Those Lips, Those Eyes

Frank Langella

Michael Pressman's Those Lips, Those Eyes, from 1980,  is an obscurity that will remain so, mostly due to Mr. Pressman's anonymous direction. Frank Langella, Glynnis O'Connor, Tom Hulce and Kevin McCarthy strut their stuff winningly, but the story is sub Neil Simon nostalgia and the mise en scene pedestrian. A Minnelli or even Bob Fosse could have added some pizazz to this backstage musical, but this is a wanly shot and poorly recorded film.

What pleasure I derived was from the movie's recreations of early 20th century operettas: Rose Marie, The Desert Song, The Vagabond Prince, etc. Just the musicals a third tier touring company would be performing for the rubes in the early 50s. Works that have disappeared from the collective consciousness after the rock and roll era. One of my earliest theatrical memories was seeing a touring show of The Student Prince at Baltimore's Morris Mechanic Theatre in 1970 or so. I was mostly bored, but amused when the rotating set didn't rotate and the grips had to come out and do it manually. A similar moment occurs in Those Lips, Those Eyes and it is this sense of the backstage camaraderie and hardscrabble effort needed to put on even the lowliest of shows that gives this film, however shoddily constructed, a few grace notes. (9/27/16)