The Honey Pot (1967)

User Rating:

7.2/10   

Director:

Joseph L. Mankiewicz

Writers:

Ben Jonson (play)
Frederick Knott (play)

Release Date:

22 May 1967 (USA)

Genre:

Comedy | Crime

Tagline:

You are cordially invited to enjoy a perfectly elegant case of murder!

Plot:

Inspired by a performance of his favorite play, "Volpone," 20th-century millionaire Cecil Fox devises...

Plot Keywords:

Murder | Dumb Waiter | Registered Nurse | Placebo | Fake Illness

Cast

Rex Harrison	...	Cecil Sheridan Fox
Susan Hayward	...	Mrs. Sheridan
Cliff Robertson	...	William McFly
Capucine	...	Princess Dominique
Edie Adams	...	Merle McGill
Maggie Smith	...	Sarah Watkins
Adolfo Celi	...	Inspector Rizzi
Hugh Manning	...	Volpone
David Dodimead	...	Mosca
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Herschel Bernardi	...	Oscar Ludwig (scenes deleted)
Antonio Corevi	...	Tailor (scenes deleted)
Cy Grant	...	Revenue Agent (scenes deleted)
Frank Latimore	...	Revenue Agent (scenes deleted)
Massimo Serato	...	The Pretender (scenes deleted)
Carlos Alberto Valles	...	Assistant Tailor (scenes deleted)

Also Known As:

Anyone for Venice? (USA) (working title)
It Comes Up Murder
Mr. Fox of Venice
The Honeypot (USA)

Runtime:

Italy:125 min | UK:150 min | 132 min (TCM print)

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (RCA Sound Recording)

Certification:

Finland:K-12 | France:U | Italy:T | Sweden:11 | West Germany:12 | UK:A

Filming Locations:

Cinecittà Studios, Cinecittà, Rome, Lazio, Italy

Company:

Famous Artists Productions

Trivia:

Three dream sequences were filmed (though ultimately scrapped) of the women fantasizing Cecil's death and their inheritance.

Quotes:

NurseWatkins: I don't want to sound like a voice for morality, it makes him angry and you angry. But there are some things...
Fox: What things?
NurseWatkins: Not gold, perhaps, but still precious. Not negotiable, not even legal tender. Just tender.
Fox: Love, for example?
NurseWatkins: You can't even say it, you poor man, you make it sound like hate.

The original novel

This film is pretty good, but it was a flop in 1967 despite having some good performances by Rex Harrison, Clift Robertson, Susan Hayward, Capucine, Edie Adams, and Maggie Smith. The script and direction of Joseph Mankiewicz were perfect. But it flopped, possibly because the times did not call for a literate murder mystery film.

It's lineage is impeccable since it begins with Ben Jonson's classic Jacobean comedy "Volpone". But actually it is not "Volpone". The film is based on Thomas Sterling's "The Evil of the Day". The story has been changed in one way. Sterling's novel brings together three would-be heirs too, but two are men, and one is Fox's wife (as in the movie - Susan Hayward's role). But the same plot switches go on in the novel as in this film.

I enjoyed the movie, in particular one moment that was rare to see in any film of that period. Harrison has invited his three would-be heirs to come to dinner. Hayward (accompanied by her secretary Smith) comes in first. While they are talking to Harrison and Robertson, both Adams and Capucine show up at the doorway. Neither is willing to let the other go in first. They end up pushing into each other through the door frame into the dining room, thoroughly uncomfortable - but at least neither was forced to wait for the other to make the first move.