S.O.B.

ONLY ONE MOVIE gives us the best all time performances from Richard Mulligan, Robert Webber and Loretta Swit, coupled with over-the-top turns by Julie Andrews, Robert Vaughn, William Holden and the amazing Robert Preston as Dr. Finegarten. ("Madam, a shyster is an unethical lawyer! *I* am a *QUACK*!")

Blake Edwards has been a huge success despite, not because of, the Hollywood system. In S.O.B. he throws it right in their faces, making an "A" movie filled with "A" stars that attacks, slices, dices, grinds up and flushes the moviemaking establishment.

Oh, this is a wicked, wicked film. Sam Goldwyn and the other old moguls would have sent a hit man after Edwards.

The performances and the story are too intense to describe piecemeal. This is the undefeated world champion dissection of Hollywood.

And FUNNY! What a HOWL! And Julie Andrews, what a TROUPER!

Dark satire about Hollywood; funny at times, but, as others have noted, uneven. A tune-up for Blake Edward's next movie, Victor/Victoria, but worth watching for Robert Preston's very amusing performance alone...

Next to Victor/Victoria, S.O.B. is probably my favorite Blake Edwards film. I'm not a great fan of his movies, but when his films are funny, they're usually hilarious. This movie has its fair share of laugh out loud moments that more than make up for some of the slow and less-well-scripted parts. It features a number of wonderful, if sometimes over-the-top, performances by many well-known performers. Most of the scenery chewing is very well in tune with the theme of this Hollywood harpooning. Given the ever-increasingly cynical nature of movie producing, some of S.O.B.'s elements even seem quaint.

The Viking send-off is one of my all-time most memorable movie scenes, and the fact that this is also William Holden's last role gives this section an added air of sadness.

I never quite figure out Blake Edwards as a filmmaker. He had a side that was as sophisticated and poignant as it was funny. Think "The Party" or the first Pink Panther, the other side was pure commercialism without any regard for its audience. SOB is a blatant example of that. Here he even uses his characters to badmouth "Last Tango In Paris" - The premise is terrific for a biting Hollywood satire but a premise is just a premise. He has to resort to farting during a sequence that should have been a comedy showstopper. Hey he got his wife to go topless and his wife was Julie Andrews - he must have heard cash registers in his mind like Richard Mulligan's character when he decides to put his wife in a porno=erotic something or other to make zillions of dollars. Richard Mulligan plays his suicidal director like he was in a Mack Sennett routine. Outrageous and I'm tempted to say, unforgivable. I must also confess that made me uncomfortable to see William Holden in the middle of it all. Shelley Winter, Robert Preston, Stuart Margolin, Larry Hagman, Robert Vaughn even a glimpse of the very young Rossana Archette keeps the film going. Loretta Swit - of MASH fame - plays a gossip columnist in such a way that may very well explain why she didn't have much of a film career. So, even if I'm aware I've spent a couple of hours with a bunch of characters I hope I never meet in real life, SOB deserves to be seen if only because it is a piece of film history solidly set on its day.

This is one of the greatest all-star comedies around. It focuses on the lives of Hollywood movie moguls and their decision to make a G-rated flop into an X-rated box-office smash. Featuring many comedic talents including Richard Mulligan, Robert Preston, Julie Andrews, Loretta Swit, Robert Loggia, Robert Vaughn, Robert Webber, William Holden and Shelley Winters. Also, look for a shocking scene depicting sweet and innocent Julie Andrews being not so Mary Poppin-like. A fast-moving great ride. I didn't want to get off. Highly recommended!