Those Lips, Those Eyes

Released in 1980, "Those Lips, Those Eyes" is a film I missed seeing at the time. In fact, I don't even remember it being in theaters, despite the fact that I went to many films around that time and I thought I had seen all of Glynnis O'Connor's films of that era. Either it was not promoted well or I gleaned from reviews that it was a real dud.

Having recently watched it, however, I find it is not without its charms. Written by David Shaber--who also wrote the screenplay for "The Warriors"--the film is a coming of age story about a young man who is studying pre-med in Ohio when he is exposed to the world of live theater.

Artie Shoemaker (Tom Hulce) knows nothing of the theater world when he takes a summer job handling props and scenery for a regional outdoor theater. As many who are exposed to the peculiar charms of the stage, Artie is enchanted. The male lead of the summer season is Harry Crystal--played by stage star Frank Langella. Harry seems like a guy who has it all together and is on top of the world. But Artie has much to learn.

During the summer, Artie learns about the magic, the dreams, the drama, and the heartbreak that accompany life onstage and backstage. He falls for a dancer, Ramona (Glynnis O'Connor), who personifies the illusions of love and the theater. He decides to drop our of school and become a playwright.

The film was shot at a Cleveland Heights outdoor theater venue and it feels genuine to the theater experience. The actors perform well, even if their parts are not too demanding. Four years after this film, Tom Hulce--also a stage star--will play the lead role in the amazing film "Amadeus".

This film's greatest allure for me is the roster of notable actors. Hulce, O'Connor and Langella did not appear in relatively many films between them, given the visibility of their careers around the time of this film.

The warmest, most engaging movie of its genre, Those Lips, Those Eyes, made me smile and cry as it reminded me of the work it takes to pursue a dream and the pain of disappointment. Hulce and Langella are superb and the story seems to write itself. A brilliant screenplay by David Shaber (one of my favorites! - see The Warriors and Nighthawks for more...) and beautiful sets filmed on location (I think) at the actual summer theater in which the story takes place. You can't see this movie and not want to drop everything and get into the theater! Please check this video out if you can find it.

This entertaining teen dramedy is a rare thing: a movie about show business that's an argument for the nobility of "normalcy". A pre-mumblecore indie that has many of that genre's pluses (naturalism, relatable emotions, clear goals) without its big minus: bad / no written dialogue. Hulce nails the wide-eyed naivete, but Langella is the scene-stealer; ridiculous, wise, unhinged, egotistical, & fragile. With a great ending, it's a solid little forgotten 80s sleeper that surpasses its amateurish moments.

And what is its genre? The backstage expose story; what theatrical life is really like behind those Broadway (and other) curtains. It certainly has a lot of competition: Singin' in the Rain both I and II (1929 and 1952), 42nd Street, Golddiggers of (You name the year.); Dames of 1934; Noises Off (1992) from the farcical side and A Star is Born I and II from the 1930s and the 1950s from the tragical side: not to mention Summer Stock of 1950: the list keeps rollin' along. So what makes this movie so special? And why are there so few comments about this stunningly great movie? Have so few people actually seen it? How amazing to see a younger Frank Langella pre-Dracula and pre-Frost-Nixon by 30 years! How amazing to see the fresh and talented Tom Hulce so pre-Amadeus! And yet another superb Stiller! What a wonderful line-up of talented people at their very best from so long ago! And such a script! Who was this David Shaber? So full of realistic disillusion and pathos compared to the usual sentimentality and feel-good comedy! As especially exemplified by the Star-Is-Born-like episode where the heroine achieves Broadway while the Langella character has to content himself with still another provincial tour.

Langella's subsequent hysterical and sadistic blowup against the star-struck Latin teacher and his granddaughter in which he vents his fury and frustration is just one of many fantastic and psychologically real moments in the film. (The Latin teacher and his love affair with backstage life certainly echo Marlene Dietrich and her seduced professor in The Blue Angel of 1929.) Another in the series of mercenary and cold-hearted agents like the late Kevin McCarthy who was preceded by Burt Lancaster in The Sweet Smell of Success (1957) and succeeded by Alan Alda in Clubland (2001) in movie history. The sexual liberation of the Hulce character recalls similar incidents in O'Neill's great comedy Ah, Wilderness.

And what a tribute to the vanished operettas of long ago: The Red Mill of Victor Herbert; Rose Marie and The Vagabond King of Rudolf Friml; The Desert Song of Sigmund Romberg etc. What satirical insertions of bits from the great plays like Romeo and Juliet. Tributes to the theater itself as expostulated by the star Langella. The richness and depth of this movie are simply endless. And to be saddled by such a title! Who could have an inkling of what this great movie is about from such a ridiculous and unsuggestive title? But on the other hand, what title could one have applied to such a magnificent drama which might have lived up to its stirring, emotional content?

PS: I just saw (2009) Frank Langella in his latest acting spectacular: as Richard Nixon in Frost-Nixon. How this great actor after 30 years simply goes from triumph to triumph!

"Who do you dream of? Hoot Gibson ... Howdy Doody? I'm talking about the *theater*!" [Harry Crystal]

Nothing beats a great stage show ... nothing! And Harry Crystal lives that belief. A stage actor still waiting for his big break, Harry brings the magic of live theater to a small town and to Artie Shoemaker (TOM HULCE) ... a young man who has big dreams (but just didn't know it until he met Harry).

With scenes and songs from many of America's classic musicals ... Those Lips, Those Eyes conveys both the ups and downs of the people that, for 2 hours, take us to a fantasy land, but who manage to keep that magic alive in their hearts all day long!

Like Artie ... once you've seen Those Lips, Those Eyes ... "You're hooked, kid!" [Harry Crystal]