"Casanova & Co." aka "Sex on the Run" aka "Hilfe, ich bin eine männliche Jungfrau" aka "The Amorous Mis-Adventures of Casanova" aka "Casanova & Company" aka "The Rise and Rise of Casanova" aka "Some Like It Cool" is an Austrian/French/Italian co-production from 1977, so this one has its 40th anniversary this year. This one was made in Italy and the last title from all these I listed (that are probably still not all English/German titles existing) is a shameless reference to the film "Some Like It Hot" because that one was starring Tony Curtis as well, the man who plays Casanova in here. But it also shows how much south he had gone by the late 1970s. And his name attached to the project also resulted in some other well-known names joining the cast, such as the stunning Marisa Berenson from "Cabaret", Olivia Pascal, Oscar winner Hugh Griffith, Bond girl Britt Ekland and Jean Lefebvre. But when it comes to the girls, it is really all about their good looks only I think because it is a Franz Antel movie and if you know a bit about him, you know what to expect here. The man is the prime example of a filmmaker who made a living out of producing trashy German language sex comedies for decades. Even with more talented actors than usually at his disposal, he simply does not have the ability or talent to come up with a quality piece. Admittedly, it is better than most of his other works I have seen that are complete garbage.
Still his take on Casanova here never feels authentic or entertaining. I am tempted to say this film has more alternate titles than it has funny moments. It is a sex comedy no denying and the only reason why it is not a complete failure is (besides from the solid actors I guess) that the subject of Giacomo Casanova works well with Antel's approach to filmmaking, so there were some moments when it worked slightly at least. But it still is quite on the sad side to see people like Curtis appear in here or Marisa Berenson who was really good in Cabaret only five years earlier and this is what her career had become. So yeah, this 95-minute film is 90% trash, with guilty pleasure potential on some rare occasions too and many beautiful people (females). But apart from that, it is truly an empty movie and 4 stars out of 10 is still very much on the generous side. Don't watch.
Still his take on Casanova here never feels authentic or entertaining. I am tempted to say this film has more alternate titles than it has funny moments. It is a sex comedy no denying and the only reason why it is not a complete failure is (besides from the solid actors I guess) that the subject of Giacomo Casanova works well with Antel's approach to filmmaking, so there were some moments when it worked slightly at least. But it still is quite on the sad side to see people like Curtis appear in here or Marisa Berenson who was really good in Cabaret only five years earlier and this is what her career had become. So yeah, this 95-minute film is 90% trash, with guilty pleasure potential on some rare occasions too and many beautiful people (females). But apart from that, it is truly an empty movie and 4 stars out of 10 is still very much on the generous side. Don't watch.