Rating: PG
Genre:
Comedy
Release Date: 08/24/2004
SubTitles: English/French/Espanol
Dubbed: English/Espanol
Sound: DD1
Run Time: 113 Minutes
Distributor/Studio: MGM
The American beauty-contest ritual is skewered by screenwriter
Jerry Belson and director
Michael Ritchie in
Smile. The film takes place during an annual pageant in Santa Rosa, CA. The event is supervised by local mover and shaker
Brenda DiCarlo (
Barbara Feldon), to whom the contest is the most important thing on earth. Nothing -- not even the violent backlash of her neglected husband,
Andy (
Nicholas Pryor) -- is allowed to interfere with her pet project. Choreographer
Tommy French (
Michael Kidd), outwardly nasty and cynical, takes money out of his own pocket to insure the safety of the contestants as they parade down a rickety stage runway; chief judge
"Big Bob" Freelander (
Bruce Dern) discovers that his son is a budding voyeur, information which leads to a silly "politically correct" consequence; and the various contestants scheme to upstage one another through a variety of means (one girl puts Vaseline on her teeth to assure a gleaming smile). Among the contestants are such stars-to-be as
Colleen Camp,
Denise Nickerson,
Annette O'Toole, and
Melanie Griffith. Though not a hit itself,
Smile has developed a fervent cult following, which led to a Broadway
musical version of the property in 1986, with songs by
Marvin Hamlisch.
~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
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