Kaleidoscope *** (1966, Warren Beatty, Susannah York, Clive Revill, Eric Porter, Murray Melvin) –  Classic Movie Review 6,226

Warren Beatty came to Swinging Sixties England to team up with English rose Susannah York for director Jack Smight’s breezy 1966 romantic caper comedy thriller film Kaleidoscope. 

Warren Beatty came to Swinging Sixties England to team up with English rose Susannah York for director Jack Smight’s breezy 1966 romantic caper comedy thriller film Kaleidoscope about an American conman, Barney Lincoln (Beatty), who breaks into a card factory and marks the decks to beat European casinos.

Smight tries to disguise the lean yarn in the screenplay by Robert and Jane-Howard Carrington with dazzling visuals. Christopher Challis’s Technicolor photography is strikingly pretty.

Beatty and York, as Angel McGinnis, are also easy on the eye and give attractive performances, though there is no real chemistry between them. And there is interestingly quirky acting from Clive Revill as Inspector ‘Manny’ McGinnis, Eric Porter as Harry Dominion and Murray Melvin as Aimes.

It is not as good as the similar Charade or even Arabesque, though it would like to be, but it is still an entertaining enough wet-afternoon movie.

Also in the cast are George Sewell, Stanley Meadows, John Junkin, Larry Taylor, Yootha Joyce, Jane Birkin (as Exquisite Thing!), George Murcell, Anthony Newlands, Peter Blythe, Sean Lynch, John Bennett and Michael Balfour.

Jack Smight liked the script: ‘Terrific, a little hard to believe, but nevertheless a jolly fun premise laced with great humour.’

Kaleidoscope is directed by Jack Smight, runs 103 minutes, is made by Winkast Film Productions, is released by Warner-Pathé Distributors (UK) and Warner Bros Pictures (US), is produced by Elliott Kastner, Jerry Gershwin and Peter Medak, is scored by Stanley Myers, and is set designed by Maurice Carter.

The film had its world premiere on 8 September 1966 at the Warner cinema, London. It was released in the US on 22 September 1966.

Kinky Dolly is on the soundtrack, written by Stanley Myers and performed by him and his orchestra. Stanley Myers and Barry Fantoni spotted a group called Romeo Z at the Chi Chi club and later got them to record a song.

York replaced Sandra Dee. Smight recalled: ‘I couldn’t conceive of her playing a role of the British girl that the script called for.’ During pre-production in France, Smight asked Jack Warner if he could have Susannah York, Warner agreed and Dee was paid off.

There seems to have been friction between Smight and Beatty. Smight alleged that producer Elliot Kastner cast Sandra Dee mostly because Beatty liked her, and that Beatty regularly changed his performance during filming. ‘Warren would ask if he could try something different from what we had settled. I wanted to be flexible if what he wanted to do was better than what we had planned. Inevitably it wasn’t.’

Jane-Howard Carrington is aka Jane-Howard Hammerstein, the granddaughter-in-law of Oscar Hammerstein. She also wrote the screenplay of Wait Until Dark with Robert Carrington.

The cast are Warren Beatty as Barney Lincoln, Susannah York as Angel McGinnis, Clive Revill as Inspector ‘Manny’ McGinnis, Eric Porter as Harry Dominion, Murray Melvin as Aimes, George Sewell as Billy, Stanley Meadows as Dominion Captain, John Junkin as Dominion Porter, Larry Taylor as Dominion Chauffeur, Yootha Joyce as Museum Receptionist, Jane Birkin as Exquisite Thing, George Murcell as Johnny, Anthony Newlands as Leeds, Peter Blythe as Poker Player, Sean Lynch as Poker Player, John Bennett as Poker Player, Michael Balfour as Poker Player, and Stephen Lewis as Truck Driver.

© Derek Winnert 2017 Classic Movie Review 6,226

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