Customer Reviews

Raquel?

5 star:		(5)
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Seriously--I've seen/bought so many TV specials from starlets--Lynda Carter, Ann-Margret, Lindsay Wagner--and this one is the best by far. No stupid skits, GREAT directing, all modern songs of 1970--no oldtimey stuff--Raquel looks incredible, Tom Jones is at his hunkiest best, and this gal can even sing. This is the hottest TV special ever. You won't be dissappointed, especially if you already love her. I'm not even a huge fan, but am adding this to my collection, nonetheless.

Originally aired in 1970, this filmed television special captures Raquel Welch at the peak of her stardom. The bulk of the forty-nine minutes are staged song-and-dance numbers shot on location in Paris, Mexico and a ski resort, featuring Welch solo, with dancers, and with guest stars Tom Jones and Bob Hope. John Wayne also appears for a short sketch on a Western back lot set. Welch is radiant throughout, whether wearing high-end fashions or a space-age bikini and boots.

Welch sings hits of the day, including "California Dreaming," "Everybody's Talkin'," "Raindrops Keep Falling on My Head," "Here Comes the Sun," "Good Morning Starshine," "Aquarius/Let the Sun Shine In," "The Sounds of Silence," and a rock `n' roll medley with Tom Jones that includes "Rip it Up," "Slippin' and Slidin'," "Lucille," "Tutti Frutti," and "Jenny Jenny." Tom Jones adds a solo version of "I Who Have Nothing." Welch and Hope sing and dramatize "Rocky Raccoon," with the former pulling off a credible imitation of Mae West and the latter hamming it up.

This was a high-budget special with excellent location footage, generous helpings of helicopter shots, extravagant costuming for Welch and the dancers, and A-list guest stars. The choice of middle-of-the-road material and tried-and-tested mainstream guest stars show Welch aiming square at the heart of middle America. Welch's beauty often obscured her talents as a singer, dancer and comedienne, and then-contemporary clips of a British press conference show her to be witty and bright, to boot. This is a superb time capsule of late `60s hippie culture finding a cleaned-up and watered-down place in the mainstream. [©2009 hyperbolium dot com]

This is a cool little '70s time capsule starring the incredible Raquel Welch. She sings, she dances, she skis, she prances around wearing really nice outfits. Hurry, go get it!

This is a prime example of the "TV Special" which was a standard, much anticipated part of the line up for each network in the 60's and early 70's; they were heralded and pulled out at "sweeps" times to get high ratings. Take one high profile guest star, Welch, Petula Clark, Mitzi Gaynor, Goldie Hawn, Sinatra, Bob Hope (dozens of them) even John Wayne himself, supply them with contemporary materials ( a bit easier with people like Sinatra and Clark who produced new hits of their own each year) lot's of guest stars in support, dancers, and exotic locals if the budget allowed, and present (usually sponsored by Kraft Cheese!) to high ratings. Many of them are over the top, with " what were they thinking?" moments in great supply, and a LOT of fun. This one is all that and more. Raquel actually has some talent for song and dance as she proved later on Broadway. Too bad nobody gave her a chance to use that on tv without all the razzle dazzle to distract as though they weren't sure she could pull it off.

If you want to get five stars' worth out of this, don't take yourself too seriously, because Raquel is in on the joke. It's just an hourish of some interview footage with Raquel, lots of 70's songs sung in 70's garb, and generally a way to ogle Raquel. Saw this really, really late at night on a Netflix instant download when my boyfriend and I could not agree on what to watch, and we were both pleased. I think he was too pleased.

great moments:
- "California Dreaming" sequence in front of Eiffel tower wearing cape
- songs from "Hair" sung atop Aztec pyramid
- BEST MOMENT OF ALL: Bob Hope acts out the plot of the Beatles' "Rocky Raccoon" with Raquel, doing a surprisingly good Mae West. Seriously. If you ever listened to the "White Album" and thought, "hey, I would love to see Rocky Raccoon depicted live!" then yes, this is it. In fact, this last part makes me think that Raquel really should have been doing more sketch comedy. She's pretty funny. Pretty. Funny.