Comedy

Romance

What a Way to Go!

APJAC Productions

Orchard Productions

20th Century Fox

United States of America

Français

English

Shirley MacLaine

Paul Newman

Robert Mitchum

Dean Martin

Gene Kelly

Robert Cummings

Dick Van Dyke

Reginald Gardiner

Margaret Dumont

Lou Nova

Fifi D'Orsay

Maurice Marsac

Wally Vernon

Jane Wald

Lenny Kent

Fred Aldrich

Leon Alton

Don Anderson

Army Archerd

Anton Arnold

Phil Arnold

Mark Bailey

Al Bain

John Barton

Al Beaudine

Marjorie Bennett

Nesdon Booth

Eugene Borden

Lynn Borden

Barbara Bouchet

John Cliff

Christopher Connelly

Tom Conway

William Corcoran

Paul Cristo

Carol Daniels

Alphonso DuBois

Peter Duchin

James Elsegood

Anthony Eustrel

Pamelyn Ferdin

Fred Fisher

Jeff Fithian

Joe Fithian

Jacques Foti

Milton Frome

Teri Garr

Roy Goldman

Roy Gordon

Sid Gould

Jack Greening

Paula Lane

Joel Grey

J. Lee Thompson

Gwen Davis

Adolph Green

Betty Comden

Edith Head

Jule Styne

Arthur P. Jacobs

Fred Hall

Marjorie Fowler

Leon Shamroy

Jack Martin Smith

Ted Haworth

Walter M. Scott

Stuart A. Reiss

L.B. Abbott

Emil Kosa Jr.

William Eckhardt

Fred R. Simpson

Moss Mabry

Leon Charles

Bernard Freericks

Elmer Raguse

Arthur Morton

Ben Nye

Margaret Donovan

Sydney Guilaroff

Nelson Riddle

CinemaSerf

I recall a time when I saw Joan Collins in "Dynasty" (c. 1983) and her character was called "Alexis Carrington Colby Dexter"... I had never known a lady to keep the names of all of her husbands one after the other. Well, Shirley MacLaine beat her to it - by about 20 years - as her portrayal of "Louisa May Foster Hopper Flint Anderson Benson". The film begins as an elegantly dressed woman tries to give the IRS a cheque for a couple of hundred million dollars. They think she is bonkers and refer her to a shrink to whom she reminisces about her hitherto marital relationships. Dean Martin in the first local bigwig to take a shine to her, but she falls for local shopkeeper Dick Van Dyke who manages to turn his tiny shop into a thriving business emporium before disaster strikes. Next she meets struggling artist Paul Neman in Paris; then Millionaire Robert Mitchum as she leaves Paris, then Gene Kelly in a cheap and cheerful diner in which she tries to get away from it all - she even proposes to her shrink - before, well it sort of goes full circle. This is a fun exposé of MacLaine's skills - singer, dancer, bon viveur, - and the male stars are very much in her orbit. Newman is particularly good (and handsome) as her painter who uses automated painting techniques to create his masterpieces, and poor old Bob Mitchum who seems to offer title more than a private plane and an arm for her to hold as she parades a line of elegant line of couture that would rival any Milan or Paris catwalk. There's a decent, if maybe too long, song and dance routine with Kelly too! The comedy is a bit predictable, and the sound-stage look of the thing is a bit too static at times, but the compendium nature of the storytelling is engaging, as is the star, and it flew by. Not great, but good.

What a Way to Go! (1964) ORIGINAL TRAILER

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What a Way to Go!

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Cast

Shirley MacLaine

Paul Newman

Robert Mitchum

Dean Martin

Gene Kelly

Robert Cummings

Dick Van Dyke

Reginald Gardiner

Margaret Dumont

Lou Nova

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