Oh Dad, Poor Dad, Mamma's Hung You in the Closet and I'm Feelin' So Sad (Paramount Pictures) (1967)

Inimitable Barbara Harris Stage Triumph for “Ch Dad” Barbara Harris, who recreates her stage role for the outrageously funny new film, “(Oh Dad, Poor Dad, Mamma’s Hung You In The Closet And I’m Feelin’ So Sad,” a Seven Arts presentation in Technicolor for Paramount Pictures release opening Pee OS ia. oyna TENS ee. Tule. Theatre, insists that the two ver sions of the madcap comedy are not to be compared. Miss Harris, who stars in the Ray Stark-Richard Quine production with Rosalind Russell, Robert Morse, Hugh Griffith and Jonathan Winters, found her leading role in the film to be a totally new experience. There was no chance for the actress to rely on past preparation, for her character had been enlarged and elaborated upon. The story which deals with a wealthy, peripatetic widow, Madame Rosepettle, who is abnormally possessive about her son and grotesquely cynical about men and sex, has been moved closer to reality in Ian Bernard’s screenplay. Miss Harris, as the naive but sexy baby sitter, Rosalie, is now more worldly aware, especially of her own sex appeal, and uses it as a weapon against the mother. As Rosalie falls in love with the son, the triangle—mother, son and other woman—is made more explicit, and she and mamma openly vie with one another for the son’s affection. Miss Harris’ thorough enjoyment of the new concept is obvious as she races through the bizarre farce at a dizzying speed. From her first entrance, dangling by her feet from a 20-foot balcony, through a riotous entanglement with an old lecher, to the devastating seduction of the son on mamma’s bed, the actress fashions an exquisite comedy portrait. She is the way-out little girl who can convulse audiences with her parody of reality and yet convey the feeling that she just may know more than all of us. The talented young lady, who became one of the most imitated actresses in\.New York theatre when she first created the role for Arthur Kopit’s hit play, also found the pattern of work very different between films and stage. “A film seript is broken up into set-ups which usually run no more than two minutes,” she has explained. “And it’s hard to get used to at first, after the stage where there is a sustaining pace.” The sought-after young actress, now one of Broadway’s brightest stars since her performance in “On A Clear Day You Can See Forever,” can look forward to the excitement of moving from one medium to another for a long time to come. “Oh Dad, Poor Dad...” was produced by Ray Stark and Stanley Rubin, and directed by Quine. Location sequences were filmed in Jamaica’s lush Montego Bay. Still #20026/8 Mat 1C MAMMA’S LITTLE BOY—Tal ented Robert Morse stars as Rosalind Russell’s little 25-year old infant in Seven Arts “Oh Dad, Poor Dad, Mamma’s Hung You In The Closet And I’m Feelin’ So Sad,”” a Paramount Picture opening ............ AU ROS 6 steiegere s&s era se Theatre. Still #20026/16 Mat 1B BLOWING HIS OWN HORN « » Jonathan Winters stars as the unprincipled husband and, thereafter, the very lively corpse who’s hung in the closet in “Oh Dad, Poor Dad, Mamma’s Hung You In The Closet And I’m Feelin’ So Sad,” which opens Mcsvantel a Cetedenens EARRING a ott ate tolrsice 5 Theatre. A Seven Art presenta tion in Technicolor for Para0) mount Pictures, it also stars \ Rosalind Russell, Robert Morse, Barbara Harris, and Hugh Griffith. OM Roz Rocks Airport With Strange Traffic Rosalind Russell, star of the Seven Arts presentation, “Oh Dad, Poor Dad, Mamma’s Hung You In The Closet And I’m Feelin’ So Sad,” the Seven Arts presentation in Technicolor for Paramount Pictures opening ...... We TAGs =. cies Theatre, tied up traffic at an international airport, but not in the usual way. The actress chauffeured a jeep, four trailers and a coffin on wheels out of a C-82 plane onto the air strip. As she guided the strange procession along the runway, a Pan American flight was arriving. Half-way along the field, Rosalind hit a snag. Attempting to shift gears, she inadvertantly threw it into reverse, sending the entourage backward in a confusion of jackknifing trailers. Several pieces of luggage were hurled out of a trailer and the coffin was propelled into motion by the jolt and rolled toward a little Piper Cub, almost colliding with it. The Pan Am jet landed within seconds of the tie-up, a case of fortuitous timing. Roz, not visibly daunted by the mishap, reassured a slightly shaken Robert Morse, her co-star in the film and the other occupant of the troublesome jeep. “You didn’t know I was in the trucking business, did you, son?” She asked him. The film also stars Barbara Harris, and Jonathan Winters. Filmed in Technicolor, it was produced by Ray Stark and Stanley Rubin, and directed by Richard Quine. Rosalind Russell's Dear Ol Mom — A Wild One In “Oh Dad, Poor Dad...” Rosalind Russell, a reigning movie queen for more than a quarter of a century, creates the wildest character of her illustrious career with her starring role in the Seven Arts presentation, “Oh Dad, Poor Dad, Mamma’s Hung You In The Closet And I’m Feelin’ So Sad,” a Paramount Pictures Theatre. release in Technicolor, opening The bizarre farce based on Arthur Kopit’s hit play, which also stars Robert Morse, Barbara Harris, Hugh Griffith and Jonathan Winters, is a full-blast take-off on maternal love and Miss Russell plays the last word in smothering mothering. The domineering matriarch of the film, Madame Rosepettle, is exactly the kind of challenge that the energetic actress seems to thrive on. With her usual, careful preparation, she thoroughly investigated the character, and found a complicated woman—at once tyrannical and perverse, yet able to reveal the cause of her cynicism, and also outrageously funny in her wild distortion of life. “T could have played ‘mamma’ in several different ways,’ she has said, “even as a sort of extreme ‘Auntie Mame’ (one of her outstanding personal triumphs on stage and screen).” However, with uncompromising drive she refused the line of least resistance and, after what she describes as a “pace the floor kind of decision,” has created a striking portrayal of controlled evil perfectly balanced with cutting humor. The outlandish Madame Rosepettle now adds a new dimension to the whole pattern of the story and provides a solid background for the antics of son, husband and lover. The fiendish ‘mamma’ is, nonetheless, a startling departure for the distinguished actress, who became famous for ‘brainy career women roles’ and then proved her versatility by moving with equal brilliance to dramatic roles. Of her early fame, Miss Russell recalls, “I got tired of being smarter than everybody else.” The determined lady then promptly turned in the grey flannel suit and the executive suite for the title role in “Sister Kenny.” The rewarding experience brought her one of her four Academy Award nominations. She will not be surprised if Madame Rosepettle, who dominates her only son with a cast-iron will and carts her stuffed, dead husband around in a portable coffin, will shock audiences who have held onto their image of her as a dynamic leading lady. “Oh Dad, Poor Dad,” is a Richard Quine production. Still #20026/10 Mat 1D LOCAL “BABY-SITTER,”’ pri marily for adults, is just one hilarious aspect of a character that lovely Barbara Harris portrays in Seven Arts’ “Oh Dad, Poor Dad, Mamma’s Hung You In The Closet And I’m Feelin’ So Sad,”? a Paramount Picture OVENU a eo aie sehen eee at the ORE Ree BRO rece oS hog ies ss Still #20026/78 eeececeseeseaesooesosesosesoeesooooooeoooeoeo ear oeoeoew oe ooo eoeeoeoeoeoeoeoeo eee eowoooeroooroe = Snack Time TASTY TIDBITS for Hugh Griffith from wild and weird Rosalind Russell is just part of an intensive campaign to lead a man to the alter in Seven Arts’ “Oh Dad, Poor Dad, Mamma’s Hung You In The Closet And I’m Feelin’ So Sad,” a Paramount Picture in thevediows: Theatre. Produced by Ray Stark and Stanley Rubin, and directed by Richard Quine, it also stars Robert Morse, Barbara Harris and Hugh Griffith. “Oh Dad, Poor Dad” is a zany, but often frightening story, of a mother’s wild domination over her 25-year-old infant. Technicolor opening ...... at Mat 2B mee wrecenenen eww een ween ete cen ewe wwe erence’ ence = Robert Morse Shunned Sun to Shine As Pale Son in “Oh Dad, Poor Dad” Robert Morse, who skyrocketed to fame both on the Broadway stage and on the screen, soared to the noble creative height known as ‘suffering for one’s art’ during the filming of the madcap comedy, ‘Oh Dad, Poor Dad, Mamma’s Hung You In The Closet And I’m Feelin’ So Sad,” a Seven Arts presentation in Technicolor for Paramount Pictures release in which he stars with Rosalind Russell, Barbara Harris, Hugh Griffith and Jon athan Winters. His demanding role in the Richard Quine production opening .. ore oe at the Theatre, which finally controlled the energetic’s actor’s every waking hour, is that of a repressed, 25-year-old adolescent son of an over-powering and dominating mamma. The son, Jonathan, is described as having skin as white as ‘fresh snow.’ And so, the normally athletic Bobby was forced to hibernate during each and every day to protect and preserve exactly the right indoor pallor for his milktoast characterization. The sacrificing of sun was made even more painful since producer Stark and director Quine chose the lush, tropic, Jamaican vacationland of Montego Bay for shooting the Technicolor film’s location — sequences. Morse gallantly accepted his fate as a temporary ‘night blooming flower’ to bring perfection to the coveted leading role. After all, one could hardly envision a young man in specially made Dr. Dentons—flannel pajamas in a print of tiny animals complete with the feet in and the trapdoor—as ever having been out in the world. While the screen version of Arthur Kopit’s hit play is geared for hilarity, it also is a penetrating look at possessive mothers and their sons who are literally tied to their cast-iron apron strings. Combining zany antics with a distorted view of life, Morse has pulled out all the stops in his portrayal of Jonathan. The young actor possesses what he describes as a “brain like a file cabinet. Everything is stashed away and all I have to do is open a drawer and these bits pop up.” The Morse morsels, whether the basis for outrageously funny comedy or serious human drama, have been carefully selected. One such idea which he integrated into the excellently shaded characterization is the use of a child’s blanket which he clutches whenever things get too much for him. “Jonathan may stammer, sputter and sound funny, but he’s not just a joke person,” the actor whose boyish charm has endeared him to audiences has said. “And I could have lost him by making him too cute.” “Oh Dad, Poor Dad .°0°was written for the screen by Ian Bernard. 3