There's a Girl in My Soup (1970)

it is finally so absorbing because it plays like a lyrical road odyssey that’s also a detective story.

Watching it is like watching the spectacle of a class clown at their best: you laugh at their jokes, instigate their defiance, and "ooooh" when they get in trouble.

One of the film's great tricks is that, for a time, you think it will go down a rabbit hole of unrealistic glorification.

By the time the dramatic fireworks start popping off, each one feels earned.

I'm very fond of this film. For one thing, I'm in the same profession as 'Robert Danvers' ( the Peter Sellers character ), only I do not have a television show! It is also very funny, bounces along with nice Mike D'abo pop songs, and Goldie Hawn gets to show off her bum! But I digress. This 1970 Roy Boulting-directed comedy was based on the stage play by Terence Frisby and gave Sellers his biggest hit in years, also launching the lovely Goldie on a career that ultimately spanned three decades. 'Danvers' is a handsome television chef adored by millions, especially women ( in the first twenty minutes he beds both Nicola Pagett and Gabrielle Drake - though not at the same time! ) ), a cross between Robert Carrier and Warren Beatty, the sort of man whose after shave enters a room twenty minutes before he does. En route to a party, he meets 'Marion' ( Hawn ), a kooky ( film critic Barry Norman once claimed Hawn reminded him of a 'very sexy budgerigar'. I'm sure he meant it in the nicest possible way ) young American on the rebound from a failed relationship with scruffy pop group drummer Jimmy ( Nicky Henson ). Danvers takes Marion to his flat, a virtual seduction parlour fitted out with the latest kinky gadgets. But she has heard his chat-up lines before and proceeds to take the wind out of his sails. Danvers retreats to bed, all thoughts of sex forgotten. Over time their relationship blossoms. Despite the differences in their ages, they click. But fate rears its ugly head to break the happy couple apart...Whilst nowhere near as funny as say, Neil Simon's 'The Odd Couple', this is nevertheless enjoyably rude fun ( even if the wine tasting scene is remarkably similar to the one in 'Carry On Regardless' ). Sellers apparently based 'Danvers' on the late Lord Patrick Lichfield, photographer and ladies man. He brings a regal dignity to the character, while Hawn is a more than fine foil for him. The supporting cast includes Tony Britton, Diana Dors, John Comer, and Francoise Pascal ( of 'Mind Your Language' ).I note that some have taken offence at the spectacle of a young woman cavorting with a middle-aged man. It might surprise these same people to know that us older guys still enjoy sex as much as we did when we were in our teens. The only difference is that these days it takes us longer. But we manage.What lets the movie down a bit is the unbelievable ending. Despite his wealth, Danvers is dumped by Marion for Jimmy. "He needs me, you don't!", is her reasoning. He also needs a good bath and a dose of penicillin, you foolish girl. Still, they say love is blind.This 'Soup' manages to be nice and tasty ( and gave 'The Incredible Hulk' his first big-screen appearance! He's on a poster in Jimmy's flat, in case you're wondering ). Shame that Sellers and Hawn did not work together again.

While I have enjoyed Peter Sellers in a lot of films, this one really pulled me out of the mood when you see him early in the film without a shirt---and with COPIOUS amounts of back hair. While this might not be a problem in many films (or a boon if you are in one of the "Planet of the Apes" movies), here it made no sense, as Sellers was supposed to be a Lothario who attracts women like flies. I would think many women would just yell "Ewwww!!!" when they saw him shirtless and take them completely out of the mood. Sorry about the little diatribe....but a bit of Nair would have really helped him make the role more convincing.The film finds Sellers playing an upper-class man who has become famous as a TV chef--sort of like Graham Kerr in the 1960s. However, his greatest joy is not food but women--and his needs are very, very, very compulsive. Again and again, he scores but doesn't allow any of these women to get close to him. And, women fall for his lines one after another. However, when he meets a very young Goldie Hawn, he's finally met a woman who can see right through him--and he finds this very disarming. For once, he is not in control and she seems relatively immune to his wiles--anticipating his every move. Surprisingly, he soon finds himself actually falling for this lady...something he's never let himself do in the past. And, he even contemplates marrying her! But, while she likes him a lot...marriage just isn't in her plans.Despite its adult theme and cavalier attitude towards sex, I was intrigued by this film--mostly because it defies the usual stereotypes. It has very interesting characters as well--an interesting character study indeed--even if the ending seemed a tad abrupt.By the way, as the subject of this film is pretty adult, so is the film overall. There's a decent amount of nudity and you might want to consider this before watching or showing it to your mother-in-law or priest!

A womanizing British television star (Peter Sellers) falls in lust quickly with a silly American groupie (Goldie Hawn) in this fluffy stinker. Sellers and Hawn make for a genuinely irresistible pair, but we have dumb situations on top of dumb situations that wear out their welcomes real quick. Sellers, who obviously cannot control his primal urges, allows himself to fall under Hawn's spell and naturally he never does seem to recover. Really nothing new here as Hawn takes off on a similar act that she had developed in "Cactus Flower" a year earlier (a role which won her a Best Supporting Actress Oscar in 1969) and Sellers continues his hilarious (but sometimes tiring) "Pink Panther" routines. Adequate way to kill some time, but critically mediocre at best. 2.5 out of 5 stars.

Dear me... Peter Sellers was one of the most oddly talented actors there has been. But his choice of films, say, after 1964, was very unfortunate. He didn't seem to realize how to use his talents. He would have been better off working with more of the Kubricks of the film world than the people he did. Of his later films, only "The Optimists of Nine Elms" and "Being There" have impressed me of those I have seen.That said, the Boultings and Sellers had made a few films prior to this that hardly sound that bad - I have yet to see "Carlton Browne" and "Heavens Above!" - at least in the sense of using Sellers well to a degree. But, "There's a Girl in My Soup" really is a poor film and a dire choice on Sellers' part in terms of character. In his films from 1955-64, you can usually expect at least some very inventive twist and always an enigmatic conviction in his roles. Here, you have Peter Sellers trying to play a typical romantic lead. It's almost Sellers playing a Niven cad without the joviality. He certainly does not convince, try as he might, or create an interesting character. He should have left such parts to masters of suavity such as Cary Grant, and concentrated on those intriguing dramatic and comic roles that he was famed for.Hawn and Sellers really do not establish any genuine chemistry; this is no easy, genial romance of the like perfected by William Powell and Myrna Loy. It is very artificial seeming, all the way through - I know that it is part of Danvers' character that he is a dry procurer of ladies, but he doesn't really change from that in a way that convinces. Sellers has a very grating way of playing "charm" as well... this character really has no depth, and really does not gain the viewer's sympathy or interest. Sellers goes through the motions in a way one would not think possible when remembering the magnificence of his shifty, iconoclastic performance in "Lolita".There really is nothing to say about the plot, direction or characters, as frankly they leave little or no impression. This is truly one of the most anaemic, complacent, misguided and lightly dull films I have ever seen. A nonentity of a "vehicle" for Sellers' undisputed talents.Rating:- * 1/2/*****