Die total verrückte Büroparty

A very enjoyable and fast paced farce. Nancy Kwan is perfect as the impish bride to be on her last day at the company that produces "it" perfume. (Wasn't Twiggy the original "it" girl?) It has a splendid cast of British character actors, headed by Terry Thomas and including Victor Spinetti, who must have gone straight from this (production began in late 1963) to his role in "Hard Day's Night." There are certain similarities in the look of these films, from the titles to of course the exteriors and certain motifs. Some good dialog and physical comedy. Glorious black and white cinematography, at times gritty and at others glamorous. Overall very enjoyable. The only uneasy thing in the movie, which is not particular to this film and common to similar storylines, is the guys continuously hitting on Kwan are sad reminders of what the workplace once was like and all too sadly as today's news shows, still are far too often. But as other reviews mention, these scenes always resolve innocuously or ridiculously for the guys doing the hitting. Well worth the time watching.

The only thing of note in this very unfunny outdated comedy is that this is the last film appearance of Bud Flanagan.

With only days before her marriage "Marjorie Lee" (Nancy Kwan) is an attractive 20-year-old woman who works as a lowly secretary at a marketing company in London. With only a few days before getting married she goes to the office one last time before settling down as a housewife. As it so happens this final day for her at work also includes the annual Christmas Party that afternoon as well. Realizing that this is their last opportunity-and in some cases aided by alcohol-several men decide to take a chance at possibly having a one-night stand with her while there is still time. On that note it should be mentioned that Marjorie has an alter-ego named "Sandra" who isn't nearly as inhibited and as a result their chances may have more success than they realize. Now rather than reveal any more I will just say that I was somewhat disappointed with this movie overall. For starters, although Nancy Kwan put on a splendid performance, it seemed like her Asian qualities were being deliberately muted which, in my opinion, negates a valuable quality about her. Further, as a supposed comedy there really wasn't much humor here either. Likewise, the plot consisted of one hurried scene after another which gave the entire movie a rather odd and uncoordinated effect as well. In short, while this certainly wasn't a terrible movie by any means, it wasn't a particularly good film either and I have rated it accordingly. Slightly below average.

A strange combination of sixties sophistication and slapstick comedy exemplified on one hand by Nancy Kwan's conversations with her reflection, her Vidal Sassoon haircut (described by Victor Spinetti as "the vampire look") and Mary Quant outfits, the stylish black & white photography and the frequent sex talk and on the other by her leering male admirers and the Christmas party in which the sprinklers go off.

Betty Marsden, Gladys Morgan and Victor Spinetti give particularly attractive performances in supporting roles, while the film's three biggest mysteries are how Bessie Love & Paul Curran managed to produce a daughter that looked like Miss Kwan, why Terry-Thomas (who receives guest star billing) hasn't got his moustache and why Bud Flanagan is playing the small part of a doorman.

I found this film really very charming, with values that have all but disappeared from popular entertainment, but still hold quite true. In that sense, the script was unusual and rare. It didn't shy away from sexuality, but rather praised the substance of love. The actors were very good, particularly Thomas and the whole variety of excellent British supporting players such as Spinetti. The very interesting part of this film is the perfect casting of Nancy Kwan at the time. I don't know any other actress I could have seen perfectly in this role, with the hint of seriousness that is in her face.