I hope y'all are digesting these smaller morsels okay. I'm still not able to delve into one of my typical marathon posts, but have been fortunate enough to cough up a few of these quickies along the way. Today I'm taking a brief gander at part of a movie I'd never really been aware of before,
Why Bother to Knock (1961.) I came upon it while looking for info on
Intent to Kill, which was recently part of a
prior post. Often confused a bit with the totally dissimilar
Don't Bother to Knock (1952), in fact the movie's original title was also "Don't Bother to Knock," this was a rare excursion into comical sex farce by Richard Todd.
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Irish-born, boy-faced Todd was one of my mother's favorite actors.
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Todd was far better known as the star of wartime dramas or swash- buckling adventure pictures. A wounded soldier during WWII in real life, he first gained prominence (and an Oscar nomination) for his role of an army hospital patient in
The Hasty Heart (1949), with the award going to Broderick Crawford in
All the King's Men. (The same winner was announced for a Golden Globe and in that case Todd was Crawford's sole competition for Best Actor! He did, however, win for Most Promising Newcomer.)
Despite a moderate height of 5'9", he became known for all sorts of rousing roles in films such as
The Story of Robin Hood and His Merrie Men (1952),
Rob Roy: The Highland Rogue (1953) and
The Sword and the Rose (1953.) Occasionally, he found himself cast opposite actresses who seemed to dominate the scene more than he such as with
Stage Fright (1950), with Marlene Dietrich, and
The Virgin Queen (1955), with Bette Davis. His sole stab at executive producing eventually wound up with a similar scenario, at least when it came to promotion and billing!
His starring role in
Why Bother to Knock was usurped in the advertising by third-billed Elke Sommer, who had recently gone au naturel in Playboy magazine, during a release. Soon posters and still shots focused more on her than on anyone else in the sprawling cast. As he was producing, he may have welcomed the publicity no matter what, but I wonder... Few actors are happy to be shunted aside on their own project!
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Not only doesn't Todd receive billing on this still photo of a movie in which he's in nearly every scene, but that's not even Elke Sommer in the photo with him! It's starlet Dawn Beret.
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Anyway, moving on... Todd plays a travel agent who manages to juggle a variety of women here and there, but who really runs into some trouble when several of them turn up all at once in and around his apartment. There are all sorts of interludes, shenanigans and missteps throughout. But it's the final 12 minutes that really caused us to sit up and take notice.
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On hand as an impish interloper rather than one of Todd's conquests is Dame Judith Anderson. She sports a parade of eye-catching costumes and hats throughout. Do check out that wrist-cracking bracelet she is wearing here...!
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The final 12 minutes of Why Bother to Knock take place at a picturesque beach with most of the cast in swimsuits. It quickly becomes clear that I was born too late, for this was a time when less was more in the way of gentlemen's swimwear! Todd, 42 at the time, is in an abbreviated teal suit.
But even better, supporting actor Rik Battaglia, a rival for Todd's affections with Sommer, is in a patterned blue brief and is looking FINE (yes, in all caps!)
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For clarity's sake, here is a glimpse of Battaglia with his clothes on. I love that sweater, but I also like him with far less attire.
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| He was a staggeringly handsome man to begin with, but it's especially fun to see him romping around in this teeny bikini. |
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We're supposed to be watching and listening to the scene in the foreground between Beret and Todd, but with Battaglia in the background in nearly nothing... it's hard, so to speak!
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As he begins to exercise a bit, it's even more interesting.
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This is the kind of background extra I can totally handle!
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I'm sorry Richard, were you saying something?
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Oh to have been a beachgoer in this era...
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I found it surprising that Todd performed a stunt in which he ran barefoot after a moving bus and climbed aboard it in motion. (As a producer, it saved him from hiring/paying a stuntman!)
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This was a time when care was taken among many men (not Battaglia, thank God) to obscure the belly button. Todd sometimes pulls his suit up to there for "modesty's sake!"
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Yet it was perfectly fine apparently for the backside to be almost exposed.
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He gets downright cheeky at the finale of the movie. And notice the complimentary artwork on the wall. Ha ha!
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Today's man seems to care little about the belly button and prefers coverage at or near the knee! An almost total reversal. Not to mention that trunks tend to be far looser as well.
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The End!
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