Word: overacting
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Dates: during 1970-1979
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Here they are just cartoons. Taylor and Bologna act them competently, but that is hardly worth two hours of anybody's time. Most of the rest of the company (Olympia Dukakis, Helen Verbit, Ron Carey) overact shamelessly and uninterestingly, although Louis Zorich, as Pandora's gallivanting father, has a couple of hilariously sleazy moments. Robert B. Bean directed, apparently by remote control...
Given this polish, why doesn't the whole thing take flight? One reason, perhaps, was the unsure touch shown by most of the actors, all of whom at some point fumbled their lines. The tendency of minor actors to overact was painfully evident in John Archibald's appearance as the martinet Louis, and Peter Brogno's portrayal of Prince Paul. Alongside Paul Sprechler's Hoederer, Warren Knowlton as Hugo generally had his part under control; he seemed physically right for the part, even when his delivery of the rhetoric took on confused and querulous tones. Lucy Winslow, however, was throughout...