There's a Girl in My Soup (1970)

One of my all time favorites.

Nice effects though.

Highly Overrated But Still Good

Clever, believable, and super fun to watch. It totally has replay value.

Ideally cast, often above-average dialog (for a comedy), some amusing moments, and unmistakable 60s cheerfulness - but also a very badly conceived story.There is hardly a plot to speak of. Usually these romantic comedies have some sort of logical structure, usually a predictable formula that has the following order: boy-meets-girl, boy-girl-don't-get-along, boy-and-girl-finally-hook-up. TAGIMS, however, has: boy-meets-girl, boy-gets-girl-fairly-quickly, boy-and-girl-fart-about-in-France, girl-leaves-boy-for-no-apparent-reason, boy-resumes-life-as-a-single-man.What I mean is man-meets-girl etc. He is twice her age.While Peter Sellers's character is nicely fleshed out and makes complete sense every step of the way, the same cannot be said at all about Hawn's quasi-hippie-chick. She is young, fickle and unpredictable, I get it, but her decisions aren't based on anything that the viewer can relate to. At first she seems to dislike Sellers, but then suddenly and inexplicably makes a 180 turn, pushes for an affair with him – and just at the time when she is left with nowhere to stay, which implies that she is just using Sellers and his considerably luxurious lifestyle. At least in the real world that would be the motive for such a move.Eventually she decides to leave Sellers. No reason is given, except that she wants to suddenly go back to her "psychedelic zombie" boyfriend, a moron who keeps posters of Che Guevara, Marx, and Picasso hanging on the walls of his run-down flat. (He has a poster of the Incredible Hulk right next to mass-murdering Che, so that puts everything in perspective nicely.) Goldie simply does what she wants, whenever she wants to, without having to explain herself, but that also means that the viewer is left in the dark as to why she dumps Sellers for the Che-loving retard. She is like a free electron, bouncing around without rhyme or reason or a plan – and yet she is supposed to be smart.I have a problem with Hawn supposedly being highly intelligent. If you combed the entire late-60s period, interviewing tens of thousands of 19 year-old American hippie girls who acted and dressed as clowns, saying "dig" and "love" every 3 seconds, you would probably not find ONE that is of above-average intelligence. In fact, you'd find very few that even hit the 100 mark. Goldie is given overly clever dialog at first, but then displays moments of high dits which in no way fits in with her earlier smart-*ss attitude. That is what is called "bad writing", but also "wanting to have your cake and eat it too" (i.e. have her engage in clever tête-à-têtes with Sellers, but also allow her to be a goofy moron who does extremely childish, immature things in order to garner laughs; you can't have it both ways, unless your character is a schizophrenic or something).

I'm very fond of this film. For one thing, I'm in the same profession as 'Robert Danvers' ( the Peter Sellers character ), only I do not have a television show! It is also very funny, bounces along with nice Mike D'abo pop songs, and Goldie Hawn gets to show off her bum! But I digress. This 1970 Roy Boulting-directed comedy was based on the stage play by Terence Frisby and gave Sellers his biggest hit in years, also launching the lovely Goldie on a career that ultimately spanned three decades. 'Danvers' is a handsome television chef adored by millions, especially women ( in the first twenty minutes he beds both Nicola Pagett and Gabrielle Drake - though not at the same time! ) ), a cross between Robert Carrier and Warren Beatty, the sort of man whose after shave enters a room twenty minutes before he does. En route to a party, he meets 'Marion' ( Hawn ), a kooky ( film critic Barry Norman once claimed Hawn reminded him of a 'very sexy budgerigar'. I'm sure he meant it in the nicest possible way ) young American on the rebound from a failed relationship with scruffy pop group drummer Jimmy ( Nicky Henson ). Danvers takes Marion to his flat, a virtual seduction parlour fitted out with the latest kinky gadgets. But she has heard his chat-up lines before and proceeds to take the wind out of his sails. Danvers retreats to bed, all thoughts of sex forgotten. Over time their relationship blossoms. Despite the differences in their ages, they click. But fate rears its ugly head to break the happy couple apart...Whilst nowhere near as funny as say, Neil Simon's 'The Odd Couple', this is nevertheless enjoyably rude fun ( even if the wine tasting scene is remarkably similar to the one in 'Carry On Regardless' ). Sellers apparently based 'Danvers' on the late Lord Patrick Lichfield, photographer and ladies man. He brings a regal dignity to the character, while Hawn is a more than fine foil for him. The supporting cast includes Tony Britton, Diana Dors, John Comer, and Francoise Pascal ( of 'Mind Your Language' ).I note that some have taken offence at the spectacle of a young woman cavorting with a middle-aged man. It might surprise these same people to know that us older guys still enjoy sex as much as we did when we were in our teens. The only difference is that these days it takes us longer. But we manage.What lets the movie down a bit is the unbelievable ending. Despite his wealth, Danvers is dumped by Marion for Jimmy. "He needs me, you don't!", is her reasoning. He also needs a good bath and a dose of penicillin, you foolish girl. Still, they say love is blind.This 'Soup' manages to be nice and tasty ( and gave 'The Incredible Hulk' his first big-screen appearance! He's on a poster in Jimmy's flat, in case you're wondering ). Shame that Sellers and Hawn did not work together again.

THERE'S A GIRL IN MY SOUP (3 outta 5 stars) This movie has always had a bad reputation and I could never figure out why. Sure, Peter Sellers has been in much better movies than this... but he's been in lots worse, too. He plays the smarmy, self-absorbed star of a TV gourmet show who enjoys the swinging bachelor life, even as he hits his mid-40s. He meets up with Goldie Hawn, a hip, sexually-liberated young gal of less-than-20 and the sparks, as they say, fly. There are some really funny lines but a lot of missed comedic opportunities as well. To this day I still wonder why there is no big payoff to the wine-tasting scene... after all the time spent trying to teach Goldie that one is supposed to "spit" and not "swallow" I wonder why she doesn't wind up spitting up during a fancy dinner scene. This may not be one of Sellers' best but Goldie Hawn does a fine job... breaking free of the one-dimensional blonde ditz character that she was known for at the time. (She even gets a totally gratuitous nude scene... wow, this must be the '70s!)

Annoying, static comedy with a painfully miscast Peter Sellers as a smarmy, self-centered Casanova who always has his way with the ladies. A major blemish on Sellers' filmography, and, even worse, a film that seems to have been made solely to satisfy the ego of its star. (*)