What a Way to Go!

Frothier than a strawberry milkshake, this comedic confection stars Shirley MacLaine as the put-upon and eternally unlucky Louisa May Foster, a sensible gal who wants to settle down with a husband she genuinely loves to enjoy a life of simple pleasures. But every caring and sensitive man she marries suddenly and unexpectedly dies as they fall victim to their own vices and fortunes. Like a fatal cross between a magic genie and a black cat, Louisa brings wealth and fame to her husbands right before they are sent to premature graves, from workaholic store merchant Edgar Hopper (Dick Van Dyke) and obsessive expatriate painter Larry Flint (Paul Newman) to jaded playboy Rod Anderson, Jr. (Robert Mitchum) and effusive song-and-dance man Pinky Benson (Gene Kelly). Will our hapless heroine ever find true love that will stand the test of mortality? The high-caliber cast and posh production values give the film a prestigious sheen, but director J. Lee Thompson keeps the mood light and playful throughout, with MacLaine's character picturing each of her romances as a different kind of “movie” in a series of highly amusing fantasy sequences that span the history of cinema from silent slapstick to foreign art house fare. Although it has a tender message about finding joy in the bare necessities of life, What a Way to Go! remains an unabashedly screwball comedy with considerable highlights—including seeing a drunken Mitchum being kicked through a barn wall after trying to milk a bull. Recommended. (J. Cruz)