The Phynx

Nice to see the old TV Stars from the 50s and 60s but the movie overall is not worth watching for any other reason. It was nice to see actors like Clint Walker and Johnny Weismuller on the screen once again. The movie, however, has no character to it what so ever.

I finally bought a copy of this film on DVD from an online seller, and it is truly dreadful. It has a running time of 81 minutes but it felt like 4 hours. I only bought it to see the many cameo appearances of stars young and old, but some of them are so brief that you have to watch every second of the film to catch them. Richard Pryor introduces himself and then he's gone! The best part of the film is at the end when Pat O'Brien is reunited with former Dead End Kids Leo Gorcey and Huntz Hall. Leo looks positively ancient, even though he was only 51 at the time. He died of liver failure shortly after shooting his scenes. His heavy drinking really took its toll. The writing on this film is horrendous, and the acting is worse than any Ed Wood film. I completely agree with Warner Brothers' decision to shelve this film and never release it, even though they probably spent a good deal of money to make it. It's an embarrassment and painful to watch. I hope to someday see Jerry Lewis' never-released "The Day the Clown Cried," another legendary bad film, so I can compare it to "The Phynx."

If The Monkees are QVC-peddled diamonique to The Beatles flawless diamonds, then The Phynx are plastic, made in China, children's jewelry sold in large bins at the Dollar Tree store.

This bizarre 1970 musical comedy is very obviously designed to cash in on the success of the Pre-Fab Four but it's so bad it succeeds only in falling well short of that less than ambitious goal.

The Phynx are a manufactured pop group, comprising 4 minimally talented, totally charisma-free young men, who are put together by the SSA - Super Secret Agency - with the intention of infiltrating Albania and rescuing a bunch of American celebrities who have been kidnapped by the country's communist dictator.

Are you still following me?

The Phynx is badly written, poorly acted trash that doesn't even rise to the redeeming level of kitsch. This leaden satire is less funny than the least amusing 'Saturday Night Live' sketch, and Mike Stoller and Jerry Leiber - the men who wrote 'Jailhouse Rock,''Love Me' and 'King Creole' for Elvis - should be ashamed at the musical tripe they served up for The Phynx to sing.

But still I stuck with it and the reason was the supporting cast list. The kidnapped celebrities are actual celebrities! Director Lee H.Katzin has rounded up a 1970 Who's Who of old time Hollywood stars still upright,breathing and willing to prostitute themselves for a final chance to grasp for even a tiny portion of their former fame.

Cinema's most famous Tarzan and Jane, Johnny Weissmuller and Maureen O'Sullivan are reunited for one brief scene; tiresome Bowery Boys Leo Gorcey and Huntz Hall rehash thirty seconds of their tiresome schtick; and there's blink and you'll miss 'em appearances by Joan Blondell, Dorothy Lamour, Busby Berkeley, Andy Devine, Butterfly McQueen, Rudy Vallee, Edgar Bergen, George Jessel, Ruby Keeler, Joe Louis and even KFC founder Colonel Sanders!

Their plight as fodder in this third rate production is best summed up by Warner Bros veteran Pat O'Brien, who wearily turns to Marilyn Maxwell during the final chase scene (in a turnip wagon) and says "If only I'd played the other part I'd be in Sacramento right now (as Governor of California) and Ronald Reagan would be here." It's meant as a joke but the expression on O'Brien's face and the tone of his voice suggests otherwise.

A monumental embarrassment to everyone involved, The Phynx is about as close to unwatchable as it gets without actually turning off the TV.

Check out more of my reviews at http://thefilmivejustseen.blogspot.com/

Hollywood tried so hard to assimilate the new hippie movement in their TV shows and movies and usually got it way wrong. so many films failed to do the "mix", SKIDOO, I LOVE YOU ALICE B. TOKLAS, etc.

The Phynx boasts a huge cast of Hollywood idols and can actually stand alone on that basis! Old stars, solo, or with their partners, are "relocated" to a huge estate, held hostage by the supposed "new" generation of entertainer...and indeed, when James Brown and 1969-70 entourage arrive, as ambassadors of the new music industry, we are impressed.

Songwriters Leiber and Stoller wrote the songs for this bizarre experiment and none are any good. That's why James Brown should have done a song or two from his own catalogue. OK, OK...................

Getting' back to those "old" stars: there are many here which justify the proverbial price of admission. I bought the DVD for the 1970 version of Gorcey and Hall. No laffs. But a gas to behold, so many years later!

Well, I finally caught up with the true rarity entitled "The Phynx" (1970). In this rock and roll/secret agent spoof, many American celebrities have been disappearing after visiting the Communist country of Albania, and the U.S. government has decided to rescue them and put a stop to this. Their super computer, MUTHA, suggests forming a rock band that will be invited to play in Albania; the members of the band will be trained secret agents who will do their best to get the celebs released. Thus, four teenagers are selected and given the necessary musical and secret agent training. Dubbed The Phynx, the band does eventually prove a smash and gets invited to play in Albania. Anyway, this picture is truly a one-of-a-kind experience, with any number of goofy gags and fairly groovy rock numbers (by the famed songwriting team of Leiber & Stoller!). But its claim to fame today surely has to be the number of guest stars who pop up in cameo roles throughout the film; not since "It's a Mad Mad Mad Mad World" has any film boasted so many celebs! Thus, look at who pops up here: Michael Ansara, George Tobias, Joan Blondell, Ultra Violet, Patty Andrews (of The Andrews Sisters), Edgar Bergen, James Brown, Xaviar Cugat, Andy Devine, Rona Barrett, Busby Berkeley, Dick Clark, Leo Gorcey, Huntz Hall, Louis Hayward, George Jessel, Ruby Keeler, Dorothy Lamour, Guy Lombardo, Joe Louis, Trini Lopez, Butterfly McQueen, Pat O'Brien, Maureen O'Sullivan, Richard Pryor, Martha Raye, Harold "Oddjob" Sakata, Colonel Sanders, Ed Sullivan, Jay Silverheels, Rudy Vallee AND Johnny Weissmuller. Whew! Pretty amazing, right? The film was directed by somebody named Lee H. Katzin and in all is as mind boggling a 90 minutes as you're ever likely to come across. A recommended time capsule, to be sure!