Come Blow Your Horn and The Honey Pot

September 17, 2012

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Something really bad has happened to me over the last two years. I've stopped watching movies as often as I used to and that is catastrophic. Ever since I was 13, my world has revolved around movies. I didn't start a classic film blog because I sort of like them... I started it because I'm obsessed with them.

So the fact that I've probably watched only a couple dozen films in the last 20 or so odd months is really earth-shattering. And I need to do something about it. No matter how busy I am, no matter how tired, worn out, overworked or stressed I am, I want to watch at least one movie a day. It can be a re-watch (both of the ones I've started with fall into this category) or something new, but I need to watch one a day. I'm going to try to hold myself to this by blogging about each movie as well. Here goes nothing!



I started yesterday with Come Blow Your Horn (1963)

The film is about a young man (did I just say young man? eww) who breaks away from his parents to go live in the big city with his big brother, a swingin' sixties bachelor in a swingin' sixties bachelor pad. That hep cat with the awesome digs is none other than Mr. Frank Sinatra.

I've been a serious Sinatra fan since February of 2000 (I remember these things) and this had always been one of my least favorite of his films. I'm not going to lie... it's because I thought he looked like he was getting older. Don't judge, one of the main reasons I'm a serious Sinatra fan is because I have a serious crush on the guy.

Since the last time I watched it, however, something has changed. I'm getting older myself and my eyesight isn't quite what it used to be. Now that I'm no longer 20/20 I discovered something absolutely mah-velous: Sinatra in Come Blow Your Horn looks like Sinatra in The Tender Trap if you don't wear your glasses! ;D So this improved my opinion of the movie considerably.

Aside from Frankie's wrinkles and receding hairline I was never quite fond of Lee J. Cobb's blusterous performance or Tony Bill's neurotic, nervous turn as the younger brother. They didn't bother me too much this time though. I'm still not super fond of either of them, but it wasn't like "please kill off this character already!!" anymore.

Ok, enough about what I didn't like. What I did like: THAT APARTMENT, all the orange everywhere, the theme song (of course!), Frank Sinatra's blurry face, Barbara Rush being her amazing self, Jill St. John's makeup and the line about artificial fruit: "it's like the fruit version of The Picture of Dorian Gray!"



Today I watched a personal favorite, The Honey Pot (1967)

I'm pretty sure that I forced somebody to watch this once and they hated it, because every single time I watch it now I think "how could that person have hated this?!?!" although I completely forget who it was.

The plot is a little hard to describe without giving things away, since it's very Agatha-Christie-esque with lots of twists and turns. Basically a very, very rich man decides to play a little trick on three of his old girlfriends by sending them each a letter summoning them to his (fake) deathbed. The very, very rich man is Rex Harrison and the ladies are Susan Hayward (I love her to pieces, but her fake Texas accent was a little grating) Capucine and Edie Adams. The cast also includes a young Maggie Smith and my beloved Cliff Robertson.

Except for the phony Texas draw, I love everything about The Honey Pot. I think the twisty plot is exceptional, the acting is phenomenal and, well, Cliff Robertson ♥

psst! Come Blow Your Horn and The Honey Pot are both on Netflix instant if reading my jumbled thoughts has made anyone want to watch them :)

2 comments:

Kailey said...

I actually watched The Honey Pot with my mom last month after random going through Netflix! It was so interesting, and Maggie was so wonderful in it!

MikeyL said...

I watched The Honey Pot for the first time last week and was completely blown away by it. Literate, hilarious, superb cast...they simply don't make 'em like this any more. 'Baby fox and Mommy Bunny' has now entered my permanent phrasebook. I thought Susan Hayward a natural at this sort of arch comedy.