L'Encombrant Mr. John

Saw this years ago but saw it several times. Early sexy funny Shirley, hilarious Ustinov, Crenna when he was in top comedic form. Great fun. Maltin hated it so you know it had to have something going for it. Too bad it got trashed. Very offbeat & funny & appealing.

This movie was newly released, showing in a newly completed "rocking chair" theatre in Orlando FL. Only 15 then, had gone to FL by bus from NC, to visit a friend dying of cancer. We bought bright surfer shirts-a new rage, and went to see this movie at the new theatre. I obviously have a good time youthful impression connected with seeing his movie. The movie itself is a vague memory of a humorous football game, cute harem girls including the young Shirley McLaine, a neat railroad running around a palace, etc. While the acting quality etc. may not have sunk in at that time and age, it was a neat comedy I would love to see again. Wish it would be released on video. Even wish it might appear on TV sometime. Perhaps one day someone may have taped a televised showing and a copy may be available that way. Anyway, I think it was a pleasant comedy, in good taste, that anyone would enjoy.......Except for them celibate types at Notre Dame!!!

Only politically correct prigs and other humorless types will fail to enjoy this over-the-top farce. (Including some here, one of whom doesn't like "Michael" Myers, so consider the source.) The plot involves a dim U-2 pilot (Richard Crenna) who takes a wrong turn and lands in the oil-soaked desert domain of a zany sheik, a dippy journalist (Shirley MacLane) trapped in his harem, State Department bureaucrats, the Notre Dame football team, and other innocents who find themselves asea in the sand.

Everyone's insulted, so everyone should have a good time. Peter Sellers' Inspector Clouseau was classic, but Peter Ustinov's King Fawz is something else again. If you see "John Goldfarb" in your TV listings, gather your craziest crowd, pass the stash, and laugh away the evening on this crazy flick.

"John Goldfarb, Please Come Home" just might be my all-time favorite movie. I first saw it when I was about 10 and made sure to check it out whenever it ran in those pre-cable days. As a middle-ager who picked up a MAD magazine/Stan Freberg-style sense of humor at age 6 and never outgrew it, "John Goldfarb" covered all the bases- whoops, this was a football movie! The great Peter Ustinov truly carried it as the goofy, model-train-obsessed sheik, and the closing football game was Marx Bros. quality. This one's got everything a fan of pre-"Saturday Night Live" satire can ask for, plus it had Shirley MacLaine before she went into orbit. A young John Williams did the funny score (including the Notre Dame fight song played belly-dancer style). I was just the right age to appreciate the presence of sitcom regulars like Crenna and Backus (I still love "Gilligan"). I'd give anything to find "John Goldfarb" on video. And the kicker? It was written by William Peter Blatty, who scared the daylights out of us with "The Exorcist" a decade later! I prefer this Blatty, thank you. "John Goldfarb, Please Come Home"- the perfect off-the-wall movie for MAD/ Freberg/"Gilligan"/Marx fans of all ages. If you know and love this picture, you're on my A-list for life!

I was fortunate enough to see this movie recently for the first time.I could not understand why we had not seen it in the UK on tv since it's general release in 1965.Being a Shirley Maclaine fan,I was looking forward to it.Was I surprised!I found it highly amusing,often laugh out loud funny.Peter Ustinov is incredible in this.I think the director J.Lee Thompson is English,and maybe that's something Ustinov responded to.The scenes with the animals in particular,are outrageously funny.Being a Brit,I'm afraid to say I don't really understand American football,but in this movie you don't have to.Sit back for 90 minutes,suspend belief,if you can,think your way back to the 60's and just enjoy.My son who's into modern movies and the new stars,saw some of this and laughed out loud.It's wonderful,crazy fun and not to be taken seriously.John Goldfarb,Please Come Back.Soon.8/10