Customer Reviews

The April Fools [VHS]

5 star:		(29)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Yes, a sweet & fluffy romantic comedy ... but one which can reveal new dimensions for those who look for them.

The story: Jack's a stock broker, married 12 years to an indifferent wife, has a son who constantly hangs up on him & owns a dog who barks menacingly at him. He gets a promotion, becoming the handpicked boy of millionaire Peter Lawford. (The first 20 minutes of the film, set at a party for Beautiful People in Lawford's apartment, is a stunning time capsule of that level of society at that point in time.) He meets Lawford's French trophy wife, Catherine Deneuve, neglected & lonely & longing for escape. Jack doesn't realize she's the boss' wife, of course; they hit it off, go out on the town & spend a night getting to know one another, helped along by eccentric but loving longtime married couple Myrna Loy & Charles Boyer. By morning, Jack & Catherine are in love & ready to hop on a plane to Paris ...

Now on the face of it, this is a man's midlife fantasy in the most glowing & unrealistic terms. After all, how many men are going to run off to Paris with Catherine Deneuve? But let's look at it a little more deeply ...

Jack tells a story about playing an enchanted prince in a first grade play, turned into a frog & waiting to be released from the spell by a kiss from a princess. But the girl playing the princess got stage fright & walked off, leaving Jack as a frog for all his life. Catherine then kisses him & says, "You're a prince now."

So we're talking about a fairy tale. And what does Jung tell us about fairy tales? That they provide a great deal of symbolic insight into the working of the Psyche. And if we consider the other characters as aspects of Jack's psyche, some interesting things reveal themselves.

Jack complains that there's no love in his marriage or in his life. He's worked hard to get all the material things that should make him happy, but he's not. Lawford's millionaire is that aspect of Jack, the socially acceptable Persona: always talking about the importance of being a winner, looking upon everything as a possession that benefits his status, putting a price on everything. Jack's been struggling, fighting, moving upward ... and for what? The truly beautiful part of his life, his Soul, has been neglected & lonely & starved for attention, a forgotten Anima represented by Catherine Deneuve. Once he rediscovers her, his life changes completely; it's as if he's reborn, been given a second chance.

Myrna Loy & Charles Boyer have been happily married for 35 years & live in a huge mansion resembling a castle, a fairy tale setting. They invite Jack & Catherine to spend the evening with them, showing them what a truly happy life can be like. Myrna discusses astrology, fate & Tarot cards with Catherine: the Wise Woman, the Good Witch. Charles gives Jack fencing gear & they duel all through the mansion, Jack a little nervous, Charles filled with laughter & delight: the Swashbuckler, the Lover of Life.

Tellingly, Charles comments that the day is so drab & boring, people betraying one another at their jobs, rushing around constantly, making money & making themselves miserable; ah, but at night, the champagne flows, dreams become real ... it's best to live at night, he concludes. Or, to put it another way, to put aside the Everyday & enter into the world of the Unconscious, where real meaning & real happiness will be found.

At one point Jack & Catherine wander the mansion grounds at night, watched by classical statues of gods & goddesses, winding up at the bottom of an empty swimming pool & dancing to slow music that only they hear. A pool of water = the Unconscious, the emotions. And empty in this case, as it's been for Jack for most of his adult life ... but being filled now by the emerging emotions he & Catherine feel for one another.

On the train back to Darien, where Jack is going to tell his wife (Sally Kellerman) that she can have everything, but that he's leaving her, we see a commuter club car filled with increasingly drunken & unhappy businessmen. His best friend & lawyer, Jack Weston, obviously hates his life. Weston has listened to Jack's story in disbelief & envy, relating his own encounter with a beautiful dream woman, whom he ultimately left to remain with the wife he can't stand & who can't stand him. A parallel to Jack's story, showing him the life he'll be accepting if he doesn't do this utterly foolish & absurd thing & follow his heart's desire. Harvey Korman is another drunken businessman who admits to an intense fascination with foreign women: the side of Jack that's been yearning for something different, something mysterious & alluring & beautiful all of his life. But Harvey's character is mainly interested in lust, not Love: the story makes clear the difference between Jack's Romantic passion & the more carnal desires of the other men in the story. If & when Jack & Catherine get to Paris, they won't "have sex," they'll Make Love.

Whew! That's just touching on a few immediate points. But it's a good example of how the discerning eye can yield a treasure trove of symbolic insight. Rent the film if you can find it & see for yourself. Certainly it deserves to be released on DVD!

I was working in a movie theater when "The April Fools" first came out. Once the customers were seated, I had a choice of watching either this movie or the then mega hit The Graduate. I saw The Graduate just once. I watched The April Fools over 50 times. I've watched it every time it showed on TV over the past 35 years. I own it, and I'll buy the DVD when I find it. And I'll continue to watch it.

This is a must see movie which never made it big because it came out with the Graduate which, while good, was badly over-rated due to a now ho hum, but then "shocking," scene.

Get it, rent it, buy it, watch it, love it!

I adored this movie from the opening scenes to the closing credits - a wonderful, light, romantic comedy with two wonderful stars in Jack Lemmon and the breathtakingly beautiful Catherine Deneuve, and a fabulous supporting cast to boot.

I won't repeat the plot as others have already done that, suffice to say I'm sure there are elements we can all relate to in this story.

Although it's somewhat dated now, taken in the spirit it was made, it remains quintessentially funny, poignant, romantic and uplifting. Makes you feel good all over. I really can't say enough great things about it.

I can't wait for its DVD release.

Howard Brubaker, played by Jack Lemmon, is a successful stockbroker who has everything a man could ask for: an unloving wife, a child that hangs up the telephone every time he calls, and a dog that always barks at him. When asked to show up at his boss Ted Gunther's (Peter Lawford) party to discuss a big promotion, he meets a beautiful woman named Catherine (Catherine Deneuve). Bored with the party's atmosphere, Catherine whisks Howard away to spend an evening together which includes dinner at The Safari Club (a local psychedelic dance club). After a night of fun-filled revelry, they realize they have fallen in love with each other and plot to leave for France together. Not only is this film hysterical, but it's message of overnight love is also very uplifting. Jack Lemmon's tender and moving performance as the sweet-hearted Howard Brubaker really tugged me. I also thought that Catherine Denueve played a wonderful Juliet to Howard's Romeo. I guess I'm just a sucker for a happy ending, though, because this film gets three bubbles.

As romantic comedies go,"The April Fools" is one of the undiscovered treasures of the 1960s, comparable to the vanguard of all New York romantic comedies "Breakfast At Tiffany's". This film is far more simplistic (too simplistic it seems for many reviewers in 1969) and perhaps because of this it will strike more of a chord with today's audiences weary of recent ponderous comedies.

Perhaps what sets this movie apart from the others is that it captures-totally-the fashionable corporate high life in the summer of 1969: at the time, this was probably seen as 'production values' added by the producers to give the film a certain style....the producer in this case was Jack Lemmon himself (Jalem Productions). What the film makers have done here is something many have tried in recent years and few have succeeded--to those who consider "Valley Of The Dolls" as the height of 60s style should brace themselves for the eyepopping title sequence set during a swinging high fashion party thrown by Peter Lawford (some TV prints show this entire section of the movie in 'letterbox' format--if you're lucky enough to see it this way, you're in for a rare treat). Other sequences that capture the era include one set at a 'safari club' ("Bwana want a cab?") and later in a discotheque (in a scene reminiscent of the rave party sequences from a film made 30 years later-"Go") where Brubaker is reduced to a jived up-jived out wreck in the midst of frenetic dancers and a far-too-psychedelic sound and light show. All are beautifully staged and never detract from the basic romantic story. All the performers are at the height of their powers--Jack Lemmon giving it all he's got, Catherine Deneuve never more beautiful, Charles Boyer and Myrna Loy having fun with their roles, and a great supporting cast including hilarious performances by Kenneth Mars, Melinda Dillon, and Harvey Korman.Two performances though deserve special mention--the magnificent Jack Weston as Potter, Brubaker's lawyer and best friend who is swept up in the romance (alcoholic or otherwise)of the moment, and Peter Lawford in his greatest performance as the ultimate suave swinger Gunther("Gunther's the name, buy you a drink?")....but was it all acting? Could you or I wink like that?!

A great first time musical score by Marvin Hamlisch and a memorable title song written by Burt Bacharach and Hal David and sung by Dionne Warwick (and featuring a haunting french horn solo that is featured through the entire film). Many would see the 'princess and the frog' analogy as being too corny these days, but in "The April Fools" it is the basis of a delightful romance and a very funny comedy, which I would heartily recommend to all.

As a student of film, and a fairly sophisticated critic in my own mind, I realize that "April Fools" is not a classic. However, as a romanitic escapist, no movie has ever appealed to me as much. Catherine Deneuve is absolutely beautiful (to this day, because of this movie, I consider her the most beautiful woman I've ever seen) and Jack Lemmon plays the lovable loser as well as he ever has.

However, I wish they had not decided to turn it into a farce with the drunken chase scene, and rather invented more supporting scenes like the ones involving Myrna Loy and Charles Boyer. But, in spite of it's flaws, it is still one of my favorite romantic comedies of all times, and I can't wait for it to come out on DVD.

I was 14 when this film came out and was a big Jack Lemmon fan. Even after all these years my favorite Lemmon films are the ones from the 50s and 60s, including "The Great Race" and "How To Murder Your Wife". It was in that darkened theatre in October 1969 that I also fell in love with Catherine Deneuve. This is one of only three English language films she ever made. The party scene which seemed so hip in 1969 is now a time capsule complete with Bert Bachrach and Hal David music. The supporting cast which includes Jack Weston, Myrna Loy, Charles Boyer and Harvey Korman is wonderful. I read some years ago in Myrna Loy's autobiography that most of her scenes were cut from the film which is a shame as she and Charles Boyer played such an interesting couple. Sure the movie is dated (remember when drunks were funny?) but it has a simple charm that never fails to work for me.

When this film was released I was in my teens. I went to the movies alone, often, and would go see films I liked multiple times. I went to see this one a lot, sitting in the theater for multiple showings. I remember the theater (the Miracle in Miracle Mile, Coral Gables, Florida) had a TV set in the lobby so people could watch Apollo 11 land. I had already seen The April Fools several times and I walked out, watched the lunar landing, and went back to what really mattered to me; the unfolding fairy tale I still dream of as an older, cynical man. Bring on the DVD! The chemistry between Deneuve and Lemmon is magical, soothing, as opposed to the hysterical (though exhilarating) teaming up of MacLaine and Lemmon. The music, I still recall the music when the two are dancing in the disco. I love DWarwick's original rendition, from the film's soundtrack. It is my second favorite all time song after The Look of Love (both are Bacharach/David classics). I want the DVD!!!!!!!!!

A fabulously funny and romantic tale with all time best performances by Jack Lemmon and Catherine Deneuve. I saw this movie when it was first released and the memories have stayed with me ever since. (I honestly can not say that about many movies). Their fun was genuine and their love, that of a fairy tale. If it is ever re-released or shown on TV, I will jump at the chance to get my own copy. They just don't make movies like this one anymore.

Leonard Maltin says: "Attempt at old-fashioned romantic comedy is forced, unbelievable, unfunny. Lemmon is married businessman who decides to chuck it all to run away with Deneuve, who's wasted, along with Loy and Boyer."

Now take a look at all the 4 and 5-star reviews we lowly film lovers gave this delightful and funny film. It speaks volumes.

Need I say more? Enjoy!