blankenshipdk I first viewed this movie upon its initial release while I was in elementary school in a small West Virginia town where there was one theater and one drive-in meaning limited choices and frequent luck of the draw in terms of movie selection. This was probably the most boring film I ever saw in my youth although my parents also described the film as terrible and pondered the question of what it was even about. Decades passed, maturation happened along with some possible sophistication so I thought I would give this movie another shot, after all, what does a hick family from the hills know about cinema? The second viewing was more enlightening in making the movie appear dull, self indulgent, cheesy, melodramatic and essentially baffling in addition to my previous assessment of it as boring. Glossy slick color envelops the unlikable characters who spend most of their time bitch slapping and yelling at each other. Kirk Douglas and Edward G Robinson are apparently involved in some sort of love-hate relationship that merely seems schizophrenic as opposed to complex. While the story does show Kirk with a leave of absence from a nut house, he mostly seems angry rather than mental. He gets to go to Italy for a $10K per week paycheck ( in 1962 dollars ), a Maserati 3500 Spyder Vignale rag top ( which has a back story that's more interesting than this movie ) and then meets Daliah Lavi as a love interest and that's enough to make anyone mad. Hey, I wanted a stick, not an automatic dammit! Apparently much of the angst is sourced to Cyd Charisse who provided the only entertaining segment of the film when she's throws herself around like a bag of groceries while Kirk's eyes bug out behind the wheel in an ostensible moment of lunacy. Steering like a madman in front of a backdrop of a previously filmed gyrating landscape, the scene is intended to suggest frenzied, maniacal, out of control speed, yet comes off as laughable. I issued a spoiler alert although I'm not sure that's an applicable concept to a film that has no point to begin with. As far as movies are concerned, this flick had a really cool car.

mark.waltz Some screenplays are simply unfilmable, and even if they are filmable, become laughable because the acting simply becomes banal either through over-direction or misguided emotions by actors trying too hard. In the case of this supposed follow-up to "The Bad and the Beautiful", the first "B" in that title, certainly fits, not the second. It's an embarrassment on all levels with such talents as Kirk Douglas, Edward G. Robinson, Cyd Charisse, George Hamilton and especially Claire Trevor chewing up every word of the dialog. It's a major shame to have Trevor pretty much vomit every line she says as if she was getting revenge on Robinson for mistreating her in "Key Largo".The story is difficult to figure out from the very beginning with everybody ranting and raving at Kirk Douglas for being a has-been drunk actor, and the efforts director Robinson makes to get the movie completed. To make matters worse, a clip from "The Bad and the Beautiful" is used, showing how things went from an outstanding piece of art where everything came together, to this huge house of cards where a sudden gust of wind came along, making the entire deck impossible to put back together again. Luxurious photography can't hide the fact that what is actually present on the screen is probably one of the most confusing pieces of trash ever committed on celluloid. Even director Vincent Minnelli's final film, the major flop "A Matter of Time", outshines this one in spades.While film history resources indicate that rash editing lead to the film's failure, the script is also filled with massive inconsistencies, utilizing sudden psychotic mood swings in many scenes for pretty much every character. The film is practically impossible to get through, a sad example of so much talent tossed together in what really comes out to be a compost heap. The film also touches on the perverted, such as a scene where the aging Robinson appears to be being fondled by an Italian starlet (while harpy wife Trevor rants and raves like a patient from a nut house). The worst slap in the face comes for poor Trevor, playing one of the most hateful characters on-screen, only rivaled by the vile nasty rich wife that Eleanor Parker played in "An American Dream", another dreadful disaster made just a couple of years later. This one, however, could be called Vincent Minnelli's "An Italian Nightmare".

Michael_Elliott Two Weeks in Another Town (1962) * 1/2 (out of 4) The star, writer, producer and director of THE BAD AND THE BEAUTIFUL re-teamed for this film but sadly the end result is somewhat of a disaster. Former star Jack Andrus (Kirk Douglas) leaves a mental hospital three years after a nervous breakdown when his former director (Edward G. Robinson) calls him to Rome for a chance at a comeback. Once the actor arrives in Rome he realizes that everything with the production is a disaster and soon he goes from actor to sound dubbing to directing. TWO WEEKS IN ANOTHER TOWN apparently was a disaster when director Vincente Minnelli turned it over to MGM who pretty much took the film away from him, re-edited the picture and threw out several key scenes. Who knows how good or bad the original version was but what's available today is quite hard to sit through. Had it not been for the terrific cast this film would probably be unbearable and rank as one of the worst films to come from such a talented group of people. For the life of me I can't understand how bad this thing turned out but I've heard the novel by Irwin Shaw would be nearly impossible for anyone to get to work. The entire film is a major mess as it simply tries to tell too many stories and not a single one of them is of any interest. The Kirk Douglas character just never makes too much sense and there are countless other characters that come in and out of his life without much information. We don't get many stories on why Douglas is the nut he is and we really don't understand the relationship between the director and his alcoholic wife play by Claire Trevor (her and Robinson re-teaming after KEY LARGO). Another problem is that none of the actors seem all that interesting in what's going on. Douglas and Robinson, two great actors, pretty much sleepwalk through their roles. Trevor is just a poor version of previous performances she's given. George Hamilton just really sinks in the film and Cyd Charisse doesn't get much to do. The over-dramatic melodrama going on in this film just makes it downright annoying to sit through and this is only for fans of really bad movies.

Bob-45 Despite an abrupt, overwrought climax and less than stellar performances by two key players, "Two Weeks in Another Town" is a fine inside look at the politics of movie making. Comparisons can be made to "The Bad and the Beautiful" (indeed, scenes from that film are included), also starring Kirk Douglas. However, Douglas is even better here than in the earlier film, giving possibly the best, most carefully nuanced performances of his career. Equally strong are Edward G. Robinson, playing a washed up director, Claire Trevor as Robinson's hysterical, shrewish wife and Daliah Lavi, making a star-caliber screen debut. Unfortunately, the studio saddled director Vincente Minnelli with an insipid George Hamilton and an incompetent Cyd Charisse. One can only imagine how much better "Two Weeks …" would be with Richard Chamberlain playing the Hamilton role and Lana Turner, Eleanor Parker, Barbara Rush or Tina Louise playing Charisse's."Two Weeks …" is carefully paced until the final act, which is so rushed it becomes almost surreal, and almost undone in the process. Reportedly, Douglas blamed the editing, which seems likely, given Minnelli's earlier, carefully crafted work. One cannot help but wonder whether "Two Weeks …" hit "too close to home" for some studio professionals, and was sabotaged. In this case, without giving away too much, this would be a perfect example of "life imitates art imitating art." "Two Weeks …" is certainly too melodramatic to garner a "10"; but, it could have been an "8". As it sits, however, "Two Weeks in Another Town" deserves a "7" due to the strong performances and very strong first two thirds.