A Fine Madness (1966)

User Rating:

6.0/10   

Director:

Irvin Kershner

Writers:

Elliott Baker (novel)
Elliott Baker (screenplay)

Release Date:

23 September 1966 (Finland)

Genre:

Comedy | Drama

Tagline:

We should all be so crazy.

Plot:

Samson Shillitoe, a frustrated poet and a magnet for women, is behind in his alimony payments, and lives with Rhoda...

Plot Keywords:

Psychiatry | Beautiful Woman | Based On Novel

Cast

Sean Connery	...	Samson Shillitoe
Joanne Woodward	...	Rhoda Shillitoe
Jean Seberg	...	Lydia West
Patrick O'Neal	...	Dr. Oliver West
Colleen Dewhurst	...	Dr. Vera Kropotkin
Clive Revill	...	Dr. Menken
Werner Peters	...	Dr. Vorbeck
John Fiedler	...	Daniel K. Papp
Kay Medford	...	Mrs. Fish
Jackie Coogan	...	Mr. Fitzgerald
Zohra Lampert	...	Evelyn Tupperman
Sorrell Booke	...	Leonard Tupperman
Sue Ane Langdon	...	Miss Walnicki (as Sue Anne Langdon)
Bibi Osterwald	...	Mrs. Fitzgerald
Mabel Albertson	...	Chairwoman

Runtime:

104 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

Netherlands:MG6 | West Germany:18 | Finland:K-16 | Sweden:15

Filming Locations:

Long Island, New York, USA

Company:

Pan Arts

Goofs:

Factual errors: A sign in the restaurant where Rhoda works advertises "banannas"; this could be a set design error or a real sign from a location shoot.

Quotes:

Dr. Vorbeck: An American making love is like a Hungarian playing baseball.

A real "shouldabeen"

This is the sort of movie that makes me ponder the whole time I'm watching it, "Who SHOULD have been in these roles?" Connery and Woodward really give it a good try, chewing big hunks out of the scenery, but they never convince, not for a moment. The role of earnest but ignorant and garrulous wife could have been played to perfection by Geraldine Page or, in an earlier and lighter version of the story, Judy Holliday. The role of Samson Shillitoe, deranged poet, could have been handled well by Jason Robards or Walter Matthau, and his mysterious attraction for women would have been more believable with the former, and more humorous with the latter.

For me, the only real laughs came from the one short scene featuring pudgy businessman Sorrell Booke learning the facts about his wife's hysteria. "You'll ascertain MY virility????"

I think they were trying for the kind of thing here where, like Alec Guiness's deranged artist character in "The Horse's Mouth," the obnoxious jerk has a mysteriously endearing charm or ability that shines through despite his appalling behaviour, but this poet isn't the horse's mouth. Quite the opposite.

If you enjoy the type of film that leaves you shaking your head and wondering why, this is definitely for you.