Who Is Killing the Great Chefs of Europe? (1978)

Best movie ever!

This is a must-see and one of the best documentaries - and films - of this year.

It is neither dumb nor smart enough to be fun, and spends way too much time with its boring human characters.

The film never slows down or bores, plunging from one harrowing sequence to the next.

Everything I've read about this movie says someone is bumping off chefs. That's amazing. I must've watched a different movie. I sat through about half an hour of utterly unfunny nonsense and no one got bumped off (although, I wish they had), and finally my wife and I voted to turn it off. So I have to confess that I never got to the part most of the other reviewers evidently found so funny and wonderful. This is a shame, because I've always been a big fan of Robert Morley, so I really had high hopes. But even Robert Morley was boring in the thirty minutes of this movie that I saw. I've never liked George Segal and was hoping he'd be a chef and would get bumped off, but no such luck. And the woman in the bizarre coat, how many animals was she wearing, and why? And what was the point of that girl who put together the bizarre food sculpture? Was she one of the iced (ha ha) chefs? So, with apologies to all of you who absolutely loved this movie, I regret to say it didn't even make a decent appetizer. Not worth the calories. A half-baked mess. A real crock.

I love this movie and I loved it when I first saw it come out back in 1978. It has dated well and I am amazed - astounded if you will - by the lack of love a film like this has received on here. Sure it has mostly good reviews, but it(at this point in time) has only 10 reviews. 10? TEN! That is all a film like this with an incredibly witty script, a couple A-listers like George Segal and beautiful Jacqueline Bisset, a catchy musical score by Henry Mancini, artful comedic direction by Ted Kotcheff, and a Tour-De-Force performance by Robert Morley - alone reason enough to see this film. All the previous reasons I listed make this film a whole lot of fun. Kotcheff has skills and creates a solid mystery amidst some pretty funny situations and even more importantly really witty dialog. There are a couple of scenes(okay, the food fight scene near the beginning of the film) that are a little too over-the-top, but how about the zippy repartee between Segal and Bisset(did I mention how absolutely gorgeous she is?) What about the wonderful character acting by the likes of Jean-Pierre Cassel and one of the dead chefs or that of Phillipe Noiret or Madge Ryan or Jean Rochefort or even some small character parts like those played by Gigi Proietti as an Italia detective, Frank Windsor as an irritable Scotland Yard inspector, Peter Sallis and an irritable French chef, Joss Ackland as a snooty chef working for the queen, or John Le Mesurier as a doctor to Max, the obese, gluttonous, selfish gourmand whose magazine published an article about the world's most fabulous meal. This meal and its quartet of chefs become targets for a killer out to kill the great chefs of Europe in the style of their own expertise. We get a cook simmered like his pigeons and one having his crushed in a duck press just as examples. The mystery part created by Ivan and Nan Lyons is wonderfully weaved and wonderfully written for this film and its great performances are all pulled together by the wit it generates. And most of that wit is carried on the gargantuan shoulders of Robert Morley as max who utters lines with perfection. I can watch this film again and again if for no other reason than to see/hear Morley's performance. He is that good. I believe this was an Oscar-worthy performance. Every line is a verbal thrust and parry for his razor-sharp tongue line with acid. Morley is a treat to see as he makes himself even more huge in a larger -than-life role as Max. Just listen to that speech he gives in the doctor's office about every fold of his fat being a brush-stroke and every chin a concerto. Wow! Who Is Killing the Great Chefs of Europe? is a fun, exciting film mixing comedy with class.

This is one of those often overlooked comedy gems, which people miss probably because of the title. George Segal is a riot as the entrepreneur ex-husband of Pastry Chef Jacquline Bisset, who is chasing her around Europe to get her to be the Spokes person for his latest Food chain of restaurants called "H-Dumpty" Bisset's character is one of four chefs being honored by being invited to create part of a fabulous meal for the Queen of England, set up by a very Obese Robert Morley, as the acerbic and insulting Editor-in-chief and Publisher of a first class gourmet magazine. But after the great dinner someone starts bumping off the four chefs in the manner of their own specialties. The suspects include Segal and other envious chefs not invited to participate in the historic event. Bisset becomes rather concerned when she realizes that she is the last name on the list. From there the mayhem and madcap comedy ensues. Let the game begin.

This one is going to make it to the roster of all-time great comedies. Its sheer classiness and the elegant level of its wit on both the verbal and visual level - so different from the crassness and vulgarity of much American comedy (the more so in recent years) - made me suspect an English touch, and sure enough, the Canadian-born director, Ted Kotcheff, made his career in the UK. Jacqueline Bissett is a delight to the eye and George Segal makes a charmingly roguish screen presence; they work wonderfully off each other. But Robert Morley - perfectly cast - runs away with the whole movie with his acerbically comic portrayal of the gourmet-cum-gourmand Max. The wonderfully funny food references throughout, and the gorgeous cinematography of European locales put the icing on this comic eclair. And, just for good measure, first-time viewers will have a devil of a time trying to decide just who is killing the great chefs of Europe. This ranks right up there with the best of the Ealing Studios work. A must-see for connoisseurs of literate comedy.