That Lucky Touch

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.

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.....

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.

Perhaps when it came out, this movie could be watched as a light-hearted romantic comedy, but 30 years later, it's hard to buy a story about an international arms dealer selling automatic weapons to Saudis - and the 'spunky' feminist investigative reporter who loves to hate him - as a 'comedy', let alone a 'lighthearted' one.

The movie is marketed as an 'international adventure with Roger Moore', so you think you're getting a James Bond-type film with lots of action; instead, what you get is a slow-moving, heavy-footed piece of cheese - Swiss cheese, in fact, given the number of plot holes.

Moore plays arms dealer Scott, who finds himself living next door to an investigative journalist (played by Susanna York) in Brussels. He's in town to sell some hard-core weapons to the US military; she's in town to cover war games. I think he is supposed to be a charming-but-insincere international playboy, while she is supposed to be a highly principled feminist (!) just trying to get ahead in a man's world.

Unfortunately, the whole thing never really gets past the level of farce: it's just one stereotype after another. Her portrayal of 'feminism', for example, seems to consist entirely of shrieking about how terrible men are and storming off in a huff. And we never actually see her doing any 'reporting' at all, unless putting a piece of paper in a typewriter just before getting distracted by something (a phone call, a daydream) counts as 'reporting'.

Now this kind of stereotyped farce works fine when you've got lots of action, a fast-moving plot, evil villains, stylish art directing, great music, etc. But this movie hasn't got any of that. On top of which, the supporting actors don't seem to know whether they are in a comedy, a drama, or an action film.

Bottom line: Only for die-hard fans of Roger Moore or British films set in European countries during the 1965-75 period.

"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.