Bliss of Mrs Blossom

Buy This Item Bliss of Mrs Blossom by Paramount  Available from Amazon  $14.95  on 9-23-2008     A wonderful trip back to the crazy 60's (for those of us who were to young to be there the first time), this clever movie doesn't seem the least bit dated. Luminous Shirley MacLaine is a hoot as the American wife of staid Brassier manufacturer Richard Attenborough (who conducts symphonies to the radio). When her sewing machine breaks down, Mr. Blossom sends layabout factory worker James Booth, who receives tea, <ahem> sympathy, and home-baked cakes from our Harriet. Ambrose Tuttle knows a good thing when he sees it, moves into the attic, and wackiness ensues.<p>I've loved this movie for years- it's lighthearted without being too arch, manages swipes at both the op-art free-love crowd and the staid stick-in-the-mud aristocracy, and is very well acted by everyone on screen. There's not a false note struck in this one- I can only hope that it comes out on DVD soon <p>As a side note, this is based on the true story of Dolly Oesterreich, who kept lover Otto Sanhuber living in her attic through four or five houses in Milwaukee and Los Angeles. Happily, the movie has a far happier ending than the real story. Reader Reviews "Bliss" is a near perfect time capsule of the mod London scene at the end of the sixties decade. No, it isn't a perfect movie, but it's definitely worth a look just for the sheer craziness of it all. Yes, the direction comes off being just a bit too frenetically akin to the whole Richard Lester style of wild edits and surreal mayhem, the comedy sometimes tries too strenuously for wackiness, and MacLaine and Booth are occaisionally just a trifle much to take as loveable zanies. All that to one side, watch it anyway, if for no other reason than to catch the performances of the secondary actors. You'll just about miss John Cleese if you blink, and Barry Humphries' (best known to US audiences as Dame Edna Everedge) role isn't much larger. That's okay, though-Freddie Jones gets plenty of screen time as the extremely fey Inspector Dylan ("She can fix my machine anytime"), and just about walks away with every scene he's in. He gives one hilariously weird performance, and for me he singlehandedly makes this movie worth repeat viewings. And Richard Attenborough, not someone you'd normally think of as a comedic actor, does a very funny turn as the stuffy Mr. Blossom, brassiere manufacturer extraordinaire. I don't think this movie is apt to be to all tastes, but if you're a fan of that particularly offbeat style of British character humor,check this one out at least once- I doubt you'll be sorry you did.

Bliss of Mrs Blossom Available from Amazon Price: $14.95 Updated on 9-23-2008.

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