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The only film directed by Jerry Lewis in which he does not appear, One More Time (1970) sits waiting for a cult to germinate. The 1960s were chockablock with cinematic weirdness, but few pushed the envelope as far or in as many unexpected directions. It was a sequel to a static faux Rat Pack movie, Salt & Pepper (1968), where a young Richard Donner laid the groundwork for his oeuvre of mediocrity. It starred Peter Lawford as ‘Pepper’ and Sammy Davis, Jr. as ‘Salt’ (yuk! yuk!…get it?), two swingin’ cats operating a swingin’ nightclub in a swingin’ London decidedly void of mods and rockers. The hepcat geezer fever dream continued in One More Time, with Jerry shaping their relationship into a clone of his long-since-deceased partnership with Dean Martin — Peter as Deano, Sammy as Jer. The screenplay by Michael Pertwee (The Mouse on the Moon, Strange Bedfellows) was wrung dry for both maudlin pathos and bizarre slapstick, putting Sammy in the unenviable position of transferring the bipolar situations in a performance that glides uneasily from weepy insincerity to something hideously abstract (re: “Here come da judge, here come da judge, here come da judge…”). Upon seeing this the first time, I believed a lengthy (albeit insane) thesis could be composed on its daring and… brilliance? But who in their right mind would believe me?
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One More Time (1970) sits waiting for a cult to germinate.
I'm working on it. Let's go to Wantagh, fire up and think this over.
I'll bring the papers!
I'll have to check this one out. The only Donner I have any use for is Ladyhawke, mainly for the unearthly beauty of Michelle Pfeiffer and Rutger Hauer.
Jessica, I've never seen Ladyhawk, but La Pfeiffer could sway me to do so.
Otherwise, Donner's made a ton of junk. One exception: Inside Moves, perhaps his only "personal" film.
It's got a completely out of place synth score, but otherwise it's a lovely fairy tale film. I have friends who love Superman and it's always an exercise in biting my tongue on how achingly empty that film is.
I remember seeing the first Superman when it came out, squirming in my seat during the part where Margot Kidder with her two-pack-a-day voice narrates about how wonderful it is to fly as Superman whisks her around the globe. It's got to be one of the most embarrassingly mawkish scenes I've ever endured.
I vaguely recall seeing One More Time on TV. The poster is the best part of that movie.
Reading Steven Soderbergh's interview with Richard Lester has led me to suspect that Lester directed more of the first Superman film than he's willing to admit. That there is a Richard Donner version of Superman II is based on the combination of fanboy misinformation, Donner's self promotion, and Lester's modesty. Lester was the Salkinds first choice to direct the Superman after the success of the Musketeer films. Lester even refused a producer credit for the first film although he was on the set in that capacity after some pleading by the Salkinds when the film was running behind schedule.
ONE MORE TIME is fairly awful and fascinating. Watch Sammy Davis perfectly mimic Jerry Lewis's mannerisms! And Lewis runs the gamut of directing styles and tonalities.
But it also includes a cameo by Chris Lee and Peter Cushing!
Ah! So I did see Peter Cushing and Christopher Lee. And here I thought I was having an acid flashback!
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