Sel, poivre et dynamite

Rat Packers Sammy Davis Jr. And Peter Lawford went to London to produce and star in this swinging, puke-a-delic spy spoof -- although their real aim, no doubt, was to make whoopee with all the mini-skirted dollybirds their middle-aged testes could stand.

Here's hoping the dear boys got their jollies; I know I did (metaphorically speaking, that is) watching them do the Frug, hit on chicks, and dodge bullets as they make like Matt Helm times two, commit fashion crimes unto God and Armani, hit on some more chicks, get cheeky with the coppers, and smoke, smoke, smoke themselves silly as if courting lung cancer was a badge of coolness.

Written by the great Michael Pertwee (LAUGHTER IN PARADISE, LADIES WHO DO) and directed by Richard Donner, who would later attempt to re-work the Salt and Pepper formula in LETHAL WEAPON, minus the groovilicious trappings. (Danny Glover in love beads? Perish the thought!)

An attempt to bring back the glory days of the Rat Pack. Both Davis and Lawford were middle aged men at that time. That's a little long in the tooth to play swinging cats in England. The plot is something about the men fighting off false charges after their hip night club is closed down. Full of jokes that probably would have worked better on Laugh-In, but then, maybe not.

I thought this would be worth watching: 60s caper movie with Rat Packers fallen on unhip times, trying to juggle their increasing fogeyness with the galloping modernity of the late 60s. I thought at least there'd be some unintentional ironic fun to be had in comparing their view of 60s London with Austin Powers, and that they'd both be similarly and amusingly inauthentic. But the fun stuff isn't there. There are too many scenes of Pete and Sammy in cheap hotel room/dressing room/cellar/police station shots, when Sammy Davis sings, it's not the knockout like Sweet Charity's Rhythm of Life that you're hoping for, and the copy of Crosby/Hope's Road series is never pulled off because neither of these blokes is a good enough comedian and the script is terrible anyway. It's like watching your dad trying to be funny.

Also, there aren't enough pretty girls in pretty 60s dresses. For a better version of this sort of thing, you'd be better off watching the Man from UNCLE movies. Robert Vaughan is a little bit of an old git in them, but he's self-mocking and sexy, Ilya Kuryakin is genuinely dishy, and they have proper party scenes with proper pretty frocks and just enough plot to pay attention to. This movie, not funny, not pretty, and more than a little embarrassing, isn't even good enough to laugh at.

I thought this movie was pretty hep and funny, given its age (came out in 1968). You can't go wrong in this goofy spy film set in swinging 60's London. Sammy plays Charles Salt and Lawson plays Chris Pepper, nightclub owners of the Salt and Pepper Club by night and spies by day. There's pretty girls and Sammy and Lawson getting into all sorts of trouble while still looking cool. Sammy is working his usual swinging self with numerous wardrobe changes and Lawson being the brains of the group. The duo work well together, especially during exchanges to each other. Some folks might not like this lighthearted film so it's not to be taken too seriously. Davis's song "i like the way you dance" features.

I find every movie by the Pack, or any of their subset, other than Sinatra alone, to be a sad waste of film.

This is yet another, where Sammy Davis, Jr and Peter Lawford pilot this shameless, dopey vehicle at missile speed right through the middle of my IQ. Gosh, please make this stop, or at least, make Peter Lawford stop smoking cigarettes for one second and stop ashing his butt on the nightclub floor.

There's one funny scene where Sammy performs a song and dance number with some go-go girls. He pretends not very well to play the guitar.

I couldn't get through the entire movie. Its on a low par with the dreadful Ocean's 11.