SURPRISE PACKAGE

UK, 1960, 100 minutes, Black and white.
Yul Brynner, Noel Coward, Mitzi Gaynor, Bill Nagy, Eric Pohlmann, George Colouris, Warren Mitchell.
Directed by Stanley Donen.

Surprise Package is a slight entertaining gangster film. It has overtones of Damon Runyon, especially in Yul Brynner's gangster character. A bonus in the film is Noel Coward's Aegean king in exile. The script comes from a novel ('A Gift From The Boys') by journalist Art Buchwald. Direction is by Stanley Donen who made an impact with his musicals On The Town and Singin' In The Rain with Gene Kelly. He was making comedies at this time e.g Indiscreet, The Grass Is Greener. The film is pleasant but not outstanding.

1. The tradition of the Damon Runyon gangster comedy? The particular American style and its appeal? The atmosphere of the '30s? How well did it transfer to the '50s and '60s?

2. The work of Stanley Donen in musicals, sophisticated comedies? The styles of the cast? The contribution of the music? Songs? The atmosphere of New York, the contrast with Greece? The humour of the credits?

3. A world of humour? A mirror to the real world - and amusing parody? The 'what if…? approach to the comedy? The value of this kind of entertainment?

4. Yul Brynner's style as a comic gangster? His prowess in the United States, the gangster type, his being deported? His intelligence and lack of it? Things going wrong? His relationship with the king? The doctor and the various people on the island? Tibor and his help? Gabby - the on-and-on relationship? His scouting out the situations, surveillance? His self-image? The humour of his plan, his hat, being knocked out? The loss of the jewels? The gangster with the American dream?

5. The contrast with the king ~ Noel Coward's presence, articulation, wit? The humour of the comment on European and Asian politics? Anatolia and Britain? The comedy in his style? The girls at his villa? His wealth? The humorous presentation of fascist ideals? His loss of his position - and the humour of his being in the restaurant at the end?

6. Mitzi Gaynor's style as the chorus girl, glamour, her hesitations, her infatuation with the king, pleasure at the decoration? Love for Nico? The visit to the church? Concern about Tibor? Giving things away? The end?

7. The background of Anatolia - the doctor, his fat henchman, the temple? The ironies of the atmosphere of 1960 and old European kingdoms coming to an end, monarchs in exile?

8. The background of the Hungarians, atomic espionage? The pathos of Tibor's death?

9. The blend of Damon Runyon comic style with the atmosphere of the Cold War of the '50s?

10. The humour of the ending - the conventional ending to this kind of escapism?