way through any one of several songs on the soundtrack. On "Happy Birthday, 21" for example, her timing is absolutely perfect and her lips move in complete harmony with the recording, not a minor feat for someone her age. On a few of the funnier lines, her delivery is classic West at its best, and she shows flashes of her famous impeccable timing just as often as she shows her extreme age. Yes, she looks, moves and talks like someone in their late 80's, but what can one expect? The fact that she had the stamina and chutzpah at that age to even appear before the cameras was amazing in itself.Strictly for fans? Absolutely, but I for one am glad she bothered. If you want classic Mae West get a hold of I'm No Angel, She Done Him Wrong or Klondike Annie and see her in her prime, but if you are a devoted fan you will want to see this film as well.PS - It's about time that this woman had a major documentary devoted to her talents. Her TV appearances, which are almost completely unavailable, include her 1959 Academy Award duet of BABY IT'S COLD OUTSIDE with Rock Hudson and guest stints on the Dean Martin and Red Skelton variety shows. Her only TV appearance available on DVD is her guest shot on Mr. Ed. The few of her TV guest shots that I've seen (which was before VCR let alone DVD was invented) were great, and I'd pay big bucks to find a DVD documentary or collection that includes them all.