Whatever happened to George Chakiris, Oscar winning star (well, support name) of West Side Story? He popped up in a few odd things during the 60s - Kings of the Sun, 633 Squadron - got booted off The Wild Angels because he couldn't ride a motorbike... and turns up in this Jacques Demy film, a follow up to The Umbrellas of Cherbourgh.
That had been a big hit - popular enough to enable Demy to nab not only Chakiris for this one but Gene Kelly, who has a decent sized role as a visiting American. Once again there's very bright colours and Catherine Deneuve, only a lot more dancing and also Deneuve's real life sister, Francoise Dorleac.
It's all cute, and looks good, with some fun tunes and dance numbers. It's not as good as Umbrellas though - that focused on a simple story (the relationship between the two leads), this one pops all over the place. Deneunve isn't as good as her sister - her ice maiden-y thing doesn't work as well here - but Dorleac is excellent and its entertaining to see Kelly. Chakiris actually doesn't get a chance to do much, he mostly hangs out with Grover Dale.
There's added subplots about the girl's mother, Danielle Darrieux, her long lost ex (Michel Piccoli who popped up in every second French film of this time), a serial killer.
No comments:
Post a Comment