FOUR HEARTS ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥
A slapstick tale of the French Revolution where twins get mixed up, the aristocrats for the peasants. This reminds me a bit of the 1939 black & white “The Prince and the Pauper” starring Errol Flynn, that I loved as a kid when it would come on TV occasionally. Only MUCH sillier. It’s also said to be loosely based on Tale of Two Cities, and yes… there is a switcharoo and some ‘have and have nots’, but… nah, I don’t see it.
Double-Double Trouble! Gene Wilder and Donald Sutherland play the twins Claude and Philippe.
AND… Charles and Pierre! Yep… that’s right, the twist on this flick is there are two sets of identical twins and that’s how things get really interesting. A real mish-mash mix-up.
But wait, you say, something weird going on. Aren’t identical twins identical? I reckon that’s for me to know and you to watch and find out!
I adore both these actors. I first fell for Donald Sutherland in The Body Snatchers (1978). He had just come off the film Mash (1970) when taking on this film. Gene Wilder, later to star in of one of my all-time-faves, Young Frankenstein (1974), was fairly new to the movie scene. A minor roll in Bonnie and Clyde (1967) , then The Producers (1968), preceded this one. They made for a super comedic pair!
But Warner Brothers didn’t have faith in the project and it didn’t get the promotion it deserved so didn’t take off. However after Gene gained fame from Blazing Saddles (1974) and Young Frankenstein (1974), it gained its own cult following.
With the beautiful Swedish actress, Ewa Aulin (Christina of Beligum) and Helen Fraser (Mimi Montage).
And the bad guy, Victor Spinetti (Duke d’Escargot). Escargot – ha ha ha – gotta love it. 😉
But overall, what struck me and made me enjoy this the most in this very off-the-wall campy and oh so very Mel Brooks-ish film, was the performance by Gene Wilder. When he cries out, “I will be KING!”, he sounds much like Dr. Frankenstein’s “It’s aliiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiie!” In fact, his whole performance here, is reminiscent his brilliant one in Young Frankenstein.
Orson Welles did a running narration which added to the mirth with a certain distinguished depth that only he can bring.
Producer: Norman Lear, Bud Yorkin, Edward Stephenson
Director: Bud Yorkin
Playing September 29, Thursday night on TCM (Turner Classic Movies). Check your listings.
Rated PG (FYI Parents – there is a brief glimpse of nudity of a woman’s breast.)
I hope you enjoyed, friends. Please Subscribe for more reviews with a twist! Thanks much, Deba Do ♥