Two Weeks in Another Town (1962)

 ☆ ☆ ☆

Two Weeks in Another Town (1962) – V. Minnelli

Ten years on, director Vincente Minnelli, writer Charles Schnee, and star Kirk Douglas try to recapture the bite of their earlier successful insider slam of Hollywood’s moral failings (The Bad and the Beautiful, 1952) with this spiritual successor.  Here, Douglas plays a washed up actor (Jack Andrus) who is contacted in the sanitorium by his former director Maurice Kruger, played by Edward G. Robinson, who is now also past his creative peak and working in Italy (at Cinecitta, no less).  It isn’t clear why Kruger calls Andrus but once he arrives in Italy, the histrionics begin.  Andrus is confronted by his ex-wife (Cyd Charisse) also in Rome and ready to become reacquainted despite being on the arm of a rich industrialist.  Andrus finds solace in the arms of Veronica, the girlfriend of the film’s self-destructive star, Davie Drew (George Hamilton).  Although Kruger ultimately decides that Andrus won’t appear onscreen (he is asked to supervise the dubbing), a sudden heart attack gives Andrus a second chance.  But can anyone forgive his narcissistic past? Claire Trevor also appears as Kruger’s wife who variously attacks and defends him.  So, it is all a bit soapy, occasionally over-the-top, sad in its knowingness about the arc of Hollywood careers, but not sharp enough to really be satisfying.