Smile | | Cast : | Bruce Dern, Barbara Feldon, Michael Kidd | | Director : | Michael Ritchie | | Studio : | Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer | | Format : | Color, Closed-captioned | | Released Date : | , 1975 | | DVD Released Date : | August 24, 2004 | | Language : | English (Dubbed), French (Subtitled), English (Subtitled), Spanish (Subtitled), Spanish (Dubbed), English (Original Language), Spanish (Original Language) | | Audience Rating : | PG (Parental Guidance Suggested) | | | BUY THIS DVD FROM AMAZON |
Customer Reviews
| Rating |  | | Date | March 20, 2005 | | Summary | Gentle Satire | Content
 | "Smile" is a gentle satire of the beauty pageant scene as well as more generally the 1970s California lifestyle. Released in 1975, the film was not a hit but has gathered a bit of a cult following. Barbara Feldon and Bruce Dern star as the organizers of the California Young American Miss contest. The story follows the behind-the-scenes shenanigans leading up to the final pageant. Sprained ankles, exploding batons, and dead chickens are just part of the fun!
The script by Jay Belson ("Fun with Dick and Jane") is great fun -- ranging from subtle poking of its targets to broad farce. A number of targets are skewered facilely aside from beauty contests, particularly the superificial California lifestyle where making money and looking good is paramount. It's a clever movie, although not every scene is designed to be laugh-out-loud funny.
Director Michael Ritchie definitely peaked with this film, as he would later direct such bombs as "The Island" and "The Golden Child." Although "Smile" is a somewhat obscure movie, the genial humor of the film makes it most worthy of greater attention. In particular, people who have enjoyed the satirical movies of Christopher Guest ("Waiting for Guffman," "Best In Show") are likely to appreciate "Smile." Overall, a solid 1970s film that will make you laugh and smile.
DVD Extras: Consist only of an original trailer. Fortunately, the DVD transfer and sound are quite good.
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| Rating | | | Date | October 28, 2004 | | Summary | Great, underrated movie, denounced by "elite" film critics | Content
| "Art fart!" One of the greatest lines ever written. This is a great movie for us bourgeois unwashed masses. A must see. |
| Rating | | | Date | September 03, 2004 | | Summary | The best film you've never heard of | Content
| "Smile" (1975) is a comedic gem and easily one of the best unknown films of the '70's. An incisive satire set at a California beauty pageant, director Michael Ritchie's film offers a chance to see Bruce Dern in a rare "straight" role, Barbara Feldon playing a character worlds away from her famous Agent 99 from "Get Smart" and legendary choreographer Michael Kidd in a hilarious supporting turn as (what else?) a lecherous, alcoholic beauty pageant choreographer. Add Melanie Griffith, Annette O'Toole and Joan Prather in early roles and a hysterical supporting turn by Maria O'Brien (Edmund's daughter) and you have a top cast making the most out of Jerry Belson's incisive script.
Dern plays "Big Bob" Freelander, the head judge at the California State Young American Miss Pageant and Feldon is the pageant director whose motto to the contestants is to "keep smiling." Of course, this being a satire, Ritchie and Belson mercilessly lampoon everything in their path, making Feldon an unhappily married harridan whose husband hates her, Dern a father who is concerned that his horny son "Little Bob" (Eric Shea) and his hornier friends are obsessed with seeing the contestants naked (just like his father and the other men involved) and the contestants are, for the most part, back-stabbing primadonnas who will resort to anything to win. And then there's Kidd's choreographer, who shows up late and drunk and spends most of his time bedding the contestants, when he's not insulting their rather pathetic talents. (One of my favorite bits: Miss Imperial Valley's "talent" is packing a suitcase.) But the highlight of the film is O'Brien as the sole Mexican-American contestant, who spends the entire time trying to bribe the judges with "a favorite dish from my home country, guacomole dip." She is a riot and, along with Kidd, the primary reasons to see the film.
One of the great things about "Smile" is the ending. It is absolutely impossible to guess who will win the final competition. And the reactions of everyone involved are true and real, thanks to Belson's terrific and unpredictable script and Ritchie's top-notch directing. In fact, Ritchie followed this film with a cinematic home run, 1976's "The Bad News Bears." These two films alone sealed the late director's reputation as a master satirist.
In all, "Smile" may very well be the best film you've never heard of. And let's be thankful that MGM/UA released the DVD in 1:85:1 widescreen, which they don't always do. The extras are thin, but the film more than makes up for it, especially at such a low price. In all, this one is a real winner. ***** (out of *****) |
| Rating | | | Date | August 25, 2004 | | Summary | It'll Make You Smile | Content
| Mildly amusing satire of a California teen beauty pageant set in the mid 70's. Though this movie is consistently funny it lacks that extra bite that classic satire would have. I'm sure when this film came out in 1975 it resonated more because of society's changing mores and these type of institutions would have been prime targets. That said, there is an underlying gentleness to this film and it does not condescend to the characters. It also has a quasi-documentary feel to it. This film definitely evokes a specific time and place in our country's social history. It should also be noted that the film's nominal star, Bruce Dern, does not play one of those psychos that he was typecast as at that time. |
| Rating | | | Date | July 05, 2004 | | Summary | 'Smile' also has a great soundtrack...... | Content
| From Ted Farley, compere extraordinaire (and master of the faux pas)
'Smile' also has a great soundtrack. Apart from Nat 'King' Cole singing 'Smile' (by Charles Chaplin) over the titles, the 'Smile' soundtrack includes the Beach Boys 'California Girls', Neal Sedaka's 'You're sixteen, you're beautiful and you're mine ' and others! |
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