From "10" to "Victor/Victoria," PBS' delightful Blake Edwards doc honors the lover of slapstick

from 10 to Victor Victoria PBS delightful Blake Edwards doc honors the lover of slapstick PBS Blake Edwards a love story in 24 frames is an affectionate cinematic portrait of the actor writer director an artist the documentary Chronicles Edward's career chronologically from his difficult childhood in Tulsa Oklahoma to his move to California where he started working in the entertainment industry with radio television and film Productions culminating with his honorary Oscar in 2004 director Danny gold traces Edwards personal and professional highs and lows features home movie footage and family photographs and also Rings laughs with film clips from several of the director's classic comedies including Breakfast at Tiffany's 10 and Victor Victoria while his adult children Jennifer and Jeffrey Edwards remember their father fley Julie Andrews along with several comedians including Patton Oswalt and Jay shander Seer provide commentary about highlights from Edward's career when filmmaker ran Johnson recalls as a kid there was nothing better than the opening sequence of the Pink Panther films it is hard for viewers of a certain age racing down memory lane not to agree with him Blake Edwards a love story in 24 frames opens with Andrews describing the silly but elegant waterfall sculpt Ed by her late husband and it is an app symbol for him Edwards was classy but also slapstick y his daughter confirms that Laurel and Hardy were her father's Muse leading Paul feig bridesmaids to explain that Edward's genius was his ability to inject low brow humor gags and physical comedy into a highbrow setting case in point the party where hundy V bakshi Peter Sellers reeks Havoc at a fancy Hollywood Insider dinner table with a chicken and a woman's hairpiece as well as in a bathroom with a broken toilet a painting and a roll of toilet paper these hilarious scenes beautifully illustrate Edwards magic recounted in an archival interview about doing a joke topping that joke and then topping the topper it may be cute that Fe and other interviews are seen watching the Clips but their annotations feel like Overkill the discussion of the party does allow Jay Shandra to talk about sellers playing a char character in Brown face acknowledging that at the time sers was the hero of the film and gets the girl which was rare practically excusing the performance critic Leonard Malon adds that what was acceptable in the late 60s no longer is which feels like a balanced if equally forgiving response this discussion Echoes an earlier conversation in the documentary about Mickey Rooney's problematic and controversial performance in yellow face in Breakfast at Tiffany's and Edwards is seen expressing regret about the racism in a 2006 interview there are other low points in Edward's career from going over budget on darling Lily 1970 the first film he made with Andrews to fighting with a studio head over the Final Cut of wild Rovers 1971 these failures contributed to his ongoing depression and even prompted him to move to Europe and away from the industry however after he had a box office hit with Return of the Pink Panther 1975 he was able to continue his comeback and create two personal films 10 1979 and so 1981 the documentary suggests that Edwards wanted control of his projects it was why he shifted from acting in films in the 1940s to writing his TV series Peter gun 1958 was a huge hit and eventually directing Blake Edwards a love story in 24 frames shows how his work influenced him he reportedly stopped drinking and smoking after making the drama Days of Wine and Roses 1962 about an alcoholic but it was his art imitating life where Edwards was most successful his Blockbuster hit 10 featured of lived in bedroom scene between George Dudley Moore as Edwards alter ego and his patient girlfriend Samantha Julie Andrews where she repr commands him for his sexist talk and behavior moreover it is quite different from the bedroom scene between George and his fantasy girl Jenny boderek which occurs in the end of the film where George sees that Jenny may not be who or what he wants after all Derek remarks in the dock that Edwards loved women and created strong female characters while Pat and Oswalt unpacks the terara George has meeting a truly liberated Woman these Impressions enhance the appreciation of the film the success of 10 may have allowed Edwards to make SOB his vitriolic saire of Hollywood where Felix farmer Richard Mulligan as Edwards Alter Ego is a suicidal filmmaker Andrews and others ause about the film which has its moments including a famous 8-second sequence involving Andrews bearing her breasts but so feels overpraised likewise hearing that darling Lily is being rediscovered now also feels like a stretch despite Rob Marshall and others gushing about its fabulous opening sequence Edwards had another hit arguably his last with Victor Victoria 1982 but the documentary focuses equally on the Broadway production and Andrews declining her Tony nomination because no one else in the cast and crew were recognized actress Lesley and Warren who received an Oscar nomination for her role in the film version gets a sound bite with with her insightful comment about the film's depiction of gender one wishes she had been featured more prominently gold includes one more passion project that's life 1986 which is known as Edwards cathartic home movie as it was filmed in Edwards and Andrew's home and starred the couple's friends and family members Harve Jack Lemon as Edwards Alter Ego is a self-pitying self-involved man whose wife Andrews on his 60th birth birthday secretly awaits the results of a cancer biopsy it's a Bittersweet if a typical Edwards film so nice that it was included many of the director's subsequent film such as blind date Sunset skin deep and switch are ignored the documentary ends with footage from a 2009 exhibition of Edwards paintings and sculptures as well as a poem Andrews reads aloud about her husband there is certainly no discussion of the director's last iCal feature the execrable son of the Pink Panther which has Roberto benini playing inspector kuso's son that is probably for the best Blake Edwards a love story in 24 frames is a loving tribute to the filmmaker designed to prompt fans to re-evaluate if not revisit