''Wild and Wonderful'' is a 1964

comedy film A comedy film is a category of film which emphasizes humor. These films are designed to make the audience laugh through amusement. Films in this style traditionally have a happy ending ( black comedy being an exception). Comedy is one of the o ...

directed by Michael Anderson and starring Tony Curtis and Christine Kaufmann. The screenplay concerns a clever French poodle named Monsieur Cognac, and the dog's effect on the newly married couple portrayed by Curtis and Kaufmann. The film was Curtis's last under his long contractual relationship with

Universal Studios Universal Pictures (legally Universal City Studios LLC, also known as Universal Studios, or simply Universal; common metonym: Uni, and formerly named Universal Film Manufacturing Company and Universal-International Pictures Inc.) is an Americ ...

Plot

"Monsieur Cognac" is a white male poodle, a television and advertising star of 1960s Paris. The pampered pooch takes time out periodically by escaping his young mistress, Mademoiselle Giselle Ponchon, to roam the streets of Paris by night. At a jazz bar American Terry Williams is performing with his combo. Monsieur Cognac takes a sip of the eponymous beverage from one of the musician's cups, but is really there to see the pretty female poodles appearing on the program. He teams up with Terry on a pub crawl, gets drunk - and accidentally turns green. Terry meets Giselle, Monsieur Cognac's owner, the following morning, when she, her father and the police storm Terry's apartment to arrest him for dog-napping. Soon Terry and Giselle fall in love and even get married - much to the dismay of Giselle's father and Monsieur Cognac; the dog is jealous and tries to get rid of Terry. To have some peace and quiet on the wedding night at least, Terry pours a powdered sleeping pill into Monsieur Cognac's champagne glass. But the dog smells the ruse and switches glasses on Terry, who falls asleep on the wedding night! Next day Terry tries to make peace with a private "handshake", but the wily dog squeaks so loudly that Giselle, her father and her uncle rush into the room, assuming that Terry has hurt the dog. Although Giselle ultimately catches on to Cognac's 'injured' act everyone else is duped, and the couple are driven apart when Terry walks out. Visiting his musician friends, Terry suddenly realizes that Monsieur Cognac is missing a Madame Cognac – and sets about to introduce him to Madam Poupée, a lovely white female poodle who appears at the jazz bar; Terry “borrows” her to smuggle onto the set where Giselle is recording a TV show with Monsieur Cognac. When Poupée's owner appears and accuses those present of kidnapping her, the poodles run riot. All ends well when Terry and Giselle finally kiss – in front of the TV camera.

Cast

* Tony Curtis as Terry Williams * Christine Kaufmann as Giselle Ponchon * Larry Storch as Rufus Gibbs *

Pierre Olaf Pierre Olaf (14 July 1928 – 16 September 1995) was a French actor, cabaret artist, and clown. He first achieved success as a stage actor in Paris in the musical revues of Robert Dhéry. He achieved particular acclaim in Dhéry's ''Jupon Volé'' ...

as Jacquot *

Marty Ingels Marty may refer to: Names * Marty (given name), including a list of people and fictional characters, also includes stage names * Marty (surname), a list of people Places in the United States * Marty, California, a former settlement * Marty, Min ...

as Doc Bailey * Jacques Aubuchon as Papa Ponchon * Sarah Marshall as Pamela *

Marcel Dalio Marcel Dalio (born Marcel Benoit Blauschild; 23 November 1899 in Paris – 18 November 1983) was a French movie actor. He had major roles in two films directed by Jean Renoir, '' La Grande Illusion'' (1937) and '' The Rules of the Game'' (1939) ...

as Dr. Reynard * Jules Munshin as Rousseleau * Marcel Hillaire as Inspector Duviver *

Cliff Osmond Cliff Osmond (born Clifford Osman Ebrahim; February 26, 1937 – December 22, 2012) was an American character actor and television screenwriter. A parallel career as an acting teacher coincided with his other activities. Early life Osmond wa ...

as Hercule *

Fifi D'Orsay Fifi D'Orsay (born Marie-Rose Angelina Yvonne Lussier; April 16, 1904 – December 2, 1983) was a Canadian-American actress and singer. Early life Fifi D'Orsay was born Yvonne Lussier in Montreal, Quebec, Canada, to a father who was a postal cl ...

as Simone *

Vito Scotti Vito Giusto Scozzari (January 26, 1918 – June 5, 1996), also known as Vito Scotti, was an American character actor who played both dramatic and comedy roles on Broadway, in films, and later on television, primarily from the late 1930s to the ...

as Andre * Steven Geray as Bartender * Stanley Adams as Mayor of Man La Loquet

Reception

The film had six credited writers, including Waldo Salt, who was then still working his way back from years on the

Hollywood blacklist The Hollywood blacklist was an entertainment industry blacklist, broader than just Hollywood, put in effect in the mid-20th century in the United States during the early years of the Cold War. The blacklist involved the practice of denying empl ...

and who reportedly "hated" the film. In his 1999 obituary for

Larry Markes Lawrence Wolcott Markes (September 24, 1921 – May 19, 1999) was an American comedian, singer and screenwriter. Markes was born in Brooklyn, New York, and decided at an early age to become a writer. Soon after graduating from the University ...

, another of the credited writers,

Dick Vosburgh Richard Kennedy Vosburgh (27 August 1929 – 18 April 2007) was a Grammy-nominated, Tony-nominated American-born comedy writer and lyricist working chiefly in Britain. Early life Vosburgh was born in Elizabeth, New Jersey. He persuaded his f ...

of ''

The Independent ''The Independent'' is a British online newspaper. It was established in 1986 as a national morning printed paper. Nicknamed the ''Indy'', it began as a broadsheet and changed to tabloid format in 2003. The last printed edition was publish ...

'' commented, "Critics found it hard to accept that it had taken six writers to fashion the wafer-thin tale of a jazz flautist whose marriage to a French film star is threatened by the jealous tricks of Monsieur Cognac, her neurotic, alcoholic French poodle." In his obituary for Tony Curtis in 2010, film critic

Dave Kehr David Kehr (born 1953) is an American museum curator and film critic. For many years a critic at the '' Chicago Reader'' and the ''Chicago Tribune,'' he later wrote a weekly column for ''The New York Times'' on DVD releases. He later became a ...

dismissed the film as "disastrous," noting that Curtis was rebuilding his reputation after an earlier affair with Kaufmann, his co-star in ''Wild and Wonderful'', and subsequent divorce from

Janet Leigh Jeanette Helen Morrison (July 6, 1927 – October 3, 2004), known professionally as Janet Leigh, was an American actress, singer, dancer, and author. Her career spanned over five decades. Raised in Stockton, California, by working-class parents, ...

References

External links

* * 1964 films 1964 comedy films American comedy films Films about dogs Films based on short fiction Films set in Paris Universal Pictures films Films with screenplays by Waldo Salt Films produced by Harold Hecht Films directed by Michael Anderson 1960s English-language films 1960s American films {{1960s-comedy-film-stub

Plot

Cast

Reception

See also

References

External links