After a smash hit with "Murder By Death", playwright and screenwriter tried another original movie script (okay, maybe not truly original with all the spoofing it does...), and while not as excellent as its predecessor, this does manage to provide some delights, if not the equivalent number of laughs. Peter Falk is basically playing the same part he did in "Murder By Death", another Bogart impression, and rather than spoofing Sam Spade, he's doing Rick from "Casablanca".
The abundance of far too many stars threatens to become a bit too cumbersome, but on a fourth viewing, I came to finally put all of the pieces together and enjoy it all the more. Even among just the females, there's practically every funny lady on Hollywood at the time: Madeline Kahn (mystery lady of many pseudonyms), Eileen Brennan (chanteuss delightfully butchering "La Vie En Rose"), Marsha Mason (current flame), Louise Fletcher (old flame, called the most boring woman in the world) and Stockard Channing (secretary). Ann-Margret shows up later on as the ultimate femme .
The men include the very similar James Coco and Dom de Luise, TV's Abe Vigoda, David Ogden Stiers and Vic Tayback, as well as Fernando Lamas Scatman Crothers, Phil Silvers, Sid Caesar and John Houseman saying funny lines completely straight. There's so much of "Casablanca" mixed in (even though, like "The Maltese Falcon", it's in San Francisco) as well as bits of "The Big Sleep" and "To Have and Have Not".
Like Mel Brooks would do, Simon recycles jokes from "Murder By Death". The 40's atmosphere is complete believable, and the cast is obviously having so much fun, especially Fletcher who's obviously determined to lighten her image after "Cuckoos Nest". For me, though, Brennan walks off with the film, and with this cast, it's very hard to do. But after a while, it's like a big screen version of a "Carol Burnett" show sketch, extended four times longer.
The abundance of far too many stars threatens to become a bit too cumbersome, but on a fourth viewing, I came to finally put all of the pieces together and enjoy it all the more. Even among just the females, there's practically every funny lady on Hollywood at the time: Madeline Kahn (mystery lady of many pseudonyms), Eileen Brennan (chanteuss delightfully butchering "La Vie En Rose"), Marsha Mason (current flame), Louise Fletcher (old flame, called the most boring woman in the world) and Stockard Channing (secretary). Ann-Margret shows up later on as the ultimate femme .
The men include the very similar James Coco and Dom de Luise, TV's Abe Vigoda, David Ogden Stiers and Vic Tayback, as well as Fernando Lamas Scatman Crothers, Phil Silvers, Sid Caesar and John Houseman saying funny lines completely straight. There's so much of "Casablanca" mixed in (even though, like "The Maltese Falcon", it's in San Francisco) as well as bits of "The Big Sleep" and "To Have and Have Not".
Like Mel Brooks would do, Simon recycles jokes from "Murder By Death". The 40's atmosphere is complete believable, and the cast is obviously having so much fun, especially Fletcher who's obviously determined to lighten her image after "Cuckoos Nest". For me, though, Brennan walks off with the film, and with this cast, it's very hard to do. But after a while, it's like a big screen version of a "Carol Burnett" show sketch, extended four times longer.