Sob (Ws Sub)

Starring:Julie Andrews, William Holden, Marisa Berenson, Larry Hagman, Robert Loggia, Stuart Margolin, Richard Mulligan, Robert Preston, Craig Stevens, Loretta Swit, Robert Vaughn, Robert Webber, Shelley Winters, Jennifer Edwards, Rosanna Arquette, John Pleshette, John Lawlor, Ken Swofford, Hamilton Camp, Paul Stewart
Director: Blake Edwards
Studio: Warner Home Video
Product Type: DVD

Amazon.com

It's been years since Blake Edwards made a funny film, and this 1981 effort may have been one of his last consistent laugh producers. Richard Mulligan plays a Hollywood producer who realizes that his career may be over when the public sees his latest film: a big-budget musical that lands on test audiences with a thud. In a moment of madness, he hits upon the idea of reediting it to include soft-porn reshoots--including a shot of his movie-star wife (Julie Andrews), who has a squeaky clean public image, baring her breasts (which the squeaky clean Andrews actually does). Scathing in its satire of Hollywood numbskullery, the film features terrific performances by Mulligan, Robert Preston, and William Holden (in his last film). --Marshall Fine

Customer Reviews:

Pink Panther who?.......2007-05-13

Wow it is hard to believe that this comes from the same man who did the Pink Panther Movies. This movie still has as much impact today as when it was first made. It is an outstanding cast and a very topical story.

SOB.......2007-01-05

how to stick it to Hollywood establishment. Fun and silly and pointed in it's satirical look at the Industry.

Not for all tastes!.......2006-06-14

Blake Edwards knows Hollywierd better than most, and has suffered ups and downs in his fifty-year career. On the upside are THE PINK PANTHER, A SHOT IN THE DARK, THE DAYS OF WINE AND ROSES, "10", VICTOR/VICTORIA, the PETER GUNN television series, THE GREAT RACE and BREAKFAST AT TIFFANY'S, among others. On the downside are films that are not successful, sometimes artistically, sometimes financially, sometimes both. This movie is his comedic take on the whole experience of getting films made in an industry that purports to ask for art and almost always settles for the bottom line.

We know instantly where S.O.B. (which stands for the people you have to deal with as well as "Standard Operating Bull----") is going when a man jogging along the beach collapses and dies of a heart attack, and the hedonistic and self-absorbed denizens of the story never notice. They hardly even see his faithful dog, who whines for his master to wake up (the jogger is played by Edwards' friend and doctor, billed for this film as "Stiffe Tanney"). We shift immediately to film producer Felix Farmer, played by the late Richard Mulligan. His latest opus, "Night Wind", has bombed at the boxoffice, and this, combined with his wife taking the children and leaving him on the same day, drives him to try to commit suicide. Now, this may not sound like a comedy, but it most assuredly is! Farmer's attempts, of course, fail, and a horde of producers, press agents, quack doctors and various vultures gather 'round to start spin. Eventually, Felix comes out of his funk and up with a brilliantly demented idea to save his gigantic flop, which involves seeing, for the first time, the bare breasts of his soon-to-be-ex-wife (played with gusto by Julie Andrews, Edwards' real-life wife of many years).

From there, the story rolls on into a Viking Funeral, sex-steeped Polly Wolly Doodles, a eulogy by a phony Maharishi, six dollars' worth of Sinatra, sweet young things who don't bother with bathing suits, biting the finger that feeds you, everyone sleeping with everyone else, a gossip columnist in a full body cast, a junior G-Man, Three Muscatels, and very vicious swipes at very specific film people (guessing who each cast member is caricaturing is half the fun!)

And what a cast! Besides Mulligan and Andrews, we are treated to Robert Vaughn, William Holden, Robert Preston, Shelley Winters, Robert Webber, Larry Hagman, Loretta Swit, Rosanna Arquette, Robert Loggia, Stuart Margolin, Craig Stevens (the original PETER GUNN), Larry Storch, Marisa Berenson and many more, all at the top of their game and in the service of a biting, acid-etched screenplay by Edwards. Of course, no Edwards film would be complete without the music of Henry Mancini.

As to the DVD itself, it contains only the movie, a trailer, and a bit of cast information. The picture is bright and clean, in the original 2:35 aspect ratio, and sound is in Stereo. This is pretty much the same as the ten-year-old Laserdisc edition. It sure would be nice if Warners would reissue this film with commentary by Edwards and the surviving cast menbers. I'm sure they have some great stories to tell.

S.O.B. hits its target much more often than it misfires, so overall, I highly recommend it. The slapstick is classic, the dialogue perfect and hilarious, the performances right on the money. And Richard Mulligan's marvelously rubber face and expressive body language, alone, is worth the price of admission. It's a poison valentine to a seductive industry that can be very cruel. Blake Edwards knows of what he speaks, so if you give his voice a chance you just might laugh until you cry.

Interesting concept...definitely a black comedy........2006-03-25

In 1981, Blake Edwards teamed up with his wife, Julie Andrews, and a formidable cast of stars (Shelly Winters, William Holden, etc.) to make "S.O.B." The film details the transformation of a big-budget motion picture flop into a huge success. The road to success for the fictional film, "Night Wind" involves many twists and turns which take it to a soft-core porn status(a la "Last Tango In Paris".) The cast performs decently with the material they are given, but ultimately, the film disappoints. Although this may be what Edwards had intended as the ultimate satire of how things go in Hollywood, the film falls flat in several places. The over lengthy musical sequences (other than the saccharine-sweet opening sequence), which illustrate the fictional film's transformation bog the movie down...along with several other nearly incoherent plotlines. Ultimately, Julie Andrews becomes a very unlikable character, and one sympathizes with the Richard Mulligan character. Loretta Swit provides some laughs as a Hollywood reporter, but overall the film is pretty mediocre. I honestly think the idea for this film was hatched in Edwards' mind after the severe failure of one of his wife's earlier films, "Star!" "Star!", which detailed the life of Gertrude Lawrence, was a major motion picture, costing millions of dollars, and happened to include several musical production numbers...and it bombed...royally. Although "Star!" wasn't all that bad, it was released at a time when the nation was changing dramatically (1968) and facing many turmoils. The general public wasn't in the mood for a big musical (directed by the same team that brought us "The Sound Of Music"), and US knowledge of Gertrude Lawrence was minimal at best. In an effort to recoup some of its investment, the movie studio severely cut "Star!", and even went through the trouble of releasing it under a different name "Those Were The Happy Times." The whole debacle of "Star!" is like a blueprint for the script of "S.O.B." Which film do I recommend? "Star!" Julie Andrews has never looked more beautiful, and some of the musical numbers are simply over-the-top. For a better Edwards/Andrews collaboration, check out 1982's "Victor/Victoria", which is fantastic.

The first mockumentary?.......2006-03-15

I know SOB is not meant as a documentary style movie, but when you look at it's spot on take of Hollywood it reminds me of movies like This Is Spinal Tap. SOB is clearly done as a narrative, but you can see some of the elements that later were used in the 'mockumentary' movies of the 90's. The writing is top-notch and the actors seem to be reveling in their parts. The scene where Robert Preston explains his occupation to the young lady at the party has to rank as one of the top 10 funniest scenes in the movies. The story doesn't wander. Blake Edwards mixes slapstick with dark humor to create a thoroughly enjoyable experience. It's a shame this doesn't get airplay anywhere that I've been able to see, even with 500 channels to surf through. But, I guess that isn't too surprising considering who and what bears the brunt of most of the jokes.