Review of The Carpetmaker Girl (1953) by Kelly H — 06 Apr 2016

This is about as unfunny as a farce can get. The whole enterprise has a sour taste. I saw this when it first opened in 1981,and then again recently. The cast consists mostly of elderly male stars who play interchangeable characters like Hollywood producers, directors, etc.

For complicated and unconvincing plot purposes, a wholesome Julie Andrews-like-star named Sally Miles must bare her breasts in her latest movie, a hastily-remade mishmash that tries to turn a family musical into a soft port epic.

What fun! There is nothing inventive or theatrical in this enterprise, the making of the movie within the movie. Julie Andrews is surprisingly boyish and mostly absent. There are plenty of pratfalls and car chases, bumbling cops, Lesbian agents, and other cliché's that were already tired in 1981.

A majority of the scenes are among the male actors, and take place in offices or living rooms. This film happened to have been made during a time I was living in Hollywood, and star-studded parties in Malibu beach houses are very familiar to me.

It wasn't as thrilling as it sounds, and this film evokes that. Anyone who has lived in Hollywood knows that there is a stillness that hovers over the town, sometimes almost a deadness. This movie captures that.