wacket-14661 I wish people would watch this with an open mind. It may be a low budget movie but you need to look at the actors that are in it. Just sit back and enjoy the movie, not necessarily the plot. It was delightful especially to see all of the cameo appearances of great actors from days gone by. A good clean movie escape, without so many murders, car chases, explosions, drugs and over paid actors.I was just laughing at the old vaudeville comic stints and jokes. I truly enjoyed it. Maybe not one of the best movies ever made, definitely not the Worst!A little hidden gem!That I hope is played more often so others can enjoy it also. More people need to watch movies like movie goers would and not just like critics do....JUST ENJOY!

ksf-2 I read about this one years ago, and it has FINALLY come to DVD! Fans of the Dick Van Dyke show will be happy to see (part of) the cast from that show united here. That series ended mid 1966, and Dick V. and Mary T. were on to film careers, so you won't see them in the film. Written and produced by Morey Amsterdam, which makes sense. According to wikipedia, he had started in vaudeville in the 1920s, and worked with his brother in Al Capone's saloon. At the open, the gang works in a diner. A HILARIOUS scene where Mel Cooley, I mean actor Richard Deacon, reads his supply order, and it is intertwined with a couple saying romantic things to each other. Tons of one liners and set-up punchline, set-up punchline. Charlie (Amsterdam) is mistaken for someone else, a missing cosmonaut. After getting fired, he and Annie (Rose Marie) leave the diner and go find their friend Magda (January Jones). She runs a bookstore, but strange things are going on, and Charlie tries to figure it all out.Some great cameos ... Uncle Milty, Steve Allen, Moe Howard, Carl Reiner (Still doing the hairpiece gag), Danny Thomas. And of course, Irene Ryan, still playing Granny. One of the customers in the diner is Percy Helton... played in SO many things back in the day. Did he do the voice of winnie the pooh? sounds like like it to me! Deacon plays two roles, Peter Sellers style. This one is so under-rated. Granted the plot is a bit thin, and the opening diner scene is only added on to get those vaudeville bits in. If you liked the Dick Van Dyke show, you'll probably get a kick out of this, as long as you see it for the low-brow fun that it is. and I think the title is Genius. Directed by Harmon Jones, who was nominated for EDITING Gentleman's Agreement. Directed mostly television for the last ten years.

Mason Pelt I've always been a fan of Morey Amsterdam. I mean, he was known as "the human joke machine" and I was a excited to see his writing credit on the movie. But, after this fine example of his work, I'm ready to blame him for the death of vaudeville. This movie was like a cross between "The Monkeys" & "The Three Stooges". It felt like someone made a movie out of a mad lib. A mid lib filled out by potheads. There was no real plot to the movie, but at the same time there were many confusing sub plots. Some kind of government conspiracy involving a Barbra Streisand impersonator. That's all I remember before the brain aneurysm, presumably caused by the movie, left me unconscious on the floor.

dial911book I believe this movie represents the last gasp of vaudeville. Shot in beautifully clear black-and-white, on a set that is so obviously a set and not at all realistic, this film presents a stage on which we see the last great vaudeville act for the very last time.It's all about slapstick physical humor where the victim is hurt only for the length of the shot. It's all about one-liners, where the straight-man responds by making an exasperated face or rolling his or her eyes.And gimmicks stolen from other acts (e.g. Get Smart) that are familiar to the audience.And the long pauses between action moments -- giving time for the folks in the back of the theater to realize what just happened and start laughing before the people in front have stopped laughing.And the walk-on cameos of famous performers to keep the people interested, lest they realize that there is no plot worth caring about.Apparently many people watched the film (based on the rash of reviews) on its single showing on TCM. Robert Osbourne did not introduce the film, which is regrettable. I really would like to have seen how he characterized this piece of work.Fans of the The Dick Van Dyke Show (like me) may remember episode 40, "The Secret Life of Buddy and Sally" in which Morey Amsterdam's character and Rose Marie's character create and put on their own show at a club on the weekends. Well, this film is what would happen if Buddy and Sally sneaked off to make a movie on a long weekend, and Mel Cooley (Richard Deacon's character) actually produced and directed it. Vaudeville, filmed in noir, on the cheapest set money could rent.No offense to any of the terrific veteran actors in the movie -- most of them had great roles elsewhere. But you do need a cup of strong coffee and a curious mind to enjoy what they were attempting in ... whatever its title was.