Die nackten Tatsachen

This movie seems to have a lot going for it. The stunning photography of gorgeous Los Angeles; a charming theme song by The Byrds; two of the most beautiful women you could imagine , Sharon Tate and Claudia Cardinale; plus some funny folk in supporting roles. Strangely it misses. It just goes on and on with no laffs, and no particular purpose. Sharon , As in The wrecking Crew, proves she had great potential in comedy, and is so gorgeous you want to see more of her. So I would recommend this movie only for Sharon Tate fans. If you arent a fan, you will be disapointed as there is really nothing else here worthwhile. I waited to see the movie for a long time, and felt ripped off.

A very flaky comedy, a perplexing mix of moods involving Southern California hustler Tony Curtis with an accident prone actress, her married lover, and an assortment of beach bums and bunnies. A curiously lackadaisical pace, an almost dream-like non-focus, and the blithe, throwaway performances don't especially give the proceedings an edge, but they do help the movie stand out from other films in this genre. But what genre is it exactly? It isn't a laugh-out loud comedy, it isn't a character study, it isn't brainless but neither is it particularly witty. Just an occasional big laugh, and it certainly looks good. Sharon Tate gets an "introducing" credit, just as she did on "Eye Of The Devil" released the year before. Her role as "Malibu" is utterly undemanding, but still it's nice to see her having fun. ** from ****

Tony Curtis made alot of bad movies around this time, but DON'T MAKE WAVES is one of his better films. Here Curtis, as Carlo, is a southern Californian who's life is turned upside down when his car with all of his worldly possessions is accidentally destroyed by the beautiful Claudia Cardinale. Taking pity on Carlo, she takes him to her apartment. Sugar daddy (Robert Webber) soon shows up and promptly throws Carlo out. Having had enough, Carlo takes his circumstances and newfound information and turns them into a grand lifestyle. The usually funny Joanna Barnes turns in a sobering performance as Webber's neglected wife. Bodybuilding title holder Dave Draper is very good as not too bright musclebound Harry. It is the late Sharon Tate's performance as Malibu, Harry's on again off again sky diving girlfriend that is the real find in this movie. She's gorgeous, sexy, and about as swift as Harry. Feeling overlooked by Harry and his muscle buddies, she deadpans to Curtis, "If you were a man, would you find me attractive?" Title song performed by THE BYRDS. The rest of the score was done by Vic Mizzy, who also did the music to GREEN ACRES. In case you wondered why the music had a familiar ring to it, that's the reason. Fair amount of cameos by movie & TV stars. Look for Edgar Bergen, Jim Backus......and others.

Perfect posture and great bodies dominate in this oddball Tony Curtis comedy. Just about everyone in these reels of celluloid has a superb physique: Claudia Cardinale, Sharon Tate, and even the muscle men pumping iron on the beach. Hard to believe fact: this movie was based on a novel! Some of the bloated beach bums must have stumbled in from a "method" acting class. The leader savors every line of dialog as if it was Milton or Shakespeare. Weird. The setting is radiant to the eye. The special effects people deserve a gold metal for delivering some of the most realistic shots, up to that time, of the ground cracking open and an upscale villa sliding and tumbling down a steep embankment and into the surf. Impressive. It's sad to see Sharon Tate--so young and pretty--just three years before the Manson Gang got their hands on her. Miss Tate's character is skilled in many physical pursuits: trampoline and skydiving included. In one improbable scene, she saves Tony Curtis, James Bond-like, by strapping herself to the free-falling con-man. Miss Cardinale has the curves to match her rival, but she is straddled with shrill dialog and a cranky demeanor. Jim Backus plays himself and performs his "Mister Magoo" routine. I think the movie works so well because it perfectly captures the Southern California scene at a time when many things were changing--and not always for the best. The mid-sixties was the last gasp of a more innocent time and cinema. View after midnight--it rocks.

This is one of a multitude of sex comedies Tony Curtis starred in around this time in his career; incidentally, I had seen about half of it some years back (also on Italian TV) but had to abort the viewing due to a bad reception!

Anyway, if the film is at all remembered today, it is primarily for two reasons: it not only marked the cinematic swan song of a great director, but was also the official Hollywood introduction of the beguiling but ill-fated Sharon Tate. Two more (if lesser) claims to fame should be the undeniably funny Chaplinesque ‘house-teetering-on-the-edge-of-a-cliff’ climax and the fact that leading rock band The Byrds perform the film’s rather charmingly light title tune.

Patchy and somewhat hesitant overall, it is nonetheless engaging and occasionally delightful; the satirical barbs aimed at L.A.’s muscle beach mentality (especially David Draper, the amiably moronic blonde hulk who is Tate’s boyfriend), the then-current astrological fad and businessmen indulging in extramarital activities often hit the target – even if with a much blunter edge than in Mackendrick’s previous film with Curtis, SWEET SMELL OF SUCCESS (1957). Two other lively highlights of the film are the initial ‘meeting cute’ between Curtis and leading lady Claudia Cardinale (in which, as he tells her himself, she inadvertently manages to ruin his whole life in 30 seconds flat!) and the potentially disastrous sky-diving stunt performed by Tate and (unexpectedly) Curtis, which ends with both of them landing in his newly-inaugurated pool.

The film does benefit from a workmanlike cast: Curtis is in good form as an opportunistic young man who, while being compulsively pursued by the accident-prone Cardinale, becomes hopelessly infatuated with luscious, free-spirited beach girl Sharon Tate (her effortlessly sensual slow-motion exercises on the beach early in the film are quite disturbing to watch now when one realizes that she would die so horribly in less than two years’ time); Robert Webber is a swimming pool company executive driven to his wits’ end by lover Cardinale and the blackmailing schemes of Curtis, who soon shows his salesmanship skills by selling a pool to Jim “Mr. Magoo” Backus (playing himself) and a celebrity fortune-teller with the unlikely name of Madame Lavinia (played by famed ventriloquist Edgar Bergen).

While it is undoubtedly Mackendrick’s least (i.e. most inconsequential) film – and could well have been the reason why he left the profession and went into teaching – it’s a tribute to his mostly unsung genius that the film is as enjoyable as it is despite the evident flaws.