Toccarlo... porta fortuna

I was about 14 year old when my cousin told me he had seen a movie with my favorite actor, Roger Moore, set in Belgium. I would have believed him if he hadn't added that the end of the film was set in the castle of Rumbeke, the village my grand parents lived. That sounded just way to unreal. But he was right. 'That Lucky Touch' which was first going to be called 'Heaven save us from our friends' was shot entirely in Belgium (most of it in Brussels) and it's climax was shot in the forest of the castle of Rumbeke. I like this film. Living in the states, it gives me a warm feeling each time I see it. It makes me feel like being home again. My favorite scene is the one in which Roger Moore and Suzanne York are sitting in a cozy pub on the famous grand place in Brussels. Moore tells York that he wants to show her what Belgians do in the early morning hours ... they eat onion soup!?!?!? Hmm, what movies can teach you about your own national traditions.....

In an odd premise, the two romantic leads in That Lucky Touch are an arms dealer and a liberal journalist. Who would think to put that combination in a comedy? Roger Moore, in a very un-Bond-like role, plays the arms dealer who has no qualms about arming bad guys for potential WWIII. Susannah York is his neighbor who accidentally get locked out one night after a party. Of course, he's very accommodating, offering her to spend the night in his place. He disconnects his phone and pretends it's out of order, but his seduction fails when Susannah finds out his occupation. The rest of the film has a little bickering, a few jokes, and a bit of a quirky feel to it. I stuck in there for the supporting cast.

Shelley Winters steals the show early on in the movie, as she talks Susannah into binge-eating with her. "You're far too skinny to sleep alone," she says with both envy and a twinkle in her eye. It's because of little moments like that why I'll watch any movie with Shelley Winters. In another hilarious scene, Shelley calls her husband, big military general Lee J. Cobb, while he's busy planning important war strategies. She accidentally uses the presidential emergency line and excuses her faux pas by insisting her reason for calling is an emergency: she needs an extra officer attending her party that evening. And finally, when Lee goes on a quail hunting outing, she waves him off with a cheerful, "Tally ho! I'll be rooting for the birds." She and Lee make a cute couple, probably helped by their friendship from their early New York stage days.

If you love the cast, check this obscure 1970s romance out. It's not really that great unless you're invested in the actors. And I'll admit, if some other character actress was cast instead of Shelley, I might have picked another movie to watch instead.

Teaming York and Moore together again a year after 'Gold' must've seemed like a good idea at the time, but the people behind this film certainly didn't have 'that lucky touch' (ho ho).

This is a lame comedy, that veers from sentimentality to farce and goes all over the place in between. It is, at times very funny, but for the most part it is just dull. The performances go some way to saving it, but frankly it would've been a much better (and much funnier) film if the two lead characters had just got on together and left us to watch Lee J Cobb and Shelley Winters, who are both wonderful.

"That Lucky Touch" is a movie which, overall, is just okay. But it also has some wonderful moments...and for that reason it's well worth watching.

The film concerns an arms dealer (Roger Moore), a NATO general (Lee J. Cobb) and a pacifist reporter for the Washington Post (Susannah York). While you'd think the reporter would have little to do with either men, you'd be a bit mistaken. After going to a dinner party put on by the general, the reporter is locked out of her apartment...and this results in her asking a neighbor for help (the arms dealer). There is much more to the film than this....but the best moments, by far, are between the arms dealer and the lady reporter. A close second is the general's wife...who is hilariously ditsy (Shelley Winters).

The film has some slow moments and the story isn't always strong. But there are so many wonderful moments I cannot understand it's very low rating. Well worth seeing.

A British-West German romantic comedy; A story about an international arms dealer who clashes with a liberated journalist who is on an assignment to expose military malpractice. The film has a 1930s Hollywood convention for romance. Screwball comedies require a good pairing: the female dominates and the male's masculinity is challenged; a humorous battle of the sexes ensues. Moore provides amusement as an urbane, slightly rakish neighbour making overtures to Susannah York's feisty, pacifist feminist. Lee J. Cobb and Shelley Winters are another successful pairing providing amusement, though the war games farce was a bit strained as a comedy conceit. In the rom-com convention, the various intertwinings of the main characters should mean a romantic ending. While it has charm with its love-against-the-odds theme, plot gets in the way, and a second-rate farce leads to a stub of an ending with little romantic payoff. Visually, it had flair and style, and the art direction was first-rate, with some attractive locations.