Honestly, can't we all agree…
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purpledragonfly0505 — 15 years ago(December 17, 2010 10:13 PM)
You are overstating things just a bit. Audrey Hepburn is known for Roman Holiday as much as Breakfast at Tiffany's, and Bo Derek's 'career defining performance' was most decidedly not because of Blake Edwards but because of her physical beauty.
As for Julie Andrews, she will forever, cinematically, be known for the Sound of Music and Mary Poppins. Period. Victor/Victoria was the single success among numerous mediocre films made with her husband. And V/V was a success because of Julie Andrews and HER talent, not because of Edwards. Put another actress in that role, and it's a very differently received film - a vaguely Pink Panther-esque knock off.
He's just not as talented as he is well known. -
emisue02 — 14 years ago(July 26, 2011 10:10 AM)
Why did Julie Andrews "relinquish her career to him?" Well, maybe because she loved him and wanted to have something resembling a normal family life with him and their children, and the best way to do that was to work together whenever they could to ensure they were in the same place. Her first marriage fell apart because they were both so consumed with their careers that they just took whatever gig was the best at the time, and they were usually a continent, an ocean, or both apart. With Blake, she learned something and decided to make it better, and he spent a lot of time NOT working so that he could be with her when she needed to do something. Funny enough, but they're one of the longest, happiest marriages in Hollywood history. I think they were doing something right, and for them and their family, it probably means way more than any film.
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INTJewel — 14 years ago(September 21, 2011 02:54 AM)
Agreed; hack. Formulaic and predictable, Edwards' comedies all pretty much look alike to me. In fact, I was watching Blind Date for the first time in many years and after a few minutes I said to myself, "Looks like a Blake Edwards." Sure enough.
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Excitable-Boy — 13 years ago(April 05, 2013 04:40 PM)
Agreed; hack. Formulaic and predictable
Well, one should probably get a pass if they're the one who pioneered the formula 20 years before it became stale and predictable. Not to mention he was fairly versatile outside of broad comedy (Days of Wine and Rose, Experiment in Terror, even Victor/Victoria)
Sentimental Value - I've heard of that. -
dreamin_of_broadway — 14 years ago(December 14, 2011 06:35 PM)
I can't agree, I'm afraid: though you are just as entitled to your own opinion as I am to mine.
I have recently developed a great appreciation for Blake Edwards: I first watched a few of his films when I was as young as thirteen, and at that age some of the more adult humour put me off, and the emotional truths went over my head. One day years later I dusted off my old copy of "Victor/Victoria", decided on a whim to revisit it, and found myself amazed at how much I'd missed on first viewing. I immediately did the same thing with "10", and was equally impressed.
I suppose Mr. Edwards's work isn't necessarily very complex: but there is brilliance in its simplicity. He weaves simple truths (yes, often the same truths, about weaknesses of human nature)in with the sheer slapstick comedy, and I find the effect quite a powerful one.
It's almost a year today since his passing: rest in peace, Mr. Edwards. -
BigBadEd — 12 years ago(February 06, 2014 03:21 AM)
I must agree, he has to be one of the most fortunate directors in history, meeting up with the right folk at the right time. Without Sellers he would have been nothing his movies are largely dull, amateurish and sloppily directed.
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activista — 11 years ago(March 25, 2015 12:59 AM)
Check out EXPERIMENT IN TERROR, a dark suspense thriller in did before the PINK PANTHER filmshe definitely had more going for him than being a so-called "hack"excellent film, and in a genre he didn't specialize in.
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!!!deleted!!! (49761343) — 10 years ago(March 13, 2016 06:50 PM)
Check out EXPERIMENT IN TERROR, a dark suspense thriller in did before the PINK PANTHER filmshe definitely had more going for him than being a so-called "hack"excellent film, and in a genre he didn't specialize in.
OP, please do check out Experiment in Terror, but only if you want to laugh. It's probably one of the most ineptly directed "thrillers" ever made (and I use the term, "thriller", loosely).
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theblackestmagic — 10 years ago(June 26, 2015 11:49 PM)
How can you call someone who directed a film like 'Days of Wine and Roses', which didn't include any of the actors you mentioned, a "hack"? If anything Edwards was one of THE most underrated directors in all of show business.
"Life IS pain highness. Anyone who says differently is selling something". -
dalldorfw — 10 years ago(February 25, 2016 11:23 PM)
So anyone that works with talent people can't be talented themselves, right? Wait, your list of talents who worked for BE includes Bo Derek? Honestly, who do you think has a greater talent; the crater of 'Peter Gunn' and 'The Pink Panther' or the woman who's claim to fame is showing her ass? OK, so Blake did produce 'Waterhole #9' but he also wrote and directed 'The Great Race' so I'd say that more then makes up for it.
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!!!deleted!!! (49761343) — 10 years ago(March 13, 2016 07:12 PM)
I do agree to a certain extent that Blake Edwards was a bit of a hack. For the most part, all he did for most of his career was recycle the same material over and over again for lack of ideas. It really shows when you sit down and do a marathon of his stuff. For example, The Party is the long party sequence in Breakfast at Tiffany's stretched out to movie length, and Victor/Victoria is basically Darling Lili. A long, extended gag sequence in Victor/Victoria was done verbatim from an earlier movie of his, and there are other moments in his movies where he just repeats stuff he had done before.
Edwards also lazily lifted concepts from other movies. I forgot which one of the Pink Panthers it was, but it was basically a combination of Topkapi and To Catch a Thief.
I also agree that he's famous more because of the people he collaborated with and not because he was an exceptional director. Why are his "classic films" considered classics? It's not because5b4 of his direction. It's because everyone fell in love with Henry Mancini's music or Audrey Hepburn in her Givenchy dress or Peter Sellers' zaniness.
This isn't to say that Blake Edwards was a bad director. He was competent, but not really exceptional in the way of, say, a Mel Brooks or some other famous comedy director.
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rascal67 — 9 years ago(July 30, 2016 05:37 PM)
It's like Mia Farrow, without Woody Allen, she would have had a relinquished film career as well. Another shining example of women needing men in their lives.
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