''What's New Pussycat?'' is a 1965

screwball comedy Screwball comedy is a subgenre of the romantic comedy genre that became popular during the Great Depression, beginning in the early 1930s and thriving until the early 1940s, that satirizes the traditional love story. It has secondary characteristi ...

film directed by

Clive Donner Clive Stanley Donner (21 January 1926 – 6 September 2010) Ronald Berganbr>Obituary: Clive Donner ''The Guardian'', 7 September 2010 was a British film director who was part of the British New Wave, directing films such as '' The Caretaker ...

, written by

Woody Allen Heywood "Woody" Allen (born Allan Stewart Konigsberg; November 30, 1935) is an American film director, writer, actor, and comedian whose career spans more than six decades and multiple Academy Award-winning films. He began his career writing ...

in his first produced screenplay, and starring Allen in his acting debut, along with

Peter Sellers Peter Sellers (born Richard Henry Sellers; 8 September 1925 – 24 July 1980) was an English actor and comedian. He first came to prominence performing in the BBC Radio comedy series ''The Goon Show'', featured on a number of hit comic songs ...

Peter O'Toole Peter Seamus O'Toole (; 2 August 1932 – 14 December 2013) was a British stage and film actor. He attended the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art and began working in the theatre, gaining recognition as a Shakespearean actor at the Bristol Old Vic ...

Romy Schneider Romy Schneider (; born Rosemarie Magdalena Albach; 23 September 1938 – 29 May 1982) was a German-French actress. She began her career in the German genre in the early 1950s when she was 15. From 1955 to 1957, she played the central chara ...

Capucine Capucine (, born Germaine Hélène Irène Lefebvre , 6 January 1928 – 17 March 1990) was a French fashion model and actress known for her comedic roles in ''The Pink Panther'' (1963) and ''What's New Pussycat?'' (1965). She appeared in 36 film ...

Paula Prentiss Paula Prentiss (née Ragusa; born March 4, 1938) is an American actress. She is best known for her film roles in ''Where the Boys Are'' (1960), '' What's New Pussycat?'' (1965), '' Catch-22'' (1970), ''The Parallax View'' (1974), and ''The Stepfo ...

, and

Ursula Andress Ursula Andress (born 19 March 1936) is a Swiss-German actress, former model and sex symbol who has appeared in American, British and Italian films. Her breakthrough role was as Bond girl Honey Ryder in the first James Bond film, '' Dr. No'' (1962 ...

. The

Oscar Oscar, OSCAR, or The Oscar may refer to: People * Oscar (given name), an Irish- and English-language name also used in other languages; the article includes the names Oskar, Oskari, Oszkár, Óscar, and other forms. * Oscar (Irish mythology), ...

-nominated

title song A title is one or more words used before or after a person's name, in certain contexts. It may signify either generation, an official position, or a professional or academic qualification. In some languages, titles may be inserted between the f ...

Burt Bacharach Burt Freeman Bacharach ( ; born May 12, 1928) is an American composer, songwriter, record producer and pianist who composed hundreds of pop songs from the late 1950s through the 1980s, many in collaboration with lyricist Hal David. A six-time Gra ...

(music) and

Hal David Harold Lane David (May 25, 1921 – September 1, 2012) was an American lyricist. He grew up in New York City. He was best known for his collaborations with composer Burt Bacharach and his association with Dionne Warwick. Early life David ...

(lyrics) is sung by

Tom Jones Tom Jones may refer to: Arts and entertainment *Tom Jones (singer) (born 1940), Welsh singer *Tom Jones (writer) (1928–2023), American librettist and lyricist *''The History of Tom Jones, a Foundling'', a novel by Henry Fielding published in 1 ...

. The film poster was painted by

Frank Frazetta Frank Frazetta (born Frank Frazzetta ; February 9, 1928 – May 10, 2010) was an American fantasy and science fiction artist, noted for comic books, paperback book covers, paintings, posters, LP record album covers, and other media. He is o ...

, and the animated title sequence was directed by Richard Williams. The expression "what's new pussycat?" arose in the

beatnik Beatniks were members of a social movement in the 1950s that subscribed to an anti-materialistic lifestyle. History In 1948, Jack Kerouac introduced the phrase "Beat Generation", generalizing from his social circle to characterize the underg ...

generation and is a general query aimed by men at women. In the film, Michael (O'Toole) calls all women "Pussycat" to avoid having to remember their names.

Plot

Notorious womanizer Michael James ( Peter O' Toole) wants to be faithful to his fiancée Carole Werner (

), but every woman he meets seems to fall in love with him, including neurotic exotic dancer Liz Bien (

) and parachutist Rita (

), who accidentally lands in his car. His

psychoanalyst PsychoanalysisFrom Greek: + . is a set of theories and therapeutic techniques"What is psychoanalysis? Of course, one is supposed to answer that it is many things — a theory, a research method, a therapy, a body of knowledge. In what might be ...

, Dr. Fritz Fassbender (

), cannot help, since he is

stalking Stalking is unwanted and/or repeated surveillance by an individual or group toward another person. Stalking behaviors are interrelated to harassment and intimidation and may include following the victim in person or monitoring them. The term ...

patient Renée Lefebvre (

), who in turn longs for Michael. Carole, meanwhile, decides to make Michael jealous by flirting with his nervous wreck of a friend, Victor Shakapopulis (

). Victor struggles to be romantic but Carole nevertheless feigns interest. Fassbender continues to have group meetings with his neurotics and obsessives and cannot understand why everyone falls for Michael. The group sessions get stranger—including an indoor

cricket Cricket is a bat-and-ball game played between two teams of eleven players on a field at the centre of which is a pitch with a wicket at each end, each comprising two bails balanced on three stumps. The batting side scores runs by striki ...

match. Michael dreams that all his sexual conquests simultaneously bombard him for attention, listing where they made love. Fassbender goes to the

River Seine ) , mouth_location = Le Havre/ Honfleur , mouth_coordinates = , mouth_elevation = , progression = , river_system = Seine basin , basin_size = , tributaries_left = Yonne, Loing, Eure, Risle , tributarie ...

and fills a rowing boat with

kerosene Kerosene, paraffin, or lamp oil is a combustible hydrocarbon liquid which is derived from petroleum. It is widely used as a fuel in aviation as well as households. Its name derives from el, κηρός (''keros'') meaning "wax", and was regis ...

and wraps himself in the

Norwegian flag The national flag of Norway ( nb, Norges flagg; nn, Noregs flagg; ) is red with a navy blue Scandinavian cross fimbriated in white that extends to the edges of the flag; the vertical part of the cross is shifted to the hoist side in the style ...

- preparing to commit suicide in the style of a

Viking funeral Norse funerals, or the burial customs of Viking Age North Germanic Norsemen (early medieval Scandinavians), are known both from archaeology and from historical accounts such as the Icelandic sagas and Old Norse poetry. Throughout Scandinavia, the ...

. Victor appears and sets up a small dining table nearby and asks what he is doing. Distracted, Fassbender forgets his idea of suicide and starts giving Victor advice. Despite his attempts to womanise, Fassbender is revealed to be married with three children. Meanwhile, Carole's plan seems to work and Michael asks to marry her. She agrees and they settle on marrying within the week. She moves in but Michael finds fidelity impossible. When a second "fiancee" arrives, she knows the worst. Simultaneously, a woman parachutes into Michael's open-top sports car and he ends up sleeping with her, also meeting other conquests at the bar. This takes place at a small country hotel, where all parties materialise in the format of a typical French farce. Some are checked in, but most just appear. This includes Carole's parents who wander the corridors, causing Michael to jump from room to room. A rumour has also started locally that an orgy is taking place so side characters such as the petrol station attendant also start to appear. Carole appears and wishes to see Michael's room. As they speak, all the other participants chase each other around in the background. Fassbender's wife tracks him down. Everyone ends in Michael's room with most of the females half-naked. The police arrive and form a line. Anna—Dr. Fassbender's wife, played by

Eddra Gale Eddra Gale (July 16, 1921 – May 13, 2001) was an American actress and singer of Czech descent. Early years Born in Chicago, Illinois, Gale was the daughter of an executive with a men's clothing company. Both of her parents were musically o ...

—charges in operatic Valkyrie costume, complete with a spear. They all escape to a

go-kart A go-kart, also written as go-cart (often referred to as simply a kart), is a type of sports car, close wheeled car, open-wheel car or quadracycle. Go-karts come in all shapes and forms, from non-motorised models to high-performance racing ...

circuit. They leave the circuit and go first to a farmyard then through narrow village streets still on the go-karts then back to the circuit. After a mayor marries Michael and Carole in a civil marriage ceremony, the couple are signing the marriage certificate when Michael calls the young female

registrar A registrar is an official keeper of records made in a register. The term may refer to: Education * Registrar (education), an official in an academic institution who handles student records * Registrar of the University of Oxford, one of the sen ...

"Pussycat", infuriating Carole. They leave and Fassbender attempts to court her instead.

Cast

as Dr. Fritz Fassbender *

as Michael James *

as Carole Werner *

as Renée Lefebvre *

as Liz Bien *

as Victor Shakapopulis *

as Rita, the parachutist *

Michel Subor Michel Subor (, born Mischa Subotzki; 2 February 1935 – 17 January 2022) was a French actor who gained initial fame with the starring role in Jean-Luc Godard's second feature, '' Le petit soldat'' (1960), but the French government banned it un ...

as Philippe *

as Dr. Fassbender's wife, Anna * Katrin Schaake as Jacqueline * Eléonore Hirt as Carole's mother, Mrs. Sylvia Werner * Jean Parédès as Marcel, Renée's husband *

Jacques Balutin Jacques Balutin is a French actor.Jess Hahn Jesse Beryle Hahn (October 29, 1921June 29, 1998) was an American- French character actor who mostly starred in French films. Biography After serving with the Marines in the Second World War, he moved to France in 1949 and took French cit ...

as Mr. Werner, Carole's father *

Howard Vernon Howard Vernon (15 July 1908 – 25 July 1996) was a Swiss actor. In 1961, he became a favorite actor of Spanish film director Jesús Franco and began starring in many low-budget horror and erotic films produced in Spain and France. After po ...

as Doctor *

Françoise Hardy Françoise Madeleine Hardy (; born 17 January 1944) is a French former singer and songwriter. Mainly known for singing melancholic sentimental ballads, Hardy has been an important figure in French pop music since her debut, spanning a career of ...

as Mayor's assistant (the registrar) * Sabine Sun as Nurse * Nicole Karen as Tempest * Jacqueline Fogt as Charlotte *

Daniel Emilfork Daniel Emilfork (7 April 1924 – 17 October 2006) was a Chilean stage and film actor who made his career in France. Biography Emilfork was born in San Felipe, Chile after his Jewish socialist parents from Kiev fled a pogrom in Odessa. At a ...

as Gas Station Man *

Tanya Lopert Tanya Lopert (born 19 June 1942 in New York City) is a French actress and the daughter of Ilya Lopert ''Ilya Lopert'' (May 1, 1905 – February 27, 1971) was a Russian Empire-born American film producer and distributor. He was renowned for di ...

as Miss Lewis

Cast notes

Richard Burton Richard Burton (; born Richard Walter Jenkins Jr.; 10 November 1925 – 5 August 1984) was a Welsh actor. Noted for his baritone voice, Burton established himself as a formidable Shakespearean actor in the 1950s, and he gave a memorable ...

has a cameo appearance as a man at the bar in a strip club.

Production

Warren Beatty Henry Warren Beatty ( né Beaty; born March 30, 1937) is an American actor and filmmaker, whose career spans over six decades. He was nominated for 15 Academy Awards, including four for Best Actor, four for Best Picture, two for Best Director ...

wanted to make a comedy film about male

sex addiction According to proponents of the concept, sexual addiction, also known as sex addiction, is a state characterized by compulsive participation or engagement in sexual activity, particularly sexual intercourse, despite negative consequences. The con ...

and hoped Charles Feldman would produce it. The title ''What's New Pussycat?'' was taken from Beatty's phone salutation when speaking to his female friends. Beatty desired a role for his then girlfriend, the actress

Leslie Caron Leslie Claire Margaret Caron (; born 1 July 1931) is a French-American actress and dancer. She is the recipient of a Golden Globe Award, two BAFTA Awards and a Primetime Emmy Award, in addition to nominations for two Academy Awards. She is one ...

, but Feldman wanted a different actress. Beatty and Feldman sought a joke writer and, after seeing him perform in a New York club, Feldman offered

$30,000. Allen accepted provided he could also appear in the film. As Allen worked on the script, his first screenplay, Beatty noticed that Allen's role was continually growing at the expense of his own. Eventually, Beatty threatened to quit the production to stop this erosion, but the actor's status in Hollywood at that time had declined so severely that Feldman decided to let him leave and gave the part to

. Beatty later said "I diva'ed my way out of the movie. I walked off of ''What's New, Pussycat?'' thinking they couldn't do it without me. I was wrong". According to Beatty, a new screenwriter was brought in and Allen's role was pared back to a minor character.

Groucho Marx Julius Henry "Groucho" Marx (; October 2, 1890 – August 19, 1977) was an American comedian, actor, writer, stage, film, radio, singer, television star and vaudeville performer. He is generally considered to have been a master of quick wit an ...

was to have played Dr. Fassbender, but at O'Toole's insistence he was replaced by

. O'Toole, Sellers and director

all made changes to the script, straining their relationship with Allen. Tension was also generated by Sellers' demanding top billing, but O'Toole described the atmosphere as stimulating. Second unit director Richard Talmadge is credited with creating the ''karting sequence''. The film was shot in and around

Paris Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. S ...

between October 1964 and January 1965 and released in New York on 22 June 1965. It opened in Paris in January 1966 as ''Quoi de neuf, Pussycat?'' The total box office take was $18,820,000. In addition to the title theme, songs featured were "Here I Am" by

Dionne Warwick Marie Dionne Warwick (; born December 12, 1940) is an American singer, actress, and television host. Warwick ranks among the 40 biggest U.S. hit makers between 1955 and 1999, based on her chart history on ''Billboards Hot 100 pop singles cha ...

and "

My Little Red Book "My Little Red Book" (occasionally subtitled "(All I Do Is Talk About You)") is a song composed by American songwriter Burt Bacharach with lyrics by Bacharach's songwriting partner Hal David. The duo were enlisted by Charles K. Feldman to compose ...

" performed by

Manfred Mann Manfred Mann were an English rock band, formed in London and active between 1962 and 1969. The group were named after their keyboardist Manfred Mann, who later led the successful 1970s group Manfred Mann's Earth Band. The band had two differen ...

Homage

The scene by the River Seine in which the lovelorn Dr. Fassbender plans to commit suicide and Victor's intrusion inhibiting him from doing so pays tribute to the

Charlie Chaplin Sir Charles Spencer Chaplin Jr. (16 April 188925 December 1977) was an English comic actor, filmmaker, and composer who rose to fame in the era of silent film. He became a worldwide icon through his screen persona, the Tramp, and is consider ...

film ''

City Lights ''City Lights'' is a 1931 American silent romantic comedy film written, produced, directed by, and starring Charlie Chaplin. The story follows the misadventures of Chaplin's Tramp as he falls in love with a blind girl (Virginia Cherrill) and ...

'' (1931), in which the Little Tramp saves a

dipsomania Dipsomania is a historical term describing a medical condition involving an uncontrollable craving for alcohol or drugs. In the 19th century, the term dipsomania was used to refer to a variety of alcohol-related problems, most of which are known ...

cal millionaire bent on self-destruction.

Reception

The film received mixed reviews.

Bosley Crowther Francis Bosley Crowther Jr. (July 13, 1905 – March 7, 1981) was an American journalist, writer, and film critic for ''The New York Times'' for 27 years. His work helped shape the careers of many actors, directors and screenwriters, though his ...

in ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...

'' gave the film a negative review. He criticised the script, the directing and the acting and described the film as "the most outrageously cluttered and campy, noisy and neurotic display of what is evidently intended as way-out slapstick". He praised the scenery and title song. On the other hand,

Andrew Sarris Andrew Sarris (October 31, 1928 – June 20, 2012) was an American film critic. He was a leading proponent of the auteur theory of film criticism. Early life Sarris was born in Brooklyn, New York, to Greek immigrant parents, Themis (née Katav ...

in '' The Village Voice'' wrote: "I have now seen ''What's New Pussycat?'' four times, and each time I find new nuances in the direction, the writing, the playing, and, above all, the music. This is one movie that is not what it seems at first glance. It has been attacked for tastelessness, and yet I have never seen a more tasteful sex comedy."

Awards and nominations

Home media

''What's New Pussycat?'' was released to DVD by MGM Home Video on June 7, 2005, as a Region 1 widescreen DVD, on May 22, 2007, as part of ''The Peter Sellers Collection'' (film number two in a four-disc set) and to Blu-ray by Kino Lorber on August 26, 2014, as a Region 1 widescreen Blu-ray. It was previously released in VHS.

Novelization

Slightly in advance of the film's release, as was the custom of the era, a paperback

novelization A novelization (or novelisation) is a derivative novel that adapts the story of a work created for another medium, such as a film, TV series, stage play, comic book or video game. Film novelizations were particularly popular before the advent of ...

of the film was published by

Dell Books Dell Publishing Company, Inc. is an American publisher of books, magazines and comic books, that was founded in 1921 by George T. Delacorte Jr. with $10,000 (approx. $145,000 in 2021), two employees and one magazine title, ''I Confess'', and s ...

. The author was renowned crime and western novelist Marvin H. Albert, who also made something of a cottage industry out of movie tie-ins. A fecund writer, he seems also to have been the most prolific American screenplay novelizer of the late '50s through mid '60s, and, during that time, the preeminent specialist at light comedy.

Sequel

The 1970 American movie ''

Pussycat, Pussycat, I Love You ''Pussycat, Pussycat, I Love You'' is a 1970 American comedy film directed by Rod Amateau. Intended as a sequel to the 1965 film ''What's New, Pussycat?'', it stars Ian McShane, Anna Calder-Marshall, John Gavin and Severn Darden. Plot A neurot ...

'' was intended as a sequel to this film, and includes much of the same premise of a young man (played by

Ian McShane Ian David McShane (born 29 September 1942) is an English actor, producer and director. He is known for his television performances, particularly as the title role in the BBC series ''Lovejoy'' (1986–1994), Al Swearengen in '' Deadwood'' (200 ...

) visiting his psychiatrist to discuss his love-life.

References

External links

* * * * {{Clive Donner 1965 films 1965 romantic comedy films 1960s English-language films 1960s screwball comedy films 1960s sex comedy films American romantic comedy films American screwball comedy films American sex comedy films American slapstick comedy films English-language French films Films about psychiatry Films directed by Clive Donner Films scored by Burt Bacharach Films set in hotels Films set in Paris Films shot in Paris Films with screenplays by Woody Allen French romantic comedy films French sex comedy films United Artists films 1960s American films 1960s French films