Penélope

Pretty dumb comedy about neglected wife Natalie Wood becoming a kleptomaniac to get her husband's (Ian Bannen's) attention. She even sees a psychiatrist (a very annoying Dick Shawn) to try to be cured. Then she robs her husband's bank and things just get sillier...

This isn't a total bomb. It's beautifully photographed--I've never seen NYC look like this; the settings and costumes are incredible; Wood is just gorgeous and Bannen is handsome and actually quite amusing as her husband. But two things destroy this--the script and Shawn. Shawn is WAY over the top in his performance--he's not funny just annoying. The script is pretty poor--there are a few good parts here and there but most of the comedy is just BAD!!! Wood and Bannen give it their all but the material just isn't there. The rest of the cast just overacts (horribly). It leads to a "happy" ending which had me rolling my eyes.

So it's worth seeing for Wood, Bannen, the cinematography (letter boxing is a must) and some mildly humorous material. Otherwise--forget it. I give it a 6.

Enjoyed this slap-stick film which dealt with all kinds of crazy things that Natalie Wood,(Penelope Elcott) "Sex & The Single Girl",'64, managed to get involved with, in order to get the attention of her husband, a Bank Executive. There are lots of laughs in this film and Natalie Woods had just gotten a divorce from Robert Wagner when she made this film and still managed to give a great charming and sexy role, where she runs around in her bra and panties. Peter Falk,(Lt. Horatio Bixbee),"Columbo TV Series" plays a police officer and seems to be captivated by the wiggle of Penelope's body and takes exceptions to putting her in jail when she really commits a bad crime against her poor husband. It is rather sad to view this film and see a beautiful Natalie Wood and realize she had to die in such a horrible way in life.

This film is highly underrated. I have heard of how "Penelope" was a flop from other sources. I saw it on TCM today as one of the birthday tributes to Natalie Wood. To my surprise, I found this film highly entertaining. The dialogue was witty and funny. Love the humor. This is one of the comedic best of Natalie Wood! Dick Shawn, Peter Falk, and Ian Bannen, who played her analyst, a police detective, and her husband respectively, did a fantastic job as the three men who fell in love with Penelope. A very funny film, brilliant, brilliant film! I was not very fond of 60's humor, but I still found this film hilarious. Whether you are a fan of 60's comedies or not, I assure that you will enjoy it as much as I do.

I was 16 when this movie came out and completely overlooked it. I'm afraid I was more into the new wave at the Paris than this kind of thing at the mall.

I saw it 30 years later and was astounded by the beautiful and to my eye authentic documentation of New York City at a moment of awesome and perishable beauty--a phrase that describes equally well the amazing Natalie Wood. The screenplay is a failed attempt at a 60s 'modern' screwball comedy, but the film work and editing are wonderful, and the camera has loved very few people with the intensity it loves Natalie Wood who glows in the wonderful 60s fashions.

Alright so it's not the greatest film in the world BUT I must recommend it anyway especially to those fans of the fabulously fun era of the late 60's. That 60's vibe is evident throughout the film. And I was surprised to hear "Johnny" Williams aprapos and quality score complete with Penelope theme song. Natalie Wood as Penelope is stunning and is also featured on a vocal number at the local "beatnik" club (now you don't want to miss that do you?) Peter Falk is the detective on Penelope's trail previewing his future role as Columbo and there are also many recognizable actors of that era in the film as well. Natalie Wood was very depressed over the lack of appreciation for this film but regained her career momentum with the success of "Bob & Carol & Ted & Alice" 3 years later.