Staircase (1969)

Director: Stanley Donen

Writer: Charles Dyer

Composer: Dudley Moore

Starring: Richard Burton, Rex Harrison, Michael Rogers, Royston Starr, Jake Kavanagh, Dermot Kelly, Gordon Heath, Cathleen Nesbitt, Avril Angers, Neil Wilson, Shelagh Fraser, Gwen Nelson, Pat Heywood, Beatrix Lehmann, Stephen Lewis, Katya Wyeth

More info: IMDb

Tagline: Can this marriage last?

Plot: Charles Dyer and Harry Leeds are a couple that have been living together for nearly 20 years. Both earn a living as hairdressers in the West End of London and both care deeply for their mothers, but not each other as time apart takes its toll on their relationship when Harry has to care for his invalid mother who snips at him every chance she gets.

My rating: 4.5/10

Will I watch it again?  No.

I thought having Harrison & Burton together in one movie camping it up queer eye for the Shakespeare guy style would be amusing to say the least.  Nope.  I was bored for most of the picture.  I can kind of see what would've attracted these two acting powerhouse to do this picture but it just falls flat from start to finish.  The pair have a little chemistry at times but it's mostly so harsh and bland that I wanted them to break up and see other people.  Harrison looks to be having more fun with it.  It's based on Dyer's play so there's a stagey-ness about it but that's not the problem, at least I don't think.  The pacing is slow and that's to be expected in a slice of life kind of film this is but the thing is, I didn't much care about either of these two because they didn't show much love for each other and they're just so mean-spirited.  That kind of behavior gets old and real fast.  Add to that the longish running time of 96 minutes and you're going to be one bored cat.  WHO'S AFRAID OF VIRGINIA WOOLF (1966) this ain't.  You'd think watching two aging queens going at each other for an hour and a half would be fun but this picture proves it can be painful and depressing and not that fun kind of depressing, either.