Soft Beds, Hard Battles * (1974, Peter Sellers, Lila Kedrova, Curd Jürgens, Béatrice Romand) – Classic Movie Review 10,566

The 1974  British comedy Soft Beds, Hard Battles [Undercovers Hero] is set during the Nazi occupation of France. The Boulting Brothers’ brew of ancient jokes and antique routines results in uneasy entertainment, but there is always Peter Sellers in six roles, one of which is Hitler.

The saucy tale is the old one about the habituées of a busy Parisian brothel winning the war against the Nazis through the bedroom. In this case it is the brothel of Madame Grenier (Lila Kedrova).

Director Roy Boulting’s tasteless, slackly handled, not very funny film is a waste of Sellers, as well as of Lila Kedrova, Curd Jürgens and Béatrice Romand, and there are clumsy titles too, for both British and American audiences. Some of the comedy is stale and badly dated.

The story and screenplay are by Leo Marks and Roy Boulting, based on an idea by Maurice Moiseiwitsch.

Sellers plays Général Latour & General Latour, Major Robinson, Herr Schroeder, Adolf Hitler, M Le Président des Forces Spéciales & The President, and H.R.H. General The Prince Kyoto &  Japanese imperial Prince Kyoto.

Also in the cast are Gabriella Licudi, Jenny Hanley, Rex Stallings, Françoise Pascal, Rula Lenska, Daphne Lawson, Vernon Dobtcheff, Patricia Burke, Douglas Sheldon, Thorley Walters, Timothy West, Hylette Adolphe and Nicholas Loukes.

© Derek Winnert 2020 Classic Movie Review 10,566

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