I Ought to Be in Pictures *** (1982, Walter Matthau, Ann-Margret, Dinah Manoff) – Classic Movie Review 8318

Director Herbert Ross’s 1982 I Ought to Be in Pictures is a minor Neil Simon comedy drama from Walter Matthau’s latter period of decline, but it is still a fairly pleasing picture.

Dinah Manoff tries valiantly as Libby Tucker, the aspiring New York hopeful who hitches to Hollywood to re-establish links with her boozy Hollywood scriptwriter dad Herbert Tucker (Matthau) and tries to make it in the movies. It says much for the two actors that they make something quite touching of it, though Ann-Margret cannot do much with her support role as Matthau’s lover, Steffy Blondell.

The incredibly industrious and fertile Simon scripts from his conveyor-belt play, and it is a good, effective screenplay, though it does not reach the parts it obviously meant to, however.

Also in the cast are Lance Guest as Gordon, Lewis Smith, Martin Ferrero, Eugene Butler, Samantha Harper, Santos Morales, Michael Dudikoff and David Faustino.

Dinah Manoff was born on 25 January 1956 in New York City, New York, to screenwriter Arnold Manoff and Oscar-winning actress Lee Grant. She won a Tony Award in 1980 for her performance in the Broadway production of I Ought to Be in Pictures, which she reprises in the film version.

 © Derek Winnert 2019 Classic Movie Review 8318

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