Don't Drink the Water (1969 film)

Don't Drink the Water
Directed by Howard Morris
Produced by Charles H. Joffe
A Jack Rollins and
Charles H. Joffe Production
Executive producer
Joseph E. Levine
Written by R. S. Allen and
Harvey Bullock
Based on the play by Woody Allen
produced on the stage by David Merrick
Starring Jackie Gleason
Estelle Parsons
Ted Bessell
Joan Delaney
Music by Composed arranged and conducted by Pat Williams
Cinematography Harvey Genkins
Edited by Ralph Rosenblum A.C.E.
(editorial supervision)
Distributed by Avco Embassy Pictures
Release dates
  • 1969 (1969)
Running time
 100 minutes
Country United States
Language English

Don't Drink the Water is a 1969 American comedy film starring Jackie Gleason and Estelle Parsons.[1] It is directed by Howard Morris and based upon a 1966 play Don't Drink the Water by Woody Allen. The supporting cast includes Ted Bessell and Joan Delaney.

In 1994 Allen remade the story as a television film, with himself as Walter Hollander.[2]

Plot

Walter Hollander, a caterer, is on vacation with his wife Marion and daughter Susan. While flying to Athens, their plane is hijacked to Vulgaria, behind the Iron Curtain. While waiting for the plane to be cleared to take off again, Marion insists they go outside and take a few pictures. Unfortunately they are in a restricted area so the secret police suspect them of being spies. Inspector Krojak sends a squad of soldiers with machine guns to arrest them, and the Hollanders flee to the car of the American ambassador which is parked nearby.

The Hollanders take refuge in the U.S. Embassy nearby. The ambassador is away, leaving only his inept son Axel Magee to grant the Hollanders political asylum. Picketers protest outside the embassy as everyone tries to figure a way out. Walter and Marion even don a sultan's robes and attempt to sneak out with his party, but complicating matters further is that Susan has fallen in love with Axel.

Cast

Turner Classic Movies showing

Turner Classic Movies presented this adaptation of Woody Allen's Don't Drink the Water as part of its November 2–3, 2015 political satire film series "Geofiction Comedies", with commentary by host Ben Mankiewicz. Shown earlier were two other color films, 1959's The Mouse That Roared and 1961's Romanoff and Juliet as well as two black-and-white features from an earlier era, 1933's Duck Soup and 1940's The Great Dictator.

References

  1. ↑ Wilson, Earl {syndicated column}. "An Oscar Hasn't Changed Her, Estelle Parsons Says" (The Blade, May 23, 1969, page 13)
  2. ↑ Tucker, Ken. "Don't Drink the Water" (Entertainment Weekly, December 16, 1994)

External links


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