They All Laughed ** (1981, Audrey Hepburn, Ben Gazzara, John Ritter, Patti Hansen, Dorothy Stratten, Colleen Camp, Elizabeth Peña) – Classic Movie Review 7792

They All Laughed is a brave, possibly foolhardy title for Peter Bogdanovich’s 1982 screwball romantic comedy, in which there are bubbles in the madcap caper but they largely fall flat. The tale of New York private eyes at the Odyssey Detective Agency in love is pretty sweet but unfortunately They All Laughed was laughed off screen at the American box office. Bizarrely, Bogdanovich claims it is ‘my own favourite among my films, by a long shot’.

Ben Gazzara, John Ritter and Blaine Novak play the team of detectives who are pursuing and falling for various beautiful women – played by Audrey Hepburn, Dorothy Stratten, Colleen Camp, Elizabeth Peña, Joyce Hyser and Patti Hansen.

There is some verve in the filming but not enough interest conjured up in the odd, rather unsatisfying yarns, in the screenplay written by Bogdanovich and Blaine Novak. It is good to see Hepburn in a rare late role (one of only five films in 25 years) but she is largely thrown away as Angela Niotes. Gazzara plays John Russo, who is trailing Angela, elegant wife of a wealthy Italian industrialist.

It went straight to video in Britain but it is worth a cautious look.

Bogdanovich bought the rights back from the producers Time-Life Films, who had quietly buried it.

Bogdanovich’s girlfriend, Dorothy Stratten, was murdered on 14 August 1980, aged 20, before the film’s release.

It premiered at the Venice Film Festival on 2 September 1981 and was released in the US on 20 November 1981. The digitally restored version premiered at the Chicago International Film Festival on 17 October 2017.

© Derek Winnert 2018 Classic Movie Review 7792

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