Typically trashy Hollywood "exposé" about a gullible, corruptible writer who is snared by a movie queen, a quarter-century past her prime, hidden away with her delusions and her loyal butler in a Gothic mausoleum. As irresistible as gossip. With Gloria Swanson, William Holden, Erich Von Stroheim; directed by Billy Wilder.
This Blake Edwards piece carries on in the unblushing manner of his preceding two, S.O.B. and 10: movies that appear to have been made on orders from the director's psychiatrist. Derived from a 1933 German movie and a 1935 British one, the premise here deals with, in the words of …
An Agatha Christie mystery, deceitfully plotted according to her wont, and stagily unravelled in courtroom and lawyer's office. It is given a measure of fun by Charles Laughton's performance as the crotchety, sickly defense attorney (in a rush, he snatches the syringe out of his nursemaid's hand and, as he …