Alex in Wonderland ** (1970, Donald Sutherland, Ellen Burstyn, Meg Mazursky) – Classic Movie Review 8789

Talented co-writer/ director Paul Mazursky comes a bit of a cropper trying for a too-smart in-joke homage to Federico Fellini (and his similarly themed 8½) in his 1970 self-referential comedy Alex in Wonderland about a Bohemian Hollywood film director with problems, like how to find a new smash success and deal with rapacious producers.

Donald Sutherland is good as the director Alex Morrison, but Ellen Burstyn is even better as his wife Beth. Fellini and Jeanne Moreau (the film references her Jules et Jim (1962)) appear briefly as themselves for the delight of film buffs.

Alex in Wonderland was a box-office flop, unlike its predecessor Bob & Carol & Ted & Alice (1969), Mazursky’s first film, but there are some good bits in it though.

Also in the cast are Glenna Sergent, Meg Mazursky, Viola Spolin, André Philippe, Michael Lerner, Neil Burstyn, Leon Frederick, Carol O’Leary, Joan Delaney, Tox Drohar, Sophia Krischer, Gene Krischer and Paul Mazursky as Hal Stern.

The writers are Paul Mazursky and Larry Tucker.

Paul Mazursky died on 30 June 2014, aged 84. He is known for Bob & Carol & Ted & Alice (1969), Blume in Love (1973), Harry and Tonto (1974), An Unmarried Woman (1978) and  Down and Out in Beverly Hills (1986).

© Derek Winnert 2019 Classic Movie Review 8789

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