What's New Pussycat?

Infobox Film
name = What's New Pussycat?


image_size = 215px
caption = original film poster by Frank Frazetta
director = Clive Donner
Richard Talmadge "(go-kart sequence)"
producer = Charles K. Feldman
writer = Woody Allen
starring = Peter Sellers
Peter O'Toole
Romy Schneider
Capucine
Paula Prentiss
Woody Allen
Ursula Andress
music = Burt Bacharach
Hal David "(lyrics)"
cinematography = Jean Badal
editing = Fergus McDonell
distributor = United Artists
released = 22 June fy|1965
runtime = 108 minutes
country = Uunited Kingdom / FilmUS
language = English
budget =
gross =
imdb_id = 0059903

"What's New Pussycat?" is a fy|1965 comedy film directed by Clive Donner and starring Peter Sellers, Peter O'Toole, Romy Schneider, Capucine, Paula Prentiss and Ursula Andress. It was Woody Allen's film debut, as well as his first produced script. The Academy Award-winning title song by Burt Bacharach (music) and Hal David (lyrics) was sung by Tom Jones. The movie poster was painted by Frank Frazetta.

Plot

Notorious womanizer Michael James (Peter O'Toole) desperately wants to be faithful to his fiancée Carole Werner (Romy Schneider), but runs into serious problems since every woman he meets seems to fall in love with him, including a neurotic American (Paula Prentiss) and a parachutist who accidentally lands in his car (Ursula Andress). His psychoanalyst, Dr. Fassbender (Peter Sellers), cannot help him either, since he's busy stalking one of his patients (Capucine) who in turn longs for Michael. A catastrophe appears on the horizon when all the characters check into a quaint hideaway hotel in the French countryside for the weekend, unaware of each other's presence.

Cast

Cast notes

* Richard Burton has a cameo appearance as a man at the bar in a strip club.

Production

The film was originally planned as a starring vehicle for Warren Beatty – the very title was Beatty's usual way of answering the telephone at that time. However Woody Allen, who had been hired by producer Charles K. Feldman to write the script, began relegating Beatty's character to a secondary role, increasing his own character at Beatty's expense. This led to tension between Beatty and the studio, especially as the screenplay Allen was delivering was considered to be much funnier than the original idea. Eventually, Beatty was forced off his own project by the little-known Allen. Because of their pre-production feuding, Woody Allen and Warren Beatty never worked together again. Coincidentally, both had long term and significant relationships with the same woman, Diane Keaton, albeit at different times.

Groucho Marx was originally slated to play Dr. Fassbender in the Warren Beatty version.

The movie was filmed in and around Paris between October 1964 and January 1965, and was released in New York on 22 June 1965. It opened in Paris in January 1966 as "Quoi de neuf, Pussycat?". The film's total box office was $8.469 [All Movie Guide [http://www.allmovie.com/cg/avg.dll?p=avg&sql=1:54091~T0 What's New, Pussycat? overview] ] to $8.7 [IMDB [http://imdb.com/title/tt0059903/business What's New, Pussycat? business data] ] million.

Awards

In 1965, Burt Bacharach and Hal David were nominated for an Academy Award for "Best Song" for the title song. Woody Allen was nominated for a WGA Award for "Best Written Screen Comedy" in 1966.

Notes

"The Times", 2 September 1965 and 6 September 1966

External links

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