Wild and Wonderful
| Wild and Wonderful | |
|---|---|
| Directed by | Michael Anderson |
| Produced by | Harold Hecht |
| Written by |
Richard M. Powell Philip Rapp Larry Markes Michael Morris Waldo Salt |
| Based on |
"I Married a Dog" (story) by Dorothy Crider |
| Starring |
Tony Curtis Christine Kaufmann |
| Music by | Morton Stevens |
| Cinematography | Joseph LaShelle |
| Edited by | Gene Milford |
Production company | |
| Distributed by | Universal Pictures |
Release dates | 1964 |
Running time | 88 minutes |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Box office | est. $2,000,000 (US/ Canada)[1] |
Wild and Wonderful is a 1964 film comedy starring Tony Curtis and his then-wife Christine Kaufmann (whom he had married in 1963). The plot revolves around a clever French poodle named Monsieur Cognac, and the dog's effect on the newly married couple portrayed by Curtis and Kaufmann.[2] The film was Curtis's last under his long contractual relationship with Universal Studios.[3]
The film had six credited writers, including Waldo Salt, who was then still working his way back from years on the Hollywood blacklist and who reportedly "hated" the film.[4] In his 1999 obituary for Larry Markes, another of the credited writers, Dick Vosburgh of The Independent commented, "Critics found it hard to accept that it had taken six writers to fashion the wafer-thin tale of a jazz flautist whose marriage to a French film star is threatened by the jealous tricks of Monsieur Cognac, her neurotic, alcoholic French poodle."[5] In his obituary for Tony Curtis in 2010, Dave Kehr dismissed the film as "disastrous," noting that Curtis was rebuilding his reputation after an earlier affair with Kaufmann, his co-star in Wild and Wonderful, and subsequent divorce from Janet Leigh.[6]
Cast
- Tony Curtis as Terry Williams
- Christine Kaufmann as Giselle Ponchon
- Larry Storch as Rufus Gibbs
- Pierre Olaf as Jacquot
- Marty Ingels as Doc Bailey
- Jacques Aubuchon as Papa Ponchon
- Sarah Marshall as Pamela
- Marcel Dalio as Dr. Reynard
- Jules Munshin as Rousseleau
- Marcel Hillaire as Inspector Duviver
- Cliff Osmond as Hercule
- Fifi D'Orsay as Simone
- Vito Scotti as Andre
- Steven Geray as Bartender
- Stanley Adams as Mayor of Man La Loquet
See also
References
- ↑ "Big Rental Pictures of 1964", Variety, 6 January 1965 p 39. Please note this figure is rentals accruing to distributors not total gross.
- ↑ "'Wild and Wonderful' is Wild and Wacky Fun", Boxoffice reprinted in Evening Independent, June 4, 1964.
- ↑ Biography at tonycurtis.com official website.
- ↑ Buhle, Paul; Wagner, Dave (2005). Hide in Plain Sight: The Hollywood Blacklistees in Film and Television, 1950-2002. Palgrave Macmillan. p. 208. ISBN 978-1403966841.
- ↑ Vosburgh, Dick (June 10, 1999). "Obituary: Larry Markes". The Independent. – via HighBeam Research (subscription required) .
- ↑ Kehr, Dave (September 30, 2010). "Tony Curtis, Hollywood Leading Man, Dies at 85". The New York Times.