This full-colour picture is a real epic compared to Sarno’s normally budget-constrained work. Although slightly overlong, it allows a more elaborate mise-en-scene than usual, with another complex plot filled with power-playing ploys and unexpected revelations between the jaded characters. As in many of his early entries, Sarno’s subtext scathingly critiques the bourgeois mores of early 60s suburbia, and more specifically satirizes the button-down, wheeler-dealer, martini-lunching business world of the “gray flannel suit” era. It’s like the subterranean side of the Doris Day/Rock Hudson oeuvre. Excellent acting all around, and the colour (faded as it is in the video print) really emphasizes the seemingly staid Jan Nash’s steely, betraying eyes. With only a few glimpses of nudity, it’s hard to imagine how these films were sold to the grindhouses, but they certainly are valuable time-capsules for those of us inured to ‘Father Knows Best’ and ‘Leave It to Beaver’.
Reviews
There are no reviews yet.