| What's New Pussycat? | |
|---|---|
 Theatrical release poster byFrank Frazetta | |
| Directed by | Clive Donner |
| Screenplay by | Woody Allen |
| Produced by | Charles K. Feldman |
| Starring | |
| Cinematography | Jean Badal |
| Edited by | Fergus McDonell |
| Music by | Burt Bacharach |
Production companies |
|
| Distributed by | United Artists |
Release dates |
|
Running time | 108 minutes |
| Countries |
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| Language | English |
| Box office | $18.8 million[1] |
What's New Pussycat? is a 1965screwball comedy film directed byClive Donner, written byWoody Allen in his first produced screenplay, and starring Allen in his acting debut, along withPeter Sellers,Peter O'Toole,Romy Schneider,Capucine,Paula Prentiss, andUrsula Andress.
TheAcademy Award-nominatedtitle song byBurt Bacharach (music) andHal David (lyrics) is sung byTom Jones.[2] The film poster was painted byFrank Frazetta, and the animated title sequence was directed byRichard Williams.
The expression "what's new pussycat?" arose fromCharles K. Feldman, the producer, overhearingWarren Beatty, who was original choice for the lead role, answering the phone to a girlfriend and saying "what's up pussycat". In the film, Michael (O'Toole) calls all women "Pussycat" to avoid having to remember their names.
Notorious womanizer Michael James wants to be faithful to his fiancée Carole Werner, but most women he meets become attracted to him, including neurotic exotic dancer Liz Bien and parachutist Rita, who accidentally lands in his car. Hispsychoanalyst, Dr. Fritz Fassbender, is unable to help, since he is pursuing patient Renée Lefebvre, who in turn longs for Michael. Carole, meanwhile, decides to make Michael jealous by flirting with his nervous wreck of a friend, Victor Shakapopulis. Victor struggles to be romantic, but Carole nevertheless feigns interest.
Fassbender continues to have group meetings with his neurotics and obsessives and cannot understand why everyone falls for Michael. The group sessions become stranger—including an indoorcricket match. Michael dreams that all his sexual conquests simultaneously bombard him for attention, listing the places where they had sex.
One night, Fassbender goes to theSeine, fills a rowing boat withkerosene and wraps himself in theNorwegian flag, preparing to commit suicide in the style of aViking funeral. Victor, who has set up a small dining table nearby, asks what he is doing. Distracted, Fassbender forgets his idea of suicide and starts giving Victor advice. Despite his attempts to womanize, Fassbender is revealed to be married with three children.
Meanwhile, Carole's plan seems to work and Michael asks to marry her. She agrees and they settle on marrying within the week. She moves in with Michael, but he finds fidelity impossible. When Liz introduces herself as Michael's fiancée, Carole becomes indignant. Simultaneously, Rita parachutes into Michael's open-top sports car and the two check into a small country hotel, though he resists her attempts to seduce him.
Soon, all parties gradually arrive at the hotel; some are checked in, but most simply appear. This includes Carole's parents who wander the corridors, causing Michael to jump from room to room. A rumor also circulates locally that an orgy is taking place at the hotel, so side characters such as the petrol station attendant also surface. Carole arrives and wishes to see Michael's room. As they speak, all the other participants chase each other around in the background. Fassbender's overbearing wife, Anna, tracks him down.
Everyone ends up in Michael's room with most of the women half-naked. As the police arrive outside and form a line, Anna, dressed as avalkyrie and wielding a spear, leads the group through the police. They all escape to ago-kart circuit. They leave the circuit and go first to a farmyard, then through narrow village streets still on the go-karts, then back to the circuit.
After a mayor marries Michael and Carole in a civil marriage ceremony, the couple are signing the marriage certificate when Michael calls the young femaleregistrar "Pussycat", infuriating Carole. They leave and Fassbender attempts to court her instead.
Charles Feldman had been developing a script about a Don Juan style figure based on the playLot's Wife forCary Grant andCapucine.[5]Warren Beatty wanted to make a comedy film about malesex addiction and hoped Feldman would produce it. The titleWhat's New Pussycat? was taken from Beatty's phone salutation when speaking to his female friends. Beatty desired a role for his then-girlfriend, actressLeslie Caron, but Feldman wanted a different actress.[6]
Beatty and Feldman sought a joke writer and, after seeing him perform in a New York club, Feldman offeredWoody Allen $30,000. Allen accepted provided he could also appear in the film. As Allen worked on the script, his first screenplay, Beatty noticed that Allen's role was continually growing at the expense of his own.[7]
Eventually, Beatty threatened to quit the production to stop this erosion, but the actor's status in Hollywood at that time had declined so severely that Feldman decided to let him leave and gave the part toPeter O'Toole. Beatty later said, "I diva'ed my way out of the movie. I walked off ofWhat's New, Pussycat? thinking they couldn't do it without me. I was wrong."[8] According to Beatty, a new screenwriter was brought in and Allen's role was pared back to a minor character.[8]
Groucho Marx was to have played Dr. Fassbender, but at O'Toole's insistence, he was replaced byPeter Sellers. O'Toole, Sellers, and directorClive Donner all made changes to the script, straining their relationship with Allen. Tension was also generated by Sellers' demanding top billing, but O'Toole described the atmosphere as stimulating.[9] Donner was given the job of directing on the strength ofNothing But the Best.[10]
Burt Bacharach composed the score, which was his first film soundtrack. In his book on Bacharach, Serene Dominic writes, "Bacharach's inexperience at film scoring caused him to leave a lot of the work to the last minute." Said Bacharach, "I didn't have a clue. Not a clue. I must've gone in with 40 different themes and recorded them … I didn't know how to score a picture. And then afterwards Charlie Feldman fell in love with the title song and he took out all these pieces I'd written and stuck in instrumental versions of 'What's New Pussycat?' … I wanted to take my name off the picture. I was married toAngie (Dickinson) at the time and she said, 'Don't be a fool, this picture's going to be a huge hit.' So I was glad I listened to her." In addition to the title theme, Bacharach and David wrote "Here I Am," sung byDionne Warwick, and "My Little Red Book", performed byManfred Mann.[11]
Second unit directorRichard Talmadge is credited with creating the karting sequence.Principal photography began on October 13, 1964, and concluded on January 25, 1965, with locations including Paris,Luzarches,Castel Henriette inSèvres, Château de Chaumontel inChaumontel, andBillancourt Studios inBoulogne-Billancourt.[12][13][14] The film was released in New York City on June 22, 1965, and opened in Paris in January 1966 asQuoi de neuf, Pussycat? It grossed $18,820,000 at the domestic box office.[1]
The film received mixed reviews.Bosley Crowther inThe New York Times gave the film a negative review. He criticized the script, the directing and the acting and described the film as "the most outrageously cluttered and campy, noisy and neurotic display of what is evidently intended as way-out slapstick". He praised the scenery and title song.[15] On the other hand,Andrew Sarris inThe Village Voice wrote: "I have now seenWhat's New Pussycat? four times, and each time I find new nuances in the direction, the writing, the playing, and, above all, the music. This is one movie that is not what it seems at first glance. It has been attacked for tastelessness, and yet I have never seen a more tasteful sex comedy."[16]Filmink called Prentiss "ravishing and hilarious" although she had a nervous breakdown during the making of the movie.[17]
On thereview aggregator websiteRotten Tomatoes, the film holds an approval rating of 28% based on 18 reviews, with an average rating of 5.1/10.[18]
| Award | Category | Recipient(s) | Result |
|---|---|---|---|
| Academy Awards[19] | Best Song | "What's New Pussycat?" Music byBurt Bacharach; lyrics byHal David | Nominated |
| Laurel Awards | Top Male Comedy Performance | Peter Sellers | 4th place |
| Top Song | "What's New Pussycat?" Music by Burt Bacharach; lyrics by Hal David | 4th place | |
| Writers Guild of America Awards | Best Written American Comedy | Woody Allen | Nominated |
What's New Pussycat? was released on DVD byMGM Home Video on June 7, 2005, as a Region 1 widescreen DVD, on May 22, 2007, as part ofThe Peter Sellers Collection (film number two in a four-disc set) and on Blu-ray byKino Lorber on August 26, 2014, as a Region 1 widescreen Blu-ray. It was previously released in VHS.
Slightly in advance of the film's release, as was the custom of the era, a paperbacknovelization of the film was published byDell Books by crime and western novelistMarvin H. Albert.
The 1970 filmPussycat, Pussycat, I Love You was intended as a sequel to this film, and includes much of the same premise of a young man (played byIan McShane) visiting his psychiatrist to discuss his love life.
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