A successful movie director makes the most expensive film in his career and it becomes a huge flop. He tries to salvage his career by reshooting the film as an erotic production, where its f... Read allA successful movie director makes the most expensive film in his career and it becomes a huge flop. He tries to salvage his career by reshooting the film as an erotic production, where its family-friendly star takes her top off.A successful movie director makes the most expensive film in his career and it becomes a huge flop. He tries to salvage his career by reshooting the film as an erotic production, where its family-friendly star takes her top off.
- Awards
- 1 win & 4 nominations
- Director
- Writer
- All cast & crew
- Production, box office & more at IMDbPro
Storyline
Did you know
- TriviaFinal theatrical movie of William Holden (Tim Culley). Shortly after completing this movie, he slipped and fell in his living room, cutting his head open, and bled to death. He had been drinking heavily.
- GoofsWhen Felix is in the Cadillac in the garage the car has a TV antenna on the trunk. When the car goes through the wall of the garage, it's missing the antenna and indeed is a different (fewer options) model of Cadillac.
- Quotes
Dr. Irving Finegarten: Hello Polly.
Polly Reed: Irving!
Dr. Irving Finegarten: You look like an anemic turtle.
Polly Reed: You're gonna let that SHYSTER on?
Dr. Irving Finegarten: I could sue you for calling me that, Polly! A shyster is a disreputable lawyer. I'M a QUACK!
Mulligan came in for a lot of criticism as the frantic film producer who after a string of hits, totally loses his mind. So much so that his movie star wife, Julie Andrews, is leaving him. The first half of the film involve some hilarious attempts at suicide, the best being when he falls through the floor of his beach house trying to hang himself and flattens nosy gossip columnist Loretta Swit.
Julie Andrews is basically cast as a movie star like Julie Andrews who gained her fame and popularity with wholesome entertainment like Mary Poppins and The Sound of Music. During an orgy/party that his good friend, cheerfully hedonistic director William Holden has at Mulligan's house while on suicide watch, Mulligan gets a brainstorm and decides to redo his last G rated film as soft core porn with Julie Andrews displaying her glockenspiels.
Mulligan gets crazier and crazier as the film now becomes a battle between him and studio head Robert Vaughn for control of the film. It all ends quite wildly indeed.
A lot of people say Richard Mulligan overacts and chews the scenery. But that's what the part calls for. He no more does it here than Robin Williams or Jonathan Winters at their zaniest. A little fine tuning in his performance might have helped, but the director who should have done this was busy elsewhere.
Instead of Blake Edwards doing it himself, he should have begged Billy Wilder to do this film. S.O.B. is the greatest Billy Wilder film that Billy Wilder never directed.
Besides those mentioned such luminaries as Shelley Winters, Robert Webber, Marisa Berenson, Stuart Margolin, Craig Stevens, Paul Stewart, Larry Hagman and Robert Loggia play various Hollywood types. But the best by far in the cast is Robert Preston as the Doctor Feelgood to the stars. It's a variation on the conman Harold Hill he played in The Music Man only he's far more cynical. When Preston is on screen, he dominates the film.
S.O.B. was the farewell performance of William Holden. Knowing the senseless way Holden died after completing the film, you twinge when you hear him cheerfully tell Richard Mulligan how he drank enough booze to kill a dozen healthy livers. Still S.O.B. was a good film to leave on for him.
I enjoy what Blake Edwards did with the talented bunch he assembled for this film. It would have been perfect if Billy Wilder had done it though.
- bkoganbing
- Jan 30, 2007
- Permalink
Details
- Release date
- Country of origin
- Language
- Also known as
- S.O.B. Sois honrados bandidos
- Filming locations
- Santa Monica, California, USA(Outside Mortuary - Since Demolished)
- Production companies
- See more company credits at IMDbPro
Box office
- Budget
- $12,000,000 (estimated)
- Gross US & Canada
- $14,867,086
- Gross worldwide
- $14,867,086
- Runtime2 hours 2 minutes
- Sound mix
- Aspect ratio
- 2.35 : 1