Smile

A wickedly humorous send-up of small town boosterism, in which the junior chamber of commerce talks into mechanical dogs for food, turns on artificial birds for the sounds of nature, and substitutes a relentless smile for genuine feeling. Where also: just thinking you're having fun is more important than the real thing, and upbeat cliché becomes a way of life. Suddenly, into this hothouse arrives a tacky version of that crown jewel of artificiality, the beauty pageant, an event sure to drive everything into warp speed, which it does, but with surprisingly low-key results. The film avoids outright cynicism by humanizing the teen-age contestants, who are, after all, also products of small town America. Nevertheless, the script makes the disconnect clear: ritualized behavior has benumbed genuine emotion. The boosters have lost their inner selves, as will the girls if they continue on the contestant path. Amidst a uniformly fine cast stands Nicholas Pryor, whose portrayal of a desperate drunk looks so authentic, it shakes up the entire movie. A holdout from the deadening groupthink, he simply can't cope with the surroundings. Yet it is his emotional depth, from hangdog expression to slumping carriage, by which the rest of the community is measured. There's an undercurrent of the rebellious 60's running through this film, and I suspect it sank quickly because popular tastes were turning away from ironical characters named "Freelander". Nonetheless, a revival of this neglected gem is long overdue, not only for its often surprisingly subtle humor, but for the continuing relevancy of the message. However, don't look for it at your nearest chamber of commerce meeting.

Extremely smart little satire that uses a state beauty pageant as a microcosm for a stinging look at American values, with hypocrisy rampant and greed triumphant. Writer Jerry Belson delineates his characters very carefully, so that we know whom to side with and whom to despise, and the nearly no-name cast portrays them brilliantly. Talented Joan Prather is the contestant we most identify with, decent, but slowly being corrupted as the urge to win overtakes her, and Michael Kidd is the semi-big-time choreographer who at first seems callous and unlikable but turns out to be merely seeing, and telling, it like it is. There's some too-easy comedy as we view the contestants' terrible talent competition entries, but at the end we've seen a remarkably thorough put-down of American values circa 1975. (Maybe it didn't get more attention because its utter honesty and accuracy about the American way of winning, a pet theme of the director's, made people uncomfortable.) The final scene, in the police car, is just a perfect wrap-up.

So rarely do we find such a dark and acidic commentary filmed in such an exquisitely light fashion. "American Beauty" is an example of success in this genre, but the relatively obscure "Smile" reigns supreme.

It lays bare all the emptiness and hypocrisy of suburban America relentlessly and without mercy, and yet somehow manages to keep itself funny and bright and rarely deals with its subject matter with an overt contempt or scorn.

"Agent 99" Barbara Feldon is superb as the veneer ice-queen teen beauty pageant coordinator -- all diplomacy and smiles glossing over a charred and empty soul. (She greets the dog with smiles and kisses then ignores the husband.) Likewise, Bruce Dern portrays his vapid community leader role with perfect candor, and it becomes delicious to see him question what he perceived as the status quo.

A truly classic and trail-blazing film, well directed and edited and brilliantly written and acted. Such a shame it remains so obscure and unknown. This is one of my top five favourite films and becomes richer and more intricate with each viewing.

And I will never hear Nat King Cole sing the title song again and not picture the strained and pained perma-grins as the opening shot pans across the hopeful beauty contestants.

Director Michael Ritchie made two films in the seventies that nailed the suburban existence, not just of Southern California, but of America right on the head.

While Bad News Bears was a deserved box office hit, the under-recognized Smile is the better movie...and that's saying a lot as I adore them both. Having seen the recently released Thank You For Smoking and its lame attempt at broad satire it made me reflect about what made Smile so great. Ritchie genuinely cares for his characters, making them sympathetic instead of one dimensional cardboard cut-outs which would have been very easy to do. The many characters Ritchie focuses on are human, with all the foibles that entails, so while it may be easy to laugh at the beauty pageant contestants and their problems, you do it with a touch of guilt because they are so earnest in their attempt to win respect from not only the judges, but the choreographer (Michael Kidd), the den mother (Barbara Feldon), and ultimately themselves.

To mock them is to mock yourself for rooting for your favorite girl at the film's conclusion which fittingly, as it turns out, doesn't matter anyway.

Now that's good satire.

A truly under appreciated gem.

As with all the great episodic ensemble films (If..., Fame, Nashville, M*A*S*H)it's the little touches that makes this film quite so deliriously wonderful e.g.: The wide-eyed girl's nervousness of the orchestra; the cop's recapture of Little Bob's two accomplices; Maria's expression as the winners of the pageant are being announced; "...and that girl had a wooden foot"; and so on.

All of the cast are uniformly excellent, not one of them, major or minor, misses a beat.

This is one film that invites repeated viewings, until it almost feels like an old friend. I think that we should start a campaign to get this film the recognition it deserves.