Acapulqueno

A pleasant and entertaining tale of Edwardian skulduggery, based on characters created by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle but somewhat deficient in the charm of the originals. The rather flimsy plot depends on a number of highly unlikely twists and at least one impossible situation: in the late Victorian and early Edwardian eras -- that is to say, before World War I, which changed everything, parents who lost a child wore deep mourning for at least nine months followed by half-mourning for another three. During deep mourning women wore absolutely nothing not made of black crepe. Men wore plain black suits with black armbands. They certainly would not have been wearing formal dress to attend a gala and to dance.

Directed by Walter Mathau's son Walter, this is a superb adaptation of on one of Truman Capote's best stories about how Southern misfits in the 1930's help each other survive. Both Piper Laurie and Sissy Spacek, as the wealthy Talbo sisters, are perfectly cast and neither has ever been better. Walther Mathau, under his son's direction, in his most sympathetic roles, plays a retired judge. Every member of the spectacular cast is completely understandable: Jack Lemon and Mary Steenburgen are a pair of hilarious but unrelated con-artists. Nell Carter is the Talbo sister's very feisty cook, Joe Don Baker is the bumbling sheriff, Charles During the preacher, and Roddy McDowall is the gossipy barber. Look for Doris Roberts (Ray Romano's 'mom') as Mrs. Richards and for the director himself, Charles Mathau, as a barbershop regular.