Don't Drink the Water (1969)

User Rating:

5.7/10   

Director:

Howard Morris

Writers:

R.S. Allen (writer)
Woody Allen (play)

Genre:

Comedy

Tagline:

They're caught in a security leak!

Plot:

The Hollander family's European vacation is interrupted when their plane is forced to land in Vulgaria...

Plot Keywords:

Spy | Hijacking | Secret Police | Communism | Diplomat

Cast

Jackie Gleason	...	Walter Hollander
Estelle Parsons	...	Marion Hollander
Ted Bessell	...	Axel Magee
Joan Delaney	...	Susan Hollander
Michael Constantine	...	Commissar Krojack
Howard St. John	...	Ambassador Magee
Danny Meehan	...	Kilroy
Richard Libertini	...	Father Drobney
Pierre Olaf	...	Chef
Avery Schreiber	...	Sultan
Mark Gordon	...	Mirik
Phil Leeds	...	Sam Blackwell

Runtime:

100 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color (Pathécolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

Iceland:L | USA:G

Filming Locations:

Miami, Florida, USA

Company:

AVCO Embassy Pictures

Trivia:

Don't Drink the Water opened at the Morosco Theater on November 17, 1966 and ran for 598 performances. Dick (Richard) Libertini reprises his role in the movie.

Goofs:

Continuity: At the party near the end of the movie, Gleason takes a dignitary's wine glass. The next shot shows the dignitary holding the wine glass. Then, Gleason hands the glass back to the dignitary.

Quotes:

Walter Hollander: I don't eat oysters. You have to eat them alive. I like my food dead. Not sick, not wounded -- dead!

Movie Connections:

Referenced in The Fall (1969)

Soundtrack:

Don't Drink the Water

first film version - This is Jackie Gleason version

Comedic story of Americans traveling in foreign countries, and the mis-adventures they run into along the way. Unlike another writer here, I like the 1969 Jackie Gleason version of Don't Drink the Water MUCH better than the later one starring Woody Allen, who WROTE the thing originally. In the original, the irony is that Jackie Gleason is a big and blustery loudmouth ( a real stretch for him) , but up until the end, not much gets accomplished, in spite of all his yelling and storming around. Also stars Estelle Parsons (Bonnie and Clyde) and Ted Bessell (probably best known as the hen-pecked boyfriend on That Girl). The debate to remake movies or Not to remake movies continues.