O Leão Está Solto

...which is because it is a complete farce from start to finish. In spite of the fact that the script includes a lion roaming about free in a hotel, a bit of a mad - okay more like eccentric - scientist, the alleged devouring of an older gentleman, a jailbreak, and a combined vigilante/ police man and lion hunt, there is zero stress in the entire film.

Parts of it are pure 60's "hey the production code is gone, let's go wild!" (wild for 1965, that is) stuff that really is pretty tame today as far as sexual content is concerned, including a honeymooning couple that winds up with everyone in the hotel sleeping in their room. This is the last straw for the bride who, as she leaves her new husband says "If mom and dad had started out this way I wouldn't even have been born!" There is a host of talented character actors in the background, such as Edward Andrews as the hotel proprietor, Howard Morris as a guest who thinks that the lion's roar he hears is from neglecting his cat - he even is the first to see the lion, but everyone just assumes it is drunken delusions. Then there is Jim Backus as a rather incompetent police sergeant.

The basic storyline is that Dr. Daniel Potter (Tony Randall) as a researcher at the Braden institute is running from the police who want to impound "Fluffy", a lion who Potter has trained to be as tame as a housecat. In fact, most of the trouble is caused by Potter referring to Fluffy as "his cat". He checks into a residence hotel that is completely booked, but the jet setting Janice Claridge (Shirley Jones) is going to be gone for the night and gives Potter and "his cat" her room. From there the misunderstandings and mayhem begin.

Recommended if you just want to laugh and need zero stress and conflict in your cinema entertainment for once.

I love Tony Randall movies and so after I finished watching another one of his delightful films (THE BRASS BOTTLE), I decided to give FLUFFY a try. After all, I liked him in so many films and this one looked pretty cute...so I was bound to like it, right. No...no...no! In fact, I disliked it so much I couldn't even finish it.

The story is about a very eccentric man, Professor Potter (Randall)...too eccentric to be believable in any way. The story begins with security guards at the university breaking into Potter's lab and trying to confiscate his lion, named 'Fluffy'. They don't realize that Fluffy is very tame and sweet and they don't give Potter any time to explain. So, Potter is forced to use their dart guns on them and make his escape with Fluffy. He then checks in with his pet to a rooming house--all the while they don't realize the pet is a lion. And again and again, folks ALMOST see Fluffy when it escapes and walks about doing nothing in particular. And, Potter seems a bit oblivious to the fact that a lion running about town might cause a few problems.

The problem with the film is that they didn't make Potter so much eccentric as a complete idiot. Again and again, he could explain things simply but doesn't and every problem that arises seems completely contrived. Rises, at its best, to the level of a sub-par 1960s Disney film but never better. Tons of broad humor, overreactions and stupid special effects (such as phone in champagne basket and short- circuiting switchboard). Just dumb.

One of my favorite movies of all time I know if is a little corny but who doesn't love a little core every once in a while as a kid things are supposed to be corny as an adult it is fun to remember childhood joys. If you have never seen this movie take the time to watch it especially if you have kids let them watch it with you and then watch them. If they love it as much as I did you are in for a treat. Old movies can be so fun and enjoyable. You also can avoid the as my mother would say the garbage that you find in a lot of the movies today if you are looking for a good whole some movie this is one to watch. I only wish I knew where to find it now.

One of my most fondest memories growing up. My dad and I would watch it every time it came on the television and it is one of my favorites and always has been. It is clean, funny, and just a great cast and the lion is priceless. It would be wonderful if it would be released on DVD. I have been looking for this movie on the internet for years now and have come to realize I am not going to find it. If anyone has not seen it well, it is a must see movie. It is fun and heart filled and something you can watch with the whole family. They just don't make movies like they used to. I am hoping one day to have the experience of watching it with my daughter as well. Never has a movie held so much meaning to me and even more so since I lost my day and I would love to be able to watch it once again with my mom and daughter. It is a great movie, must see, two thumbs way up.

To many fans, Tony Randall will only and always be Felix Unger, but in this movie he plays Professor Daniel Potter who much to the concern of everyone around him does experiments with his pet lion, Fluffy. Filled with many of those recognizable faces from the Seventies, such as Edward Andrews, Howard Morris, Jim Backus and Dick Sargent, the movie's most enduring star is the lion who upon sight of him sends many a person irrationally running for their lives. Randall is a hoot as he stands by the lion indifferent to the events and saying, "He's harmless I tell you. Harmless." Shirley Jones is on hand as Randall's lady love unsure of his feelings as she races by his side as Fluffy runs loose and unattended in a hotel freaking out everyone who sees him. "He's harmless. Wouldn't harm a fly !" insists Randall. There is a nonsensical and silly aspect to this movie, but it's charming aspect comes from Fluffy's innocent to the hysteria he unknowingly causes and the confusion that Randall knows he's creating. You have to see it for the man who rides the lion's back.