This is basically a sitcom-level historic romp with lots of 1970s Hugh Hefner influenced toplessness, lots of bed hopping and silly action and little plot or satiric point to make. Superficially similar to the 1956 Bob Hope romp Casanova's Big Night in that the same plot device is used: Casanova enlists the aid of a feckless nobody as a stand-in to do his wooing for him. Here the lucky dimwit is a gambler; Hope had played a tailor. There is also a lot of farcical running about and jumping in and out of windows to propel the comic action and both movies have nice costumes and furnishings to provide the appropriate period air. Of the two, however, this one is definitely the dimwit cousin. Trivia: the producers seemed to be trying to set some kind of record for casting actresses named 'Marisa'. Marisas Berenson and Mell starred and I counted at least two others in the credits.
8 Reviews
Tony Curtis falls further down
littlenemo29 April 2000
What can one say about a movie only 16 people remember watching. This really is just a soft porn movie that I never would have watched (at age 14 with my father no less!) had either of us had known. Here is the story as I remember it: Tony Curtis (Casinova)sleeps with a woman then runs from the angry husband smiling all the way... Then he sleeps with three woman at once and runs from their husbands, smiling all the way...etc..This is a foreign movie so prepare yourself for some awful overdubbing. Overall, I think the only person who enjoyed this movie was Tony Curtis who wasn't in a scene without at least one topless young woman jumping in his lap.
You know Antel, you know what to expect
Horst_In_Translation7 April 2017
Warning: Spoilers
"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.
Probably won't be a favorite for Tony Curtis fans, but a pretty fun movie
lazarillo10 December 2008
I have watched (i.e. suffered through) any number of 1970's continental European sex comedies, and generally the best of that genre ("best" being a very relative term here) are the "period" comedies like this one about the famous Italian lover Casanova. This movie, though cheap by Hollywood standards, is relatively big-budget for a European sex comedy and features an actual bonafide star in Tony Curtis. Other reviewers may have found it "sad" to see an actor of Curtis' stature in a movie like this, but he looks like he was genuinely having a good time playing two different roles, and surrounded by some of the most sumptuous beauties in Europe at the time. In a way this kind of reminded of Richard Burton's version of "Bluebeard"--it's not a great movie by any means, but it's certainly lively and entertaining.
The infamous lover Giacomo Casanova (Tony Curtis) escapes from a prison along with another petty criminal, "Giacomino" (also Tony Curtis), who looks just like him. The conceit here is that while the legendary Casanova is a master at seducing women, he's not such a master at satisfying them after years in prison. However, "Giacomino", who naturally keeps getting mistaken for Casanova, is the opposite (even though he's far more interested in food than sex). This comes in handy when the beautiful wife (Marisa Berenson) of an elderly Middle Eastern caliph demands that Casanova satisfy her if her husband is to approve an "oil" deal (rose oil actually since this is supposedly the eighteenth century)and threatens to take his manhood if he fails to do so. In the meantime, both Casanova and his double fall into the clutches of various lustful, married noblewomen, played by the likes of Marisa Mell, Sylva Koscina and Britt Ekland, with usually sexy and occasionally funny results.
Naturally, there's a lot of female nudity here, not so much by the leads (with the notable exception of the then-fortysomething but very impressive Koscina), but by many of the supporting actresses including African-American actress Jeannie Bell as a nubian slave (nobody ever accused European exploitation filmmakers of political correctness),and Olivia Pascal and Katia Christian as some not-so-innocent novice nuns one of our heroes accidentally gets locked in a convent cell with. The mistaken-identity plot and bedroom farce comedy generally works pretty well with the exception of some"modern" jokes about "oil" shortages and American Express cards, which really date the movie far more than the 18th century setting. There's also a couple dumb gags referencing Curtis' most famous film "Some Like It Hot" (yes, at one point the faded Hollywood star does cross-dress). Even without the lame jokes though, this probably won't endear itself to serious Tony Curtis fans, but I thought it was OK.
The infamous lover Giacomo Casanova (Tony Curtis) escapes from a prison along with another petty criminal, "Giacomino" (also Tony Curtis), who looks just like him. The conceit here is that while the legendary Casanova is a master at seducing women, he's not such a master at satisfying them after years in prison. However, "Giacomino", who naturally keeps getting mistaken for Casanova, is the opposite (even though he's far more interested in food than sex). This comes in handy when the beautiful wife (Marisa Berenson) of an elderly Middle Eastern caliph demands that Casanova satisfy her if her husband is to approve an "oil" deal (rose oil actually since this is supposedly the eighteenth century)and threatens to take his manhood if he fails to do so. In the meantime, both Casanova and his double fall into the clutches of various lustful, married noblewomen, played by the likes of Marisa Mell, Sylva Koscina and Britt Ekland, with usually sexy and occasionally funny results.
Naturally, there's a lot of female nudity here, not so much by the leads (with the notable exception of the then-fortysomething but very impressive Koscina), but by many of the supporting actresses including African-American actress Jeannie Bell as a nubian slave (nobody ever accused European exploitation filmmakers of political correctness),and Olivia Pascal and Katia Christian as some not-so-innocent novice nuns one of our heroes accidentally gets locked in a convent cell with. The mistaken-identity plot and bedroom farce comedy generally works pretty well with the exception of some"modern" jokes about "oil" shortages and American Express cards, which really date the movie far more than the 18th century setting. There's also a couple dumb gags referencing Curtis' most famous film "Some Like It Hot" (yes, at one point the faded Hollywood star does cross-dress). Even without the lame jokes though, this probably won't endear itself to serious Tony Curtis fans, but I thought it was OK.
More or less an excuse to show nudity
blumdeluxe8 April 2019
Warning: Spoilers
"Casanova & Co." tells the story of Giacomo Casanova, who has to hide, while his look-a-like has the time of his life with several women who want to find out themselves if the rumors about his sexual abilities are actual facts.
The whole movie is pretty dumb. There is some kind of a plot and some slight attempts to turn the film humorous can be noticed but overall they're not much more than an excuse to show as much nudity as possible without seeming pornographic. That keeps the piece entertaining enough to not become bored too soon but it can't change the fact that this is a trash film.
All in all you don't miss out on anything if you don't give this title a try. If you're looking for easy entertainment and some naked bodies, this might be for you. Otherwise there are better films to watch.
The whole movie is pretty dumb. There is some kind of a plot and some slight attempts to turn the film humorous can be noticed but overall they're not much more than an excuse to show as much nudity as possible without seeming pornographic. That keeps the piece entertaining enough to not become bored too soon but it can't change the fact that this is a trash film.
All in all you don't miss out on anything if you don't give this title a try. If you're looking for easy entertainment and some naked bodies, this might be for you. Otherwise there are better films to watch.
Lamentable European sex comedy with a slumming-it Tony Curtis
Leofwine_draca3 July 2017
Warning: Spoilers
SOME LIKE IT COOL is a truly dreadful European sex comedy made as a collaboration between Austria, Italy, and France, and it has been dubbed into bad English from the original German. Tony Curtis, truly down on his luck, plays the dual role of Casanova and a lame stand in, and the plot sees him basically acting debauched throughout. Much of the film's supposed comedy comes from the usual lame 'mistaken identity' premise, and half the running time is merely designed to showcase topless women in a variety of period dress. Some supporting players who should be ashamed of themselves include Hugh Griffith (as an Arab!), Marisa Mell, Sylva Koscina, Victor Spinetti, and Britt Ekland. Imagine CARRY ON DON'T LOSE YOUR HEAD without the laughs and you'll be close.
Incoherent
SMK-44 September 2001
One might think the life and legend of Casanova would have given the soft porn crazed 1970s European exploitation film industry ample opportunity to produce numerous films on that topic. However, there are surprisingly few. The reason is this film, partly producing the definitive version, and partly showing that the subject is not such a sure-fire winner after all.
The humour is very low brow, sometimes typically Italian, sometimes typically German, and in neither case of the kind that travels very well. Some attempts at inserting contemporary humour went disastrously wrong, because they drag the viewer's mind right out of the picture without being especially funny in the first place. There is also a distinct lack of coherence, the film and especially the acting is underdirected. Some members of the cast are guilty of extreme over-acting (e.g. Jacques Herlin, as usual), others play it much too straight (Marisa Mell). Tony Curtis is more like a spectator who just happens to wander into the picture most of the time. Still, some cast members do find the right tone for this sort of picture: Victor Spinetti, Sylva Koscina (with the most extensive topless scenes of her career) and Marisa Berenson.
But one can enjoy the film on the so-bad-it's good level, with so many faces well known to followers of 70s eurotrash constantly popping up and embarrassing themselves.
The heavily cut US versions (cable TV & video) should be avoided.
The humour is very low brow, sometimes typically Italian, sometimes typically German, and in neither case of the kind that travels very well. Some attempts at inserting contemporary humour went disastrously wrong, because they drag the viewer's mind right out of the picture without being especially funny in the first place. There is also a distinct lack of coherence, the film and especially the acting is underdirected. Some members of the cast are guilty of extreme over-acting (e.g. Jacques Herlin, as usual), others play it much too straight (Marisa Mell). Tony Curtis is more like a spectator who just happens to wander into the picture most of the time. Still, some cast members do find the right tone for this sort of picture: Victor Spinetti, Sylva Koscina (with the most extensive topless scenes of her career) and Marisa Berenson.
But one can enjoy the film on the so-bad-it's good level, with so many faces well known to followers of 70s eurotrash constantly popping up and embarrassing themselves.
The heavily cut US versions (cable TV & video) should be avoided.
The Casanova Movie You Shouldn't See
JasonDanielBaker5 February 2015
Legendary Venetian lover Giacomo Casanova (Tony Curtis) escapes the prison cell provided him by the Doge and goes on the lam. In the confusion of his escape he encounters a rascally pickpocket/card cheat named Giacomino (also played by Curtis) who is a dead-ringer for him.
His doppelganger is less interested in love and more interested in food and money. Giacomino is willing to pretend to be Casanova (or whoever) to get them.
At first Casanova finds the mere existence of such a person to be disconcerting to say the least. But when faced with the unforeseen problem of erectile dysfunction and a situation in which his services in the bedroom are called for the double suddenly becomes useful in preserving his reputation.
The year before this was made Fellini's take on the Casanova legend hit theatres and very quickly came to be acknowledged as one of the most visually extravagant and breathtakingly avant garde spectacles in modern cinema - a dreamlike utilization of the language of film to tell a legendary story which took audiences to a completely difference place.
Just a mounting of a similar production upon the Casanova legend within the same year was thus pretty bad timing and this one measures up quite poorly against the other in every way that is important.
On the surface it could have looked very much the other way around. The Fellini version boasted Donald Sutherland (hardly a leading man of Curtis's calibre at the time) and surrounded him with Italian actors who were not particularly famous outside their home country.
Casanova & Company however brought together Curtis (a Hollywood legend) with Marisa Berenson (Barry Lyndon), Britt Ekland and Hugh Griffith. It also assembled a bevy of breathtakingly beautiful Playboy Playmates from Europe and was able to win a kind of cross-promotion with that magazine which should have enabled it to get much more of a foothold with mainstream audiences than the Fellini version did. But that did not happen.
This long forgotten paint-by-numbers Euro (Austrian-Italian-French-German) sex comedy got lost quite quickly and deservedly so. But one does sympathize with Tony Curtis who perhaps might have seen this as part of a comeback after a couple of failed network TV series and years back and forth appearing in European film and middle to lower budget American productions.
Curtis was in his early 50s by the time he made this having spent much of 40s appearing in work well below the quality of that which he had been in at peak of his Hollywood stardom in his early to mid 30s. Like many famous talents of greater past fame he attempted to extend his life in sizable roles by going to Europe to star in obscure productions.
His involvement or that of a similarly famous American star in a similar production, offered overseas producers a way of gaining distribution into the lucrative North American movie market. But it also gave a title like this a kind of credibility with domestic audiences in Europe. Moviegoers are happy to embrace parochial film industries when that which is produced by them is not drek.
Having a respected film star from America has often been like a stamp of approval in that way silly as the notion of that may be.
The numerous ties to the Playboy empire made me wonder if they had any role in financing it.
His doppelganger is less interested in love and more interested in food and money. Giacomino is willing to pretend to be Casanova (or whoever) to get them.
At first Casanova finds the mere existence of such a person to be disconcerting to say the least. But when faced with the unforeseen problem of erectile dysfunction and a situation in which his services in the bedroom are called for the double suddenly becomes useful in preserving his reputation.
The year before this was made Fellini's take on the Casanova legend hit theatres and very quickly came to be acknowledged as one of the most visually extravagant and breathtakingly avant garde spectacles in modern cinema - a dreamlike utilization of the language of film to tell a legendary story which took audiences to a completely difference place.
Just a mounting of a similar production upon the Casanova legend within the same year was thus pretty bad timing and this one measures up quite poorly against the other in every way that is important.
On the surface it could have looked very much the other way around. The Fellini version boasted Donald Sutherland (hardly a leading man of Curtis's calibre at the time) and surrounded him with Italian actors who were not particularly famous outside their home country.
Casanova & Company however brought together Curtis (a Hollywood legend) with Marisa Berenson (Barry Lyndon), Britt Ekland and Hugh Griffith. It also assembled a bevy of breathtakingly beautiful Playboy Playmates from Europe and was able to win a kind of cross-promotion with that magazine which should have enabled it to get much more of a foothold with mainstream audiences than the Fellini version did. But that did not happen.
This long forgotten paint-by-numbers Euro (Austrian-Italian-French-German) sex comedy got lost quite quickly and deservedly so. But one does sympathize with Tony Curtis who perhaps might have seen this as part of a comeback after a couple of failed network TV series and years back and forth appearing in European film and middle to lower budget American productions.
Curtis was in his early 50s by the time he made this having spent much of 40s appearing in work well below the quality of that which he had been in at peak of his Hollywood stardom in his early to mid 30s. Like many famous talents of greater past fame he attempted to extend his life in sizable roles by going to Europe to star in obscure productions.
His involvement or that of a similarly famous American star in a similar production, offered overseas producers a way of gaining distribution into the lucrative North American movie market. But it also gave a title like this a kind of credibility with domestic audiences in Europe. Moviegoers are happy to embrace parochial film industries when that which is produced by them is not drek.
Having a respected film star from America has often been like a stamp of approval in that way silly as the notion of that may be.
The numerous ties to the Playboy empire made me wonder if they had any role in financing it.
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