Not a Flattering Take on Mid-60's Culture
I don't get it, the humor in "Boeing Boeing" (1965) that is. And neither will those who are not into what passed for sex-farce comedy in the early 1960's. You know, take the Doris Day/Rock Hudson stuff, throw in the Matt Helm "irresistible to women" device, and release to a target audience of Hugh Hefner lifestyle wanna-be's.No wonder the Haight-Asbury, counterculture, free-speech movement got such traction at the time from films like "Bonnie and Clyde" (1967) and "Easy Rider" (1969). Judging from the content of "Boeing Boeing", the movement simply filled a cultural vacuum in which the highest aspiration of an American male was to be playboy with a cool pad and a harem of gullible but gorgeous and adoring women (then again there is a simplistic superficial charm to this notion).
In "Boeing Boeing", Bernard Lawrence (Tony Curtis) has a multi-bedroom apartment in Paris which he shares with his three flight attendant fiancés; Vicky (Suzanna Leigh), Jacqueline (Dany Saval), and Lise (Christiane Schmidtmer). None of the three actresses were particularly talented or successful, but their characters are not intended to be anything more than superficial eye candy (although even in this they are not especially notable). Bernard, his friend Robert (Jerry Lewis in a relatively straight role), and his housekeeper Bertha (Thelma Ritter who is responsible for the film's meager moments of actual comedy) spend the film trying to keep the three fiancés from finding about each other. This arrangement is possible because the three work for different airlines and fly at times.
The awkward thing for contemporary viewers (and apparently for viewers in 1965 as the film was not well received) is that Bernard has no sincere feelings for any of the three, nor any intention of marrying one of them. He has practiced this kind of scam in the past with other women, and is realistic enough to know that he will eventually be exposed. At which time he will move on and set up shop somewhere else.
Now I'm normally willing to suspend disbelief about the entire premise and just go with along with the storyline; even finding some unintended humor in how they dance around and never directly confront the fact that Bernard is sleeping with three women. But I found it troubling that the three women are portrayed as sincere and likable. If they had been gold-digging schemers, or if Bernard was simply indecisive and using the set-up as a means to make a decision about which one to marry, the film would not seem so mean-spirited. The flip-side of this basic premise was the subject of several "Three Stooges" shorts, with the boys eventually getting mega-revenge on the "three-timing" woman. These were considerably more humorous than "Boeing Boeing"; with Larry, Curly, and Moe generally behaving more intelligently that anyone in this film.
I would neither avoid nor seek out this film. It does provide some interesting clues about the pre-hippie culture of America or at least what Hollywood thought would attract film viewers during that period.
Then again, what do I know? I'm only a child.
score 3/10
aimless-46 20 May 2008
Reprint: https://www.imdb.com/review/rw1877321/35452
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