La Grande Cuisine

This one is going to make it to the roster of all-time great comedies. Its sheer classiness and the elegant level of its wit on both the verbal and visual level - so different from the crassness and vulgarity of much American comedy (the more so in recent years) - made me suspect an English touch, and sure enough, the Canadian-born director, Ted Kotcheff, made his career in the UK. Jacqueline Bissett is a delight to the eye and George Segal makes a charmingly roguish screen presence; they work wonderfully off each other. But Robert Morley - perfectly cast - runs away with the whole movie with his acerbically comic portrayal of the gourmet-cum-gourmand Max. The wonderfully funny food references throughout, and the gorgeous cinematography of European locales put the icing on this comic eclair. And, just for good measure, first-time viewers will have a devil of a time trying to decide just who is killing the great chefs of Europe. This ranks right up there with the best of the Ealing Studios work. A must-see for connoisseurs of literate comedy.

This is one of those rare comedies that doesn't become dated and stale over time. The European air of this film keeps the pacing smooth and interesting and fortunately George Segal doesn't try to take over the picture. Robert Morley is fantastic in a tour de force performance as the world's largest and greatest food snob-a total snot who lives very moment filled with food, dry wit and sarcasm. The food looks great and one should definitely have snacks handy when indulging in this fine film. As for the whodunit? When the killer was finally revealed I had guessed wrong and enjoyed every moment. I should note that this fine comedy can often be difficult to locate for viewing in the USA and I have never seen a sharp DVD print -- still this film will make you smile and laugh and is well worth seeking out.

The mystery is the thing.

Some of the greatest Chef's of England and the Continent are being murdered all around and no one knows why. But everyone certainly knows how for all of them, whoops, wont tell more don't want to spoil any second of this movie. But yep this is a real serious murder mystery alright! The fun is in the timing, these are some of the best actors of the times. Finest of their times to be honest.

Whether handsome, beautiful or ugly, that is immaterial. They are all consummate actors, ACTING and creating the characters we either grow to love, hate, loath or find funny as hell. BUT no matter how we react to them, they do what great actors do, they make the viewers really believe in them.

The comedy and the black humor are a mix of Keystone Cops and Burns and Alan craziness. Take it for the fun it is and enjoy the movie with friends. A party is in order for this one, good wine, cheeses, fancy deserts and a little sinister fun.

I loved this delightful farce, when it came out in the theaters, decades ago. Segal, Bisset, and Morley, are a joy to watch. I waited for years fro the DVD format to hit the shelves. What a disappointing experience. The disc is not letterbox, nor closed captioned, there is NO Menu, and looks no better than a VSH tape. There is a disclaimer, in fine print, that the DVD will only play on DVD "Play only" devices, and may not play on your PC. WD cheaped out on this product. The story is filled with fine foods, kitchen antics, and rapid fire funnies. It was filmed on location all over Europe. The grizzly murders,are shocking. The many characters are played broadly, but then this a comedy. Well worth your time.

I once had a friend argue that a mystery was only good the first time, but a comedy was always funny. While I don't completely agree with this line of thinking-Rene Clair's And Then There Were None, being one of my favorite films that I have returned to many times-I do see the logic in the argument. Fortunately, screenwriter Peter Stone and director Ted Kotcheff apparently felt the same way when adapting Nan and Ivan Lyons novel, Someone Is Killing the Great Chefs of Europe, for the screen.

While the mystery angle is played up more in the film than the source novel-where the killer's identity is revealed before the halfway point in the book-it really isn't central to the proceedings, and is mostly there to move the narrative forward by giving the characters someplace to be and something to do. And that is really the strength of this film: the characters. As almost every reviewer has, rightly, pointed out, Robert Morley's Max Vandeveer dominates the film with his acid quips and unapologetic pomposity, but the rest of the supporting cast do not let the production down, delightfully playing up the eccentricities of the inhabitants of the world of haute cuisine. Neither do our two stars, George Segal and Jacqueline Bisset, though the demands of their roles don't really call upon them to stretch much outside of their comfort zones.

Interestingly, director Kotcheff ha sited the screwball comedies of the 1930's as inspiration, specifically name checking Howard Hawks' classic Bringing Up Baby. I would venture that Who is Killing the Great Chefs of Europe? Has much more in common with a later Hawks film, the brilliant His Girl Friday. The character of Segal's Robert Ross is very much akin to Cary Grant's Walter Burns and like Rosalind Russell's Hildy Johnson, Bisset's Natasha O'Brien finds herself being drawn back into the orbit of her somewhat conniving ex-husband, despite herself.

While not likely to have anyone rolling in the aisles, Who is Killing the Great Chefs of Europe? Has wit in abundance, and is a film that can easily, and frequently, bring a smile to the face, and be pulled off the shelf for a rewatching without fear that the proceedings will have gone stale.

As a side note, after years of living with the dull and unremarkable presentation of the more than decade old Warner Archive DVD-R, I was very excited by the film's recent-and much overdue-release on Blu-Ray by Bavaria Media. I am pleased to report that this new version is brighter, cleaner, sharper and altogether a more pleasing viewing experience than the Warner's. Much of the film was shot at the Bavaria Studios in Munich, and I assume that accounts for Bavaria Media's restored HD release. Oddly, as given the source one would have expected this to come out in European Region B, this Blu-Ray release appears exclusive to Japan. The good news is, for those interested, the Japan BD disc is Region A coded, and available from a number of online sources, including Amazon.jp.