Drop Dead Darling
Tags: comedy, murder

Plot synopsis:
From the moment the movie begins, you are basically blown out of your seat. An old mand and young bride are leaving the chapel for the hotel. As she climbs th hotel staircase she is dropping pieces of clothing left and right. The old man is trying to catch up. In the suite, she sexily removes her stockings, one by one. He cannot get his suspenders off so he cuts them off with a scissors. She is in a babydoll nightie pantiong on the bed. He finally collapses with a heart attack. She picks up the phone "my husband is dead. I am so sad." Wow. Talk about a black widow. She is a minx and Tony Curtis is a hare. First he kills of Zsa Zsa Gabor in a rocketship. Then some fluffy English woman on a horse. A silly ass indeed he says. These two are out for money, so wht happens wjhen thy meet? First he is introduced to her as rich. He has a fake butler played by Lionel Jeffries. Then when she is expecting the gardener to sneak into her bed, he sneaks in instead. Later when they are finalyy introduced, he gets into her bed as himself and ten seconds later she screams "YOU" because she recognized him even in th dark. Whatever comes next is wacky, because the two are really in lov and after they stop trying to kill each other, they realize it.

Review: Dreary, mean film with fabulous bits....
Its really hard to get through this film because the main character, played by Tony Curtis, is despicable -- he is a serial killer!
However, this is a comedy and there are scenes in the film that are truly funny.
In one of the funniest bits is Zsa Zsa Gabor playing his first wife.
She didn't act in much, but this role was perfect for her and is hilarious to watch.
Even better is a scene with Tony's character reflecting upon his youth and his adoptive aunt, played by Anna Quayle (a hugely under-appreciated comic actress who appeared in a good handful of films in the late 1960s).
The scenes with Quayle are worth watching just by themselves, the rest of the film isn't....
Half-hearted black comedy with some good moments..
I know nothing of the history of this movie, but I suspected it started out with this pitch: "Let's do 'How to Murder Your Wife' but with Tony Curtis.'" While there was no actual murder in the aforementioned movie (made a year earlier), there are several in this one.
Curtis has a fine time playing his dark side in the first half of the movie and mostly getting away with it.
The last half of the movie goes nowhere, though, and Nancy Kwan really has nothing to do in the movie, even if she is on the video box cover nowadays.
However, Zsa Zsa Gabor has her one perfect, if brief, role of her otherwise inexplicable career in the first part of the movie..
but troubling.
Tony Curtis is Nick Johnson, a man who uses his irresistible charm to use women to his personal, financial gain.
He goes through a string of women whose untimely deaths give Johnson more wealth than he could earn on his own (at least with the same, minimal effort).
He meets his match in wealthy, young, beautiful, fabulously gorgeous widow Francesca di Rienzi (Rosanna Schiaffino).
The problem is he actually finds himself falling in love with her.My 5/10 rating should indicate that I found Arrivederci, Baby!
mildly amusing.
mildly amusing.
I wasn't rolling in the floor laughing, but most of the movie is at least passable entertainment at its worst.
The final act where Curtis and Schiaffino go toe-to-toe is the film's highlight.
They're on equal footing.
With most of the other women, Curtis has the upper-hand before they realize they're being had.
It's not fair.
I think my favorite bits might have been either the croquet match or dance floor fight scenes - really good stuff.
Other than the creepy bits where Curtis tries to play a "boy", he's good.
I didn't care for the instances where he breaks the fourth wall, but that's not his fault.
Schiaffino is in fine form.
What a woman!
After I watched her in The Witch, I wrote, "I don't know where these Italian producers found these incredible women.
It's not a stretch of the imagination to believe Schiaffino could force any man to fall for her." I could say exactly the same after watching this film.I've already mentioned my problem with Curtis as a "boy", but I had other issues with his NIck Johnson.
I get the feeling that Arrivederci, Baby!
was meant to be a light-hearted romp.
But there's a really dark undercurrent that I found troubling.
Johnson isn't just a typical, loveable con-artist stealing money from rich women.
He's also a murderer and a rapist.
Not the characteristics you find in most rom-coms.
A couple of final points: 1.
The European locations are to die for in this movie.
And here, they're presented in all their 60s glory.
What visions!
2. The supporting cast is especially strong.
Lionel Jeffries, Zsa Zsa Gabor (yes, even Zsa Zsa), Nancy Kwan, and especially Anna Quayle add a lot of flavor and variety to the film..
The Ladykiller.
Saw 'Drop Dead Darling' as part of my Tony Curtis completest quest after being recommended many of his films here in the recommended for you section.
It was not something that was intended initially but actually it has proven to be a generally worthwhile experience, even with a couple of missteps.
While there were and are better actors about and he didn't always look comfortable in his early films, Curtis was always immensely likeable and had a charming charisma with many good and more performances under his belt.
The cover and premise (haven't admittedly read the source material) were great and the cast is a talented one, have always liked Lionel Jeffries in particular.
'Drop Dead Darling' turned out to be watchable with enough strengths to keep it afloat, but it did disappoint and could have been much better.
The cast is its main selling point and the best thing about it.
Curtis exudes both charm and creepiness in a despicable "Bluebeard" sort of role, with enough to him to make it easy to see what others see in him, one doesn't associate with him.
Rosanna Schiaffino is an alluring presence and is no slouch in the acting stakes.
Jeffries could have had more to do but makes much of what he has.
Zsa Zsa Gabor, in briefly but one of her better performances actually, and Anna Quayle bring some welcome very funny light-heartedness, especially Quayle.Other than those two's scenes, the other highlight is the tense chemistry between Curtis and Schiaffino, followed by the croquet match.
There are enough moments of amusement, especially in the first half.
'Drop Dead Darling' looks good, with beauty and atmosphere in the way it's shot.
However, 'Drop Dead Darling' fares less good in the darker elements, where there is not enough tension or suspense let alone creepiness or surprises.
It feels bland and sometimes tasteless, and some of the final act is aimless.
Tonally the film feels muddled, mixing light hearted comedy with a dark undercurrent that jars too much and makes it all rather mean-spirited.
The comedic scenes fare better but are similarly uneven and could have been more.
While the cast are more than game, Nancy Kwan has practically nothing to do and makes no impression at all.
Found the script weak in spots, with some clumsy attempts at breaking the fourth wall.
The direction is workmanlike at best with no real distinction or inspiration.
The music does its job alright on its own, but it's also somewhat forgettable and didn't seem to fit particularly well or be harmonious with the film's tone.
The pace can be dreary in the latter stages.In summation, not bad but nothing special.
The cast and some good scenes make it watchable, it's just let down by most of everything else.
5/10 Bethany Cox. Fenella.
I remember seeing this movie on afternoon on TV in the early 80's.
It took a while to figure out what was going on as the plot goes from present to past.I must admit as much as the movie was light hearted and had it's funny moments, I found it quite disturbing as the main character goes around killing beautiful woman for no better reason then to get their money.The most disturbing to me was the demise of Lady Fenella.
She did nothing annoying to her new spouse, outside of being an active woman.
As she would come on to her new man He seemed to become more and more annoyed and angry until his plot to kill her.
A few good lines in the movie were from Zsa Zsa, actually one of her best roles as she made fun of herself.
She was asked why she divorced her last husband for which she replied "I needed the closet space" and the other one, after her constant talking said, "if you don't get me out of her I'll never speak to you again" So all in all not a bad pic, but still disturbing.
A comedy that will never get old (despite the presence of Zsa Zsa Gabor).
I think that Zsa Zsa Gabor looked old even when she was a teenager.
Next year, in 2017, she will be 100 years old and nobody can call her a spinster, having to her credit only...nine marriages.
About her talent as an actress, let us not pronounce, never.
It's good that she went into the orbit with that rocket, at least in this film...
The fact is that she landed in 77 productions, including this.
Tony Curtis is more seductive and charming than ever.
Rosanna Schiaffino, the beauty from "Simón Bolívar"(1969) and "The Long Ships"(1964), is beautiful here too.
The subject?
Well, I was thinking myself to marry a very old and filthy rich woman, ideally an Englishwoman, the kind which does not know anything except to say: "You're rude!" This film is absolutely delicious.
The scene when Zsa Zsa Gabor(Gigi) is nagging Tony Curtis (Nick Johnson) under the sea is enchanting, and the same is the one in which Fenella Fielding(also Fenella in the film)is jumping with the horse into the abyss.
Excellent!.
Spoiler inside.
Beware..
I saw this film on TV when i was 10.
I remember the actress Rosanna had married a very old man and was rushing him to the wedding bed, taking off her stockings and clothing, and the poor old man was cutting his clothes off he was so anxious.
And then his heart failed.
Thus began the evil plots of two young lovers Rosanna and Tony Curtis.
He kills all of his wives to inherit their money, and she does the same with men.
He secretly pretends to be a gardener and sleeps with her one night.
Then she thinks he is rich and sleeps with him and moments after they are in bed behind the curtain, you hear her voice say "You!!" It is an hilarious romp with the two of them, and she is dressed perfectly, the spoiled girl.
But the plan is to kill each other but they end up in bed together..
The train and the harp.
My brothers and sisters recalled a movie they saw when they were little.Tony Curtis, Zsa Zsa in a rocket and the electric train hooked up to the harp.I hadn't a clue what they were referring to.Then I saw Arrivedercci, Baby, with Curtis, Gabor, Lionel Jeffries, Nancy Kwan, Rosanna Schiaffono and the astonishing Anna Quayle.Yes, the movie changes gears.
It begins with Curtis as bluebeard, loving and killing women, but it seemed to want to say he met his match in Schiaffono, and Kwan is a big question mark.
Quayle is the first woman in Curtis' life, as she adopts him from the orphanage.
Too funny.It would be a big spoiler to tell what happened to Quayle, but it involves an electric train being hooked up to her harp while she is unhappy.Quayle is funny throughout her scenes, from an early harp song, which gets a startled expression from Curtis, to her final moment.In between, a drunken Quayle looks Curtis right in the face "and I am left ALL ALONE!" Quayle is perhaps better known as the equally sensational Baroness to Gert Kobe in "Chitty Chitty Bang Bang".Gabor's moment, if you can believe it, is just as funny."Nicky!
Nicky!
Dah-ling, my voice is all better now, dah-ling!" If you can manage to listen to what she is saying, that alone is a worthy chuckle or two.Big spoiler: When she is locked in the rocket ship, she is pounding on the other side of the door.
"Nicky, if you don't open this door, I'm never speaking to you again." I originally thought that was a promise, then I realized it was a threat." .
. dah-ling .
. dah-ling .
. dah-ling .
. dah-ling .
. ." The exploding croquet ball follwed by "sounds like we're in for a storm" always made me laugh too, and I do like the ending with Jeffries.