University of Virginia Library

CINEMA

Preminger 'Non-directs'

By CHRIS DICKEY

"Such Good Friends" is not
only bad, it's clumsy. It seems
to have been non-directed by
Otto Preminger. There is no
pacing to the cutting. The
camera work is sloppy and even
the lighting is full of hot spots.

The film was shot
completely on location, but
the locations strain to be sets.
And Preminger manages to
wring embarrassingly
amateurish performances from
a cast which should at least
look professional.

Everything about the movie
seems to be groping for
"significance" and "relevance",
but most of the time the result
looks like a faint-hearted
attempt at sexploitation. In
Preminger's struggle for
profundity amid the blandness
and coarseness of his personal
vision he has borrowed heavily
from several other films.

At the beginning he throws
in surreal hallucinations
straight from "Belle de Jour."
These soon become tamer,
X-ray views of "The Immoral
Mr. Teas" variety. When he
tires of fantasy Preminger uses
bedroom scenes reminiscent of
but not comparable to the
dog-walking dispute between
Gould and Cannon in "Bob &
Carol & Ted & Alice."

Then there are a few inept
attempts at black humor when
a man operated on to have a
mole removed winds up on his
deathbed (shades of "The
Hospital"). And the rest of the
film comes across like slightly
risque soap opera.

The thefts from "Bob &
Carol..." were purely
intentional since the star of
this film played Alice in that
one. "Such Good Friends" is
obviously intended as Dyan
Cannon's vehicle to stardom,
but it's more likely to take her
in the opposite direction. As
Alice, Cannon was sexily
mature, with the potential to
be some kind of American
Simone Signoret. Instead of
using that potential in his
actress and his script Preminger
allows Cannon to be merely
aging and ugly.

The other actors are used to
little better advantage. James
Coco manages to foster a few
very funny moments, but only
with great difficulty can we
find them through the sludge
of mediocrity with which
Preminger surrounds them.

Burgess Meredith makes a
token appearance clad only in
a carnation and a book cover.
The image is not funny, it's
loathsome.

Preminger's social satire has
the deft touch of a gloved
elephant.

I can't think of any reason
why anyone would want to see
"Such Good Friends."

(Now at the Paramount)