Customer Reviews

Sextette

5 star:		(23)
4 star:		(6)
3 star:		(8)
2 star:		(5)
1 star:		(8)

 

 

I own 'Sextette', LOVE IT, and highly recommend it to all,..all that is who have a sense of humor! Miss West made this, her last film, "For the Fans" & she does not fail to deliver. 'Sextette' gets a bad rap from some critics, but then they are not the fans for whom Mae left us this last gem! Buy it, watch it, & be your own critic...you will enjoy it! Mae looks great, certainly not 85!! She is breathtakingly beautiful in the bedroom scene in her powder-blue gown! Thank goodness she did one last Technicolor movie for us fans!! My favorite line is at the end of the gown fitting session, where she purrs, "I'm that gal that works at Paramount all day..,and Fox all night!" There will never be anyone like Miss Mae West again, & Hollywood will never be able to pull off another movie like 'Sextette' again. Lots of great stars, cameos, (even pre-Millionaire Regis Philbin) music, & Mae West - true Hollywood History! Enjoy!!

Mae was very ill when she made this. Her diabetes was very out-of-control and she was aging at an alarming rate. Even so, friends of mine who do not know her age guessed that she was in her 50's. They were quite suprised to find out she was over 85! She planned to do this movie right after Myra Brekenridge but got sidelined. She looked great the clips of Myra Breckenridge that were shown on the Biography channel. (I have never seen Myra Brekenridge - apparently Tom Selleck, Farrah Fawcett, and Raquel Welch will not allow it to be sold on the video market). She was very wealthy (owning many parcels of prime California real estate). Only when she realized that she didn't have much time left did she decide to do one last movie for her fans - she was beautiful in some scenes- especially the entry in the wedding gown, bedroom scenes, and the clothing try-outs for an 'upcoming Marlo Manners movie' ( she wanted to show her Diamond Lil characters one more time in Color for her fans). Mae within one year of this movie had begun having the beginnings of Alzheimer's disease. She recognized only old acquaintances, she had to have her lines read to her through an earpiece, just before reciting them, through out the filming. She was even left standing in a elevator for several hours - after the set was shut down (she had to walk down a hall, say a line and hit a button-- this scene took many retakes to get all the actions in the correct order, when it was finally done they rapped the set and left - finally someone remembered Mae and rescued her from the elevator.) My favorite scene is her meeting with George Raft in the elevator. A definite chemistry was still there. Its fitting that he was in her first and last movie. The only part of the movie I feel should have been cut was the Dom DeLouise solo song - absolutely ridiculous. Mae insisted on having the end of the movie changed - where she sang 'Next, Next' with Alice Cooper. Originally, the producers wanted her to sing a sad song lamenting loosing her new husband. Mae said NO - she was going to show a self-confident image which is what her fans wanted- and get her husband back ---- and she did. One additional thing, Mae had a stroke three months before she died at 87. She was unable to talk - but did enjoy watching her movies until her death. She was given the last rights by a priest - and thru out her life she was known to give her car to Nuns whenever she saw them in need of transportation, then buy herself a new one. She took care of her Mom, Dad, brother and sister Beverly -providing them a private ranch. Her sister Beverly only lived a year after Mae- but she was left quite well off.

Yes, baffled as to why so many people on the web have reviewed this film with such hostility and sadistic glee. It seems the biggest complaints against this movie is that #1)Mae West was in her eighties when she made it. Not one reviewer can honestly say that she looked more than in her late fifties in Sextette. Remember that she was in her forties at the height of her career, not a huge discrepancy. #2)Her waistline doesn't exist. Not only is that an exaggeration, but she was never slender to begin with, so her extra pounds should come as no surprise. #3) The script is bad. Well it's only bad if you're comparing it to Citizen Kane. This is supposed to be fun, vain silliness, and it is. Mae West and Dom Deluise are hilarious, and Timothy Dalton, Ringo Starr, and Tony Curtis really seem to be enjoying themselves and giving it their all. I loved all the cameos; the chemistry amongst the entire cast is magic, surprising when one considers that West reportedly disliked most of the choices. Yes, the duet was corny and ridiculous, but funny (even if the humor was unintentional). The only problem I can name with this film is the language in the kitchen scene, it will be insulting to certain ethnic people. Although it's really no more un-PC than the depiction of the giggling, submissive, broken-English-speaking Black maids in her earlier films. What I find disturbing is that reviewers have more of a problem with West's age than the off-color "humor" against foreigners in the kitchen scene.

Once I saw this film a second time, the script actually made a lot more sense and was more intricate than I first realized. Believe me, when I, a Mae West fan, ordered this tape I thought I was going to be seeing one of the most boring, stupid, wastes-of-times in Hollywood's 100 year history. Thankfully, i was disappointed!

The best part is that Sextette doesn't take itself seriously and doesn't expect its viewers to, either. It assumes its audience is intelligent enough to know camp when it sees it. Several of us do recognize it and appreciate this. Too bad there's the rest out there.

BTW, tf this film is still unbearable, I suggest She Done Him Wrong. West is almost fifty years younger, for you agists out there, and her waistline has to be about twenty inches round, lol. But don't expect the script to be any less flamboyant.

Mae West still delivers in this amusing, under-rated comedy. Sextette has been unfairly attacked by some age-prejudiced critics, but the fact of the matter is, this film is not bad at all. The Legendary West is extraordinary in this film as always and looks great. When Timothy Dalton says, "After all, I am British--stiff upper lip," magnificent Mae looks him over, stares at his crotch, and says in that sexy voice, "Well...you gotta start somewhere." She is an American Institution and as Dick Cavette and Rona Barrett have said, "the 8th wonder of the world.

I bought the VHS edition on the Media label (1980's release) because I have heard that the Rhino DVD has a terrible picture and garbled sound. My copy looks really good. Having said that, WOW, what a movie! Mae West is great and hilarious in the psuedo-musical. Timothy Dalton of James Bond fame, Ringo Starr, Dom Deluise, Walter Pidgeon, Regis Philbin and many others appear in it too. West is Marlo Manners, legendary Hollywood sex queen! Many famous songs get a dubious revival in this unbelievable film. You will just have to see it to believe it!

If you have any nostalgia at all for the late '70s in all their cheesy glory, buy this video. This film is amazingly, deliciously, jaw-droppingly bad. Mae West strutting her stuff in her 80s is a mere sidelight compared to the completely over-the-top supporting performances by Tony Curtis, Dom DeLuise and Keith Moon.

Tackiness oozes from every frame of this film, but like much of the mainstream sleaze of the late '70s, it's surprisingly good-natured. Sex is seen as just good clean dumb fun, without the dark, violent and repellent overtones that entered the mainstream with the Reagan era and never left us. This film has much more in common with "Three's Company"-style leering than the mean-spirited crudity of say, "In Living Color".

And I haven't even mentioned the musical numbers! Timothy Dalton and Mae sing "Love Will Keep Us Together" (yep, the cheesy Captain & Tennille hit) as a duet. I'm not sure if "sing" is the right word, but it will suffice. Dom DeLuise sings "Honey Pie" (the Lennon/McCartney gem), tap dances atop a grand piano, and briefly dons matador garb when the tune lurches into a Spanish style. Alice Cooper trys his hand at some disco stylings. If that's not enough to get you to buy this video, I give up!

I'm amazed this many other people have seen this movie! I loved it! Mae in glorious technicolor reviving Diamond Lil is fantastic! The entire movie is hilarious, probably not in the way that Mae intended, but I'm sure she's happy to get a laugh. And the fact she did this at 85 is astounding. This is also the only movie you see her drink alcohol in.

It m a y depend on your mood. If u r a highbrow critic and only embrace "La Strada", Bergman, Fellini, Minnelli, "Cabaret" and so forth u may be the 1 giving this film only 1 point...

But IF u have a sense of humour, satire and respect for ageing superstars NOT past their prime - this is the 1 for u...

Naturally, Miss Mae delivers her most famous lines and there are moments of embarresment - but on the whole - she still is magnetic and of amazing vitality being at the age of 86....

The supporting cast is god(Dom DeLuise a REAL TREAT) but so is Timothy, Ringo and Tony...

Yup, the musical sequences are below average, but as I pointed out, is done with an awareness of humour...

Many a spectator would wish Mae West had`n done this, but I must say, she does NOT come badly out of it...

I just finished reading the reviews of others in this section. Now if this film was terrible why did they sit through long enough to review - I'm sure there was a review and the next one just went along with the first and so forth because they thought they were being clever. Mae West knew what she was doing - she did this film for her fans. Take another look at her and wonder if you or someone you know will look that good into their 80's. Just look at the auction sites on line and see just how popular Mae West is to this day. Who remembers Betty Grable or Jane Russell in the same way they remember Mae West. The trouble with this movie was bad direction and a poor screenplay - Mae West accomplished what she wanted in this film and if you are ready for a little escape and some silly fun buy this movie and enjoy Mae West's last film!

Mae West is one of the most brilliant talents ever to grace the Silver Screen and single-handedly saved a major studio from going under in the depression era in the early thirties! Legendary movies that are total classics make Mae one of the greatest ever top female Superstars...in her 80's Mae West once again treated us to a view of the legend and many found pleasure in this fun movie that once again gives us a chance to have a view of the classic and very legendary Mae West! God forbid anyone or any of us age...Mae was never conventional having started her motion picture career in her forties and continued the following decades doing various stage and recording projects so it wasn't surprising that Mae West would do yet another motion picture once again in her eigthies!!! Mae was still very entertaining and had the thrill of going to the preview of this delightful movie in 1978 in Westwood California & had a strong feeling Mae West would attend. A line formed & arriving early we were the red velvet ropes and soon a red carpet rolled out and media came from everywhere equiped with boom mikes that started curbside and lined the red carpet! Up came a shining limousine and out came a sparkling and radiant Mae West with a strapping guys in tuxedos on each arm...Mae in person looked magnificent and the crowd went wild...she strutted up the red carpet and stopped at each interviewer and popped off witty and very funny one liners that had everyone cracking up! Mae West looked gorgeous and we gave her a standing ovation inside of the theatre when it was announced over the PA that she was in attendance then a spotlight lit her up...luckily seated a few rows in front of Maem, got to look directly at her and give her a big smile and let out a few Bravo's...Mae was beaming and it was a magical event never to forget! Find it very sad some strangely put down her last effort to entertain and everyone loved this "over the top" entertaining movie on that great afternoon in Westwood and still do! Recently watched Sextette with a friend and we laughed and loved every moment of the Magic Of Mae West with a fun cast of amusing characters including a wonderful performance by Dom Deluise...watch how Mae lights up when George Raft appears on screen with her! Those who think that life is perfect and legends never age...get over it and get a reality check. Thank you Mae West for your genius and sharing your incredible and wonderous gifts for some seventy-plus years and for the support that you warmly gave the Gay Community at a time when few would even get close...the best in the West left behind a treasure chest of classics for us to savor and enjoy!!! If you love Mae then grab this while you can as cult favorites such as Sextette usually have a short release run...BRAVO MAE WEST!