Critic's Choice (1963)

Monday was a really lousy day.  I had some personal setbacks that resulted in my not being able to post anything that day.  Things are okay now, so please enjoy this make-up post as an apology.

  This is my second viewing of Critic's Choice, and I was disappointed in how poorly it held up.  The quips are still very funny but the plot is badly dated and I couldn't get into it at all.

Parker Ballantine (Bob Hope) is the foremost critic of the New York City theater scene.  His reviews can make or break a production.  So when his wife (Lucille Ball) decides to write a play, Parker is not supportive.  She has him read the first draft and when he doesn't like it and gives her honest feedback, she is furious.  She decides to go ahead and find a producer (John Dehner), who backs her financially, much to Parker's chagrin.  Then she hires the current wunderkind director (Rip Torn) to help her bring it to the stage.  Parker still can't support the idea and furthermore refuses to recuse himself from critiquing it opening night.

I really just didn't get the point of his outright refusal.  I'm sure it's some 60's thing about the woman's place being in the home or some such rubbish but I thought it was dumb.  Also, Lucille Ball's character was a whiny, temperamental shrew.  As an actress, she deserved a better part, though God love her if she didn't play it with everything she had.  The one bright spot is Rip Torn being absolutely unrecognizable as the young director.  He must have only been in his mid-twenties and it is shocking how different he looks and sounds from his later work.

If you're a big Bob Hope or Lucille Ball fan, you might find something worth watching here but casual admirers should probably skip it.