Caprice (1967)

not as good as all the hype

A terrific literary drama and character piece that shows how the process of creating art can be seen differently by those doing it and those looking at it from the outside.

Just intense enough to provide a much-needed diversion, just lightweight enough to make you forget about it soon after it’s over. It’s not exactly “good,” per se, but it does what it sets out to do in terms of putting us on edge, which makes it … successful?

The storyline feels a little thin and moth-eaten in parts but this sequel is plenty of fun.

I watched the preview for Caprice and decided I never wanted to rent the movie. It looked so unbelievably silly and stupid, completely fitting in with the lousy movies Doris Day made before her retirement. Against my better judgement, I rented it, fully expecting to turn it off after twenty minutes and pop in a real movie. Not only did I watch Caprice all the way through, but it wasn't as bad as I thought it was going to be!Sure, the absurd 60s music by Frank De Vol and the ridiculous yellow wardrobe designed by Ray Aghayan made me roll my eyes and groan at the silliness of the decade. But, besides that, it's just a regular ol' spy flick, with tons of twists and turns that kept me guessing. Doris Day is paired up against Richard Harris, and as she tries to smuggle out a secret formula from a cosmetics company, he tries to catch her in the act and report back to his boss. When romance gets in the way, will they abandon their missions, or is the wooing itself just an act? This isn't nearly as bad as The Glass Bottom Boat, another late-sixties Doris Day flick, but it's a far cry from being a fantastic movie. If you don't mind mediocre movies from the sixties, or you happen to like the bold fashion style from that time period, you can check this one out. The funniest part was when Doris goes to the movies and the marquis displays the advertisement for "Doris Day and Richard Harris in Caprice". Then we hear Doris singing the title song over the opening credits while the real Doris finds her seat in the theater!DLM Warning: If you suffer from vertigo or dizzy spells, like my mom does, this movie might not your friend. There are two extensive skiing scenes where the camera uses POV angles, and that will make you sick. In other words, "Don't Look, Mom!"Kiddy Warning: Obviously, you have control over your own children. However, there's one scary scene involving a tarantula and one scary scene towards the end, so I wouldn't let my kids watch it.

Caprice marks 20th Century Fox's attempt to enter into the spy caper stakes already occupied by the likes of Charade (1963), The Prize (1963) and Arabesque (1966). At the time, Doris Day was the world's number one box office star; little did she know that her 'kooky blonde'-routine was about to fall foul of a rapidly changing cinematic landscape. This was the age of Bonnie & Clyde, The Graduate, The Wild Bunch, and Midnight Cowboy. The world wanted depressing, downbeat character dramas; not cutesy caper films about nutty industrial spies. The only room left at all for comedic spy capers was already taken by the increasingly humorous 007 films and the Flint movies with James Coburn. Caprice is a desperate effort which suffers from too many jarring mood swings and a tortuously confusing plot. Day only made the film to fulfil a contractual obligation and would later label it her worst film. Co-star Richard Harris was so sure that the film was destined to bomb that he allegedly refused to watch it, ever! Even at the time of his death, he had never seen Caprice.Patricia Foster (Doris Day) is an industrial spy working for Femina Cosmetics. Her father also used to be in the espionage game; he was an Interpol agent until his unsolved assassination in the Alps. Patrcia is ordered by her boss Sir Jason Fox (Edward Mulhare) to steal a secret formula for rival company May Fortune. The formula can apparently create a water-resistant hairspray which will be the next big thing in the world of fashion and beauty. Things take a darker turn when counter-agent Christopher White (Richard Harris) enters the scene. Is he ally, enemy, or something else altogether? To add further to the mystery, Patricia also discovers that vast quantities of drugs are being smuggled between the cosmetic companies in the guise of a 'harmless' face powder. Soon, the long-ago murder of her father rears its ugly head once more as Patricia uncovers one secret too many and finds herself targeted for elimination.Directed by former Warner Loony Tunes maker Frank Tashlin, Caprice has a good deal of cartoon-like energy but lacks the required finesse to be a good film. The scattershot narrative is a nightmare to follow; the back projection work, intended to suggest an exotic feel, looks horribly fake; and the performances seem generally tired and disinterested. Often Caprice seems to be mimicking earlier and better movies, right down to Doris's chic wardrobe (her sunglasses in particular are clearly modelled on Audrey Hepburn's in Charade). All this achieves is to draw unwanted attention to the fact that she's a fortysomething woman trying to come across like she's in her 20s. There are a handful of individually effective action sequences and the film is at least mercifully brief. However, as a whole it is a muddled mess, pitched at a level of hysteria from the very start which only gets more and more out-of-control as the film progresses. Is it as bad as that absolute nadir of zany '60s caper movies, John Goldfarb, Please Come Home? No, not quite... but it sure is a pretty rotten movie just the same.

It's amazing sometimes how certain films get made and reading in both books about Doris Day and Richard Harris, how Caprice was made just might be a subject for a film itself. Ironically the motive for both these stars was economical.According to a recent biography of Richard Harris by Michael Feeney Callan, Caprice came between two big budget epics for Harris, Hawaii and Camelot both of which are better films. He and his then wife Elizabeth were living in the high end gated community of Bel Air and Harris was feeling squeezed. What to do, but take a film offer strictly for the money. As for Day this was one of many film offers negotiated by her Svengali of a husband Martin Melcher which she hated but as she later learned Melcher had depleted their savings with horrible investments.Also according to Harris since this film was about espionage, Day thought she was getting Sean Connery as her leading man. She plays an industrial spy who is double dealing a pair of cosmetics tycoons played by Edward Mulhare and Jack Kruschen. But she has another mission agenda. Her father was killed because he had found a narcotics smuggling ring working inside one of the firms. She's out to find the guy behind the ring who may have personally killed her father who was an Interpol Agent.Enter Richard Harris who plays a mysterious agent himself and keeps pulling Doris out of harm's way. Doris upon signing for the film had the parts switched so that she was the industrial spy, that was to be a male role originally. The film is the only one that calls for her to be an action hero.Caprice's biggest problem is that it can't seem to make it's mind up whether it is a spoof or somewhat serious. I can see why Doris would have wanted Sean Connery in the role, who better than the screen's James Bond for a spy film. Connery might have had the good sense to pass on this, but Harris needed the money.They did not like each other these two, but then again Harris got along with very few of his colleagues during his early hell raising days. He was quoted in the book as saying kissing Day was like kissing his old maiden aunt. Frank Tashlin who certainly did a lot better stuff in his career directed Caprice. The whole project reeks of indifference from its director and its stars.

Silly plot has something to do with industrial espionage in the world of cosmetics but main reason why I watched this movie was Frank Tashlin, one of the best ever US directors of comedies.But this is a very poor effort of him and sadly announces his decline. He would only make one feature-length movie, "Sgt o'Farell" with old pal Bob Hope, but it is even worse than Caprice."Caprice" is pretty bad. His direction and timing of gags is in most cases completely of the mark and the guidance of the actors seems to be inexistent. Only a couple of scenes still carry the Tashlin trademarks : the one with the microphone hidden in a sugar cube and Doris day attempting to cut some hair of a model.But what happened to Doris Day ? She is very wooden, hidden behind layers of make-up, a weird hairstyle and mostly totally overdressed.What a contrast with her sexy appearance in 'The Glass bottom boat", Tashlin's previous effort, a much funnier movie. It still has Tashlin's trademark of zaniness, madcap style and his great feeling for slapstick.It is a pity that Tashlin had to end his career on clunkers as Caprice. Instead try to see his works with Bob Hope or Jerry Lewis ( or Jayne Mansfield !) which show off his talents for madcap comedy : "Will success spoil Rock Hunter ?", "The Disorderly Orderly" and , in my mind, still one of the best comedies of all time, "Son of Paleface" with Hope and Jane Russel.