USA
, 115 min
Shown in 1981
CREDITS
- dir
-
Peter Bogdanovich
- prod
-
George Mofogen, Blaine Novak
- scr
-
Peter Bogdanovich
- cam
-
Robby Müller
- cast
-
Audrey Hepburn, Ben Gazzara, John Ritter, Colleen Camp, Patti Hensen, Sean Ferrer, Blaine Novak, Dorothy Stratten
-
COMMENTS
Peter Bogdanovich, John Ritter, others in person.
The pursuit of sophisticated film comedy has occupied the career of director Peter Bogdanovich for some time now and, with What’s Up Doc?, filmed in this city, and Paper Moon, he squarely hit the mark of box office success. Quite without warning, this delightful new film has all the makings of a witty classic, like a play by Marivaux, reset in contemporary New York. They All Laughed is a slightly madcap farce concerning sex and infidelity, or love’s labor’s won. Three private detectives who comprise the “Odyssey Detective Agency” are embroiled in a juxtaposition of affairs while trailing women suspected of adultery by their respective husbands. Since one of the erring wives, Angela, is played by Audrey Hepburn, it is conceivable that one of the sleuths, Russo (Ben Gazzara), would become a pursuer in the literal sense, and his colleagues are equally distracted by other pulchritudinous quarry. The romantic sextet is complicated by the intervention of jealous girlfriends, including a wisecracking country-western singer; a sassy taxi driver who lusts after Russo; and a sensual office receptionist at the agency. What enlivens the proceedings are the realistic characterizations, all very ingratiating people with whom the spectators can identify, and Bogdanovich’s obvious sense of fun in delineating the personalities of Russo’s sidekicks, for both of John Ritter’s collegiate clumsiness and Blain Novak’s querulous hippie-views are hilariously drawn. Finally, They All Laughed proves that semi-bedroom farce can be done with taste and visual elegance. It is the work of a true cinephile, observing the foibles of big-city jokesters with malicious but compassionate subtlety.
—Albert Johnson
FACTOID #80
The globetrotting thespian Anthony Quinn attended the 1969 San Francisco International Film Festival in support of the Opening Night film The Secret of Santa Vittoria, in which he played the half-drunk mayor of an Italian hamlet, protecting his town’s wine collection from German soldiers.
