Dear List,
For one who only knows Nabokov from photographs and
youtube interviews, and Noel Coward is not a familiar face on screen, it is easy
to spot similarities between the two men and be mistaken by first
impressions.
Anyway I was thrilled by the similar dates ( 1964: Pale
Fire and Paris When it Sizzles), the "involuted" plot and plays with
movie "shifts" and other little items that end up in a big party at the
Eiffel Tower with Noel Coward dressed like an emperor under the limelight
and that begins with an aerial view of Cannes (another slight wink to PF's
cigales). In this initial moment, Coward is wearing a pink bathrobe and he
almost seems to have a Russian-British accent...
Here are more details from the internet. Those in
the know will probably disagree with me, and I cannot even promise that
they'll enjoy watching the farce:
Paris When It Sizzles (16-Mar-1964)
Director: Richard
Quine
Writer: George Axelrod
From story: La fête à Henriette by Julien
Duvivier and Henri Jeanson
Keywords: Romantic Comedy
Noel Coward
Playwright 16-Dec-189926-Mar-1973 Design for Living
Audrey Hepburn Actor
4-May-192920-Jan-1993 My Fair Lady
William Holden Actor 17-Apr-1918
16-Nov-1981 Stalag 17
Amazon.com
Paris When
It Sizzles is an unusual
screwball comedy to say the least. Whether it works is another matter, but the
premise and humor are interesting enough to make it enjoyable. The basic problem
with the film is its two stars: William Holden and Audrey Hepburn hardly sizzle
with onscreen chemistry, and Hepburn's character, Miss Simpson, falls far too
easily into the hands of Holden's drunken screen writer. However, the story is
an interesting play on the typical Hollywood romance, with two plotlines running
in parallel to each other. Holden's Richard Benson has only two days to finish a
script for an enigmatic producer (Noel Coward). Hepburn's Miss Simpson is
drafted in as the typist and as the script is dictated it manifests itself on
the screen, allowing the two lead characters to play out any number of romantic
stories. It's the cameo appearances in the imaginary world that really steal the
show, with the blink-and-you'll-miss-it last screen appearance by Marlene
Dietrich, as well as Tony Curtis having fun with his own screen persona. Not one
of Hepburn or Holden's best, but worth a look purely for the interesting slant
on the mechanical nature of Hollywood's romances. --Nikki
Disney
Paris When It Sizzles (1964) - Film
producer Alexander Meyerheimer is in Cannes and upset because ... Noël Coward as
Alexander Meyerheimer. Tony Curtis as Second policeman ... www.tcm.com/tcmdb/title.jsp?stid=86269