Oh What a Cad
Where ever he goes TV presenter Robert Danvers (Peter Sellers) finds the press follows him and so do the eyes of many a young woman who know full well that he has a reputation for being a love them and leave them scoundrel who believes no one is off limits even of they are about to be married. But that all changes when he comes across 19 year old American Marion (Goldie Hawn) who seems immune to his charms which puts him right off until he watches her break-up with her boyfriend. Finding her interesting Robert invites Marion to go on a two week wine tasting trip to France with him where her brutal honesty sees through his womanizing facade. But after two weeks together they become strangely close which brings in to question what happens when they return to England.
"There's a Girl in My Soup" is a strange movie when you watch it almost 45 years after it was release as it feels like someone took the basic idea of a Doris Day romantic comedy from a decade earlier, tried to sexy it up a bit with not only an out and out cad but also women in lingerie but ending up making a surprisingly ordinary movie despite its stars. The problem lies in the fact that "There's a Girl in My Soup" has its roots in a Terence Frisby play and so the wordy nature of the play has been transferred to the screen and that never makes for much fun. The scene where Marion is cold to Robert's advances and gives him as good as he gets with verbal rebuffs is not very interesting, what is more entertaining is the comical eye movement of Marion when Robert kisses her.
That is in fact where "There's a Girl in My Soup" is at its best, when people are not talking and we have visual gags such as Marion walking in to discover Robert has mirrors all over his bedroom which features a round bed no less. Plus there are the other high tech gadgets which Robert has around his home which are now incredibly amusing. In fact it is not just the visual gags which make the movie as the swinging soundtrack is also a lot of fun.
As for the pairing of Sellers and Hawn, well I honestly don't think Peter Sellers knew how to deal with an actress who played the bimbo but was far more astute. It means that whilst both Sellers and Hawn play their characters well the chemistry is not there between them.
What this all boils down to is that "There's a Girl in My Soup" just didn't quite work for me and whilst it has some fun moments and some things which make it amusing to watch now because of it being dated for the most its wordy nature spoils the romantic comedy vibe.
