"The Man from the Diners' Club" is a comedy that had me laughing so hard in places that I had to stop the DVD. I never came across this film until recently. I bought it, though, even with such small input on IMDb, and the mostly lukewarm reviews. Why? Because I was pretty sure a film with Danny Kaye in the lead would be much funnier and better than the few reviewers before this found it to be. And, looking at a cast that also had Telly Savalas and George Kennedy, especially, as well as some other notable actors, I figured that comedy aficionados had overlooked this film. And, this movie sure seems to prove those points.
At the outset, though, I should note that this is a somewhat different role for Kaye. He doesn't do some of the things that he frequently did in earlier films and for which he was skilled at. He has no tongue-twister lines, and there are no song and dance numbers here. By this late stage in his career, wife Sylvia Fine was not writing and composing songs and skits for him. So, that may account for some of the change. But, Kaye does have more than one scene in which he uses a foreign accent to mimic another character. Kaye's comedy in this film comes mostly in the antics, and the film is loaded with frantic activity on his part. That's funny by itself, but the scenes with other characters add to the humor.
The co-starring cast provide a tremendous amount of the humor. They shine both in dialog and antics. Savalas, as Foots Pulardos, was the source of a couple of my bouts of prolonged laughter. And, Cara Williams as his Sugar Pye, had me in stitches a couple of times. Then, George Kennedy as George, the right-hand man of Foots was superb. The writers for this film were spot on in the dialog they gave these characters, and the actors were tremendous in their portrayals. The rest of the supporting cast were all very good.
The very plot for this film is hilarious. It has so many subplots that work together superbly. When Kaye's Ernest Klenk accidentally approves a Diners Club application for a notorious crime boss, Ronald "Foots" Pulardos, Ernie heads out to try to snatch the card before the man can use it. While this is going on, Ernie is due to marry Lucy (played by Martha Hyer) the next day. She's the favorite secretary of the head of his company, Mr. Martindale (played by Everett Sloane). Ernie had just been put on the carpet with the chief by his boss, Claude Bassanio (played by Howard Caine), who doesn't like Ernie because he was promoted ahead of Claude's cousin. But Ernie got the jitters before marrying Lucy - the wedding was postponed four times already. That, and the fact that the noise from the automated filing system room sets Ernie's nerves on end every time the door to the room opens. In one such nervous moment, Ernie had mistakenly approved an application that a woman had submitted for her German Shepherd dog. So, one more mistake like that, and Ernie gets canned.
Just before this, across town, gangster boss Foots Pulardos (Savalas) had been planning to flee the country. We never find out what rackets Foots was in, but now he's wanted by the Feds for income tax fraud. So, he plans to leave the country with his sweetheart, Sugar Pye (Cara Williams). The trouble is, the Feds have put holds on his bank accounts and are watching every place he has stashes of cash. Sugar comes up with the idea of applying for a Diners Club card so he can charge their airline fares and get cash. She doesn't think it all the way through, of course, but it proves an opening for much more comedy. Foots operates out of his business front, a gym called the Sweat Shop.
Also, as part of his get-away, Foots has hired a hit man to kill a certain guy so that he may be identified as Foots and end the Fed pursuit of him. This is another sidebar aspect of the plot - Foots got his name from his feet. His left foot is one inch longer than his right foot. I defy anyone to keep from laughing when the film pans down on Savalas' shoes with the left shoe sticking out an inch. This is the source of much humor, because his hit man is supposed to have the victim incinerated except for his feet. The victim is another man with one foot longer than the other. But, Foots has more problems and figures that "somebody up there hates me," when his replacement body is killed in a freeway accident. So now, he sends George out (Kennedy) to find anybody they can use for the hit. The cream of this whole thing happens when Ernie goes to the Sweat Shop and applies for the job of a new gym instructor, as a way to get into the firm so he can try to find and snatch the Diners Cub card. Well, as George is typing his information and credentials, he discovers that Ernie has one foot that is an inch longer than the other. More laughter when the camera pans down on Ernie's shoes.
From there on, the comedy ramps up. I haven't watched another film for months that gave me so many laughs. I give all this background as a dare to anyone who enjoys real comedy to watch this film. Even knowing what it's about, and these details, true comedy fans are sure to have many laughs. What a great comedy. It's a keeper and permanent film in my library. If Danny Kaye, Telly Savalas and Cara Williams don't bring tears of laughter to one's eyes, it's a sure sign the tear ducts are dry.
At the outset, though, I should note that this is a somewhat different role for Kaye. He doesn't do some of the things that he frequently did in earlier films and for which he was skilled at. He has no tongue-twister lines, and there are no song and dance numbers here. By this late stage in his career, wife Sylvia Fine was not writing and composing songs and skits for him. So, that may account for some of the change. But, Kaye does have more than one scene in which he uses a foreign accent to mimic another character. Kaye's comedy in this film comes mostly in the antics, and the film is loaded with frantic activity on his part. That's funny by itself, but the scenes with other characters add to the humor.
The co-starring cast provide a tremendous amount of the humor. They shine both in dialog and antics. Savalas, as Foots Pulardos, was the source of a couple of my bouts of prolonged laughter. And, Cara Williams as his Sugar Pye, had me in stitches a couple of times. Then, George Kennedy as George, the right-hand man of Foots was superb. The writers for this film were spot on in the dialog they gave these characters, and the actors were tremendous in their portrayals. The rest of the supporting cast were all very good.
The very plot for this film is hilarious. It has so many subplots that work together superbly. When Kaye's Ernest Klenk accidentally approves a Diners Club application for a notorious crime boss, Ronald "Foots" Pulardos, Ernie heads out to try to snatch the card before the man can use it. While this is going on, Ernie is due to marry Lucy (played by Martha Hyer) the next day. She's the favorite secretary of the head of his company, Mr. Martindale (played by Everett Sloane). Ernie had just been put on the carpet with the chief by his boss, Claude Bassanio (played by Howard Caine), who doesn't like Ernie because he was promoted ahead of Claude's cousin. But Ernie got the jitters before marrying Lucy - the wedding was postponed four times already. That, and the fact that the noise from the automated filing system room sets Ernie's nerves on end every time the door to the room opens. In one such nervous moment, Ernie had mistakenly approved an application that a woman had submitted for her German Shepherd dog. So, one more mistake like that, and Ernie gets canned.
Just before this, across town, gangster boss Foots Pulardos (Savalas) had been planning to flee the country. We never find out what rackets Foots was in, but now he's wanted by the Feds for income tax fraud. So, he plans to leave the country with his sweetheart, Sugar Pye (Cara Williams). The trouble is, the Feds have put holds on his bank accounts and are watching every place he has stashes of cash. Sugar comes up with the idea of applying for a Diners Club card so he can charge their airline fares and get cash. She doesn't think it all the way through, of course, but it proves an opening for much more comedy. Foots operates out of his business front, a gym called the Sweat Shop.
Also, as part of his get-away, Foots has hired a hit man to kill a certain guy so that he may be identified as Foots and end the Fed pursuit of him. This is another sidebar aspect of the plot - Foots got his name from his feet. His left foot is one inch longer than his right foot. I defy anyone to keep from laughing when the film pans down on Savalas' shoes with the left shoe sticking out an inch. This is the source of much humor, because his hit man is supposed to have the victim incinerated except for his feet. The victim is another man with one foot longer than the other. But, Foots has more problems and figures that "somebody up there hates me," when his replacement body is killed in a freeway accident. So now, he sends George out (Kennedy) to find anybody they can use for the hit. The cream of this whole thing happens when Ernie goes to the Sweat Shop and applies for the job of a new gym instructor, as a way to get into the firm so he can try to find and snatch the Diners Cub card. Well, as George is typing his information and credentials, he discovers that Ernie has one foot that is an inch longer than the other. More laughter when the camera pans down on Ernie's shoes.
From there on, the comedy ramps up. I haven't watched another film for months that gave me so many laughs. I give all this background as a dare to anyone who enjoys real comedy to watch this film. Even knowing what it's about, and these details, true comedy fans are sure to have many laughs. What a great comedy. It's a keeper and permanent film in my library. If Danny Kaye, Telly Savalas and Cara Williams don't bring tears of laughter to one's eyes, it's a sure sign the tear ducts are dry.