Dis-moi que tu m'aimes, Junie Moon

Moving film about three quirky characters (an epileptic, a paraplegic homosexual, and a facially-scarred party girl) living together in Massachusetts and the fish-market salesman who comes to love them. Otto Preminger directed, and he shows unexpected sensitivity towards just about everyone here, especially epileptic Ken Howard, a little boy in a man's body who gets great care by the filmmaker. Liza Minnelli is the film's star, and if she occasionally falls back on her trademark razzmatazz (with a little Broadway inflection), that's OK because Junie Moon is supposed to be wild and goosey, and Liza's theatrics are suitable. A sweet, slowly-paced story with humor and pathos picks up when the gang vacations at the beach and the gay man (celebrated stage director Robert Moore) falls for a stunning black beach boy (Fred Williamson, making a strong impression)--and yet ends up making love to an equally stunning black woman?? It doesn't all come together, but it does feature superb performances, melancholy folk music (which grows on you) and some extremely well-written and well-directed moments. Marjorie Kellogg penned the script from her own novel, and it is nearly verbatim (if you like one, try the other). An interesting attempt at something a little different--and it works. ***1/2 from ****

Junie Moon is an interesting friendship movie. Great unusual characters that band together and help each other. Junie becomes terribly disfigured from a mean man. She finds herself relying on other people with there own special problems. The characters will grow on you. Good acting, directing, and decent sets. It has been years since I saw it at the theater. I still have never forgot it because of the types of people and how they dealt with their personal problems. I would definitely buy it if it was available on DVD. Not appropriate for young children. Some adult situations. To bad it isn't out on video of any kind. Until it is check out "The Station Manager", another great unusual friendship movie.

Since I found out today that Pete Seeger died, I have been watching much of his work here on the internet. Earlier today, I watched a couple of his short films on Internet Archive. Now, I just watched this obscure major studio feature film from 1970 in which he appeared at the beginning and end singing the film's theme, "Old Devil Time". Those were his only appearances. The movie proper concerns the title character (Liza Minnelli) whose face is scarred and her friendship with a paraplegic (Robert Moore) and an epileptic (Ken Howard). I admit to being partially confused by much of the beginning especially when they did flashbacks and dream sequences. But, by the time they went on vacation, I was glad I stayed in viewing this. There are quite some funny and touching moments in those vacation scenes. It's too bad it's not available on DVD. I managed to watch this on YouTube. Directed by Otto Preminger and written by Marjorie Kellogg from her novel. So on that note, I recommend Tell Me That You Love Me, Junie Moon. R.I.P. Mr. Seeger

Three hurting people -- facially disfigured Liza Minnelli, paraplegic Robert Moore, and epileptic Ken Howard in his movie debut -- set up housekeeping.

Otto Preminger's well-meaning movie suffers from the same problems that afflicted his other late movies: a bit bloated, a bit clumsily edited (Kay Thompson shows up early, has an interesting couple of scenes, then disappears; Pete Seeger intermittently wanders around redwood trees singing "Old Devil Time"). Like D. W. Griffith and Cecil B. Demille before him, Preminger was not about to make small, intimate pictures -- not that he seemed to have any taste for those -- and that appears to be what Marjorie Kellogg's source novel called for. Instead, the audience is confronted with perfectly executed sequences that offer a cold, impatient and dispirited view of these three.

I'm a big Liza fan, and this is certainly an unusual departure for her, but I find "Junie Moon" hard to take seriously. My first exposure to it was on The Late Show; I thought then it was a camp classic right up there with "Valley of the Dolls". It has not aged well; Preminger's direction is ham-handed and obvious, and most of the performances are waaay over-the-top. Still, there are delights: Kay Thompson (way waaaaaaaay over-the-top in her last movie), Fred Williamson as a gigolo, Julie Bovasso "pantsing" Ken Howard and of course, Miss Minnelli, probably miscast but giving it her all. Here's another potential cult item languishing in Paramount's vaults that really should be released on video--my video store guy told me this is one of the most requested titles of movies not yet available. Who knew?