BEFORE: I'm taking a bit of a mulligan today, this film is just 40 minutes long, but I didn't know that when I bought it, I just figured it was a full-length film. The reason I'm short on time is that I spent 4 hours on Thursday night eating a giant sandwich at Sarge's Deli, in my first-ever eating challenge. I've been watching the show "Man vs. Food" and wondering if I've got what it takes to win one of these challenges. Since I'm just starting out, I found a challenge with no time limit, strictly pass/fail. It was called the Monster Sandwich, billed as "NYC's Largest Sandwich", featuring pastrami, corned beef, turkey, roast beef and salami, with lettuce, tomatoes, cole slaw and Russian dressing on some seriously large sourdough rye. Eating the meat was no problem, but that bread really slowed me down - it took me about 2 hours to eat the last quarter of the sandwich, I was able to sit in the deli long enough to become hungry again.
The downside is that after spending an evening competing in the deli, I fell behind on a number of other things - so I was lucky to find a shorter film on my list that will enable me to catch up a bit this weekend.
THE PLOT: A bassist shows up early for the betrothal ball of a beautiful princess, and whiles away the time having a dip in the river...as the princess is doing the same.
AFTER: Based on a short story by Anton Chekhov, this seems to be set in Russia, but in essence is very, very British. The film highlights the difference between the classes - a lowly musician and an upper-crust princess encounter each other in the woods. Since they both took a dip in the river, and they both had their clothes stolen, they both happen to be quite naked.
It's like something out of a lost "Fawlty Towers" episode, especially since it features two of that show's stars, Monty Python alum John Cleese, and his wife at the time, Connie Booth. The bass player has to figure out a way to help get the princess back into the castle, and appear on time to play at the ball, all while stark naked, which is no mean feat. I won't reveal his methods, but let's just say that the solution wouldn't be possible if he played the triangle.
It's a cute film with a unique set-up, and of course John Cleese is at his best when caught in social settings where disasters occur and then spiral out of control as he tries to fix them.
RATING: 5 out of 10 tuxedos
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