Winding Down

By J.C.

THE WILD PARTY

Directed by JAMES IVORY

Screenplay by WALTER MARKS

At several points during the fitful progress of this strange movie, an actor reads aloud from a stilted poem of his own composition. It takes a certain spirit to make a movie with poetic narration. To have such a rinky-tinky poem ("It was a typical Hollywood party, I guess, Except for the way it ended") declaimed straight to the camera is an act of further bravado that can only be applauded.

The sound of two hands clapping will cease immediately thereafter. The Wild Party never develops the fine frenzy it needs. The questionable poem was written more than 40 years ago by Joseph Moncure March, another of whose works was the basis for Robert Wise's excellent film about small-time boxing, The Set-Up (1948). It recounts the sad, eventually violent doings at the home of Funnyman Jolly Grimm (James Coco), whose career as a silent-film star has suffered from the coming of sound. After a five-year absence, Jolly is staging the world premiere of his. new comedy and inviting everyone to his Hollywood mansion. Doug and Mary are having a do over at Pickfair, however, so the Grimm guest list is mostly populated by second-raters.

At the party, Queenie, Jolly's much-abused girl friend, is pursued and eventually seduced by a brilliantined matinee idol named Dale Sword (Perry King). From jealousy and an encroaching sense of failure, Jolly goes to pieces, and the party follows right along. There is all manner of period decadence festooning the screen, rendered too campily by Director James Ivory (Shakespeare Wallah) to have much force.

Coco makes a good Jolly, full of poor, crazy hopes, and Raquel Welch appears as Queenie. Welch's presence is usually the occasion for unchivalrous wisecracks of one sort or another, but she is genuinely touching in The Wild Party. Her Queenie is a really sensual woman, not a creature of synthetic sexuality. Unhappily, The Wild Party may be the first of her starring vehicles in which she is actually better than the material.

This file is automatically generated by a robot program, so viewer discretion is required.