What's New Pussycat (1965)

A playboy who refuses to give up his hedonistic lifestyle to settle down and marry his true love seeks help from a demented psychoanalyst who is having romantic problems of his own.

Director:

Clive Donner

Writer:

Woody Allen (original screenplay)

Stars:

Peter Sellers, Peter O'Toole, Romy Schneider

Nominated for 1 Oscar. Another 3 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Peter Sellers	...	Dr. Fritz Fassbender
Peter O'Toole	...	Michael James (as Peter O'toole)
Romy Schneider	...	Carole Werner
Capucine	...	Renée Lefevre
Paula Prentiss	...	Liz Bien
Woody Allen	...	Victor Shakapopulis
Ursula Andress	...	Rita
Eddra Gale	...	Anna Fassbender (as Edra Gale)
Katrin Schaake	...	Jacqueline
Eléonore Hirt	...	Mrs. Werner (as Eleonor Hirt)
Jean Parédès	...	Marcel (as Jean Paredes)
Jacques Balutin	...	Etienne
Jess Hahn	...	Mr. Werner
Howard Vernon	...	Doctor
Michel Subor	...	Philippe

Storyline

Michael James, a notorious womanizer, desperately wants to be faithful to his fiancée Carole, but runs into serious problems since every woman he meets seems to fall in love with him. His psychoanalyst Dr. Fassbender can't help him either since he's busy courting one of his patients who in turn longs for Michael. A catastrophe appears on the horizon as all the characters check into the Chateau Chantelle hotel for the weekend not knowing of each other's presence.

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Plot Keywords:

chateau | hotel | title based on song | angel wings | psychiatrist | 

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Taglines:

[under cast listing] They're all together again! (for the first time!)

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Genres:

Comedy

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Certificate:

Approved

Details

Country:

France USA

Language:

English French

Release Date:

22 June 1965 (USA)

Also Known As:

What's New Pussycat

Filming Locations:

Paris, France

Box Office

Gross USA:

$18,820,000

Company Credits

Production Co:

Famous Artists Productions, Famartists Productions S.A.

Technical Specs

Runtime:

108 min

Sound Mix:

Mono (Westrex Recording System)

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.66 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

The scene in which Victor Skakapopulis (Woody Allen) celebrates his 29th birthday on the wharf was filmed on December 1, 1964, Allen's actual 29th birthday.

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Goofs

When the anarchist's bomb explodes, Carole does not react to it, although everybody else does.

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Quotes

Liz Bien: You're right. I must face my problems. I can't go through life being a semi-virgin.
Michael James: What, in the name of all that is gracious, is a semi-virgin?
Liz Bien: Here, I'm a virgin. In America, I'm not.
Michael James: What do they do, stamp it on your passport?

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Crazy Credits

The opening credits feature animated titles of the main seven cast members. Peter Sellers's credit appears backwards, so the film stops briefly to correct this.

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Connections

Referenced in The Simpsons: Marge Gets a Job (1992)

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Soundtracks

Here I Am
(1965)
Music by Burt Bacharach (uncredited)
Lyrics by Hal David (uncredited)
Sung by Dionne Warwick

User Reviews

Enjoy irresponsibly

"A sports car…is a sign of man's virility. You should get two, maybe." - Peter Sellers, to Woody Allen

'What's New, Pussycat?' is not a great movie. There isn't much in the way of a plot, it's constructed haphazardly, and parts of it don't make a lot of sense.

That's part of its charm. 'The Pink Panther', from the same era, also has a large, recognizable, hugely talented cast, and it's a much more coherent, technically proficient film. It is also less funny.

Just in case you've never seen anything about the movie before: Peter O'Toole plays Michael, a magazine writer and philanderer in mid-1960's Paris. His dilemma (dramatic conflict, if you will) is Carol (Romy Schneider) a woman he loves so much he wants to be faithful to her, if indeed he can give up all other women and marry her. Other women include Paula Prentiss, Capucine, and Ursula Andress; Woody Allen is the friend with the not so secret crush on Carol. Michael's psychoanalyst is played by Peter Sellers, which should tell you about as much as you need to know.

WNP? has a mood, created in large part by the Bacharach score, that I don't want to call innocent because it tries so hard to be naughty, but there it is. The drug culture hadn't yet picked up the cultural grip released by post-50's paranoia, and a sloppy, silly picture like this seemed to be a good idea.

And that's enough of that; a movie that contains the line 'it's my wife – the creature that ate Europe' shouldn't be over-analyzed. Enjoy it for what it is.