Arrivederci, Baby (1966) [American]
a.k.a.: Drop Dead Darling
This rather distasteful Tony Curtis vehicle is always listed in
Jacqueline's filmography (as a bit part), but it is not clear whether
she actually appears in it. When asked what scene she was in,
she replied that she had never seen the movie, and that her part probably
ended up on the cutting room floor. In some old biographical
publicity notes, she wrote:
Then [after Cul-de-Sac] I did a three-day bit,
but I doubt whether you can see me in it. I remember I got there
thinking I was going to have a speaking part, and found it was
virtually extra work, so I put my wig on. I didn't want to look
like me in it, but my wig disguised me so much that no one
on the set recognized me when I'd take it off. This was in
'You Just Kill Me' [alternate/working title]. I was in the
crazy dance sequence, lights out, with Tony Curtis and Rose
Schiaffino. They're having a fight, come into this night club in
which everyone wears red and white except Tony and Rosanna....
And we see this fight in which they fall into the water which
surrounds the dance floor, and we register shock or amazement or
something. And I remember now I was pretty star-struck by Tony
Curtis, whom I later met and now know.
New! Someone who worked on this movie sent me
a scan of one of the daily call sheets; see below. Note it uses
yet another title, "My Last Duchese".
This scene is a little over an hour into the movie. At about 1:06
from the start, "Nick" (Tony Curtis) is trying to propose to
"Francesca" (Rosanna Schiaffino). On the second or third try, he accidentally
proposes to a man. Jacqueline might be in the background of this shot.
Check the vidcaps below:
This film was written and directed by Ken Hughes, who was also one of the
directors of "Casino Royale".
"Arrivederci, Baby" is not available on video, but shows up on the
American Movie Classics cable network a couple of times each year.
