Main Cast: Julie Andrews, William Holden, Marisa Berenson, Larry Hagman, Robert Loggia
Release Year: 1981
Country: US
Run Time: 121 minutes
MPAA Rating: R
Plot
In this biting comedy satirizing Hollywood cynicism from writer-director Blake Edwards, Felix Farmer (Richard Mulligan) is a motion picture director whose career is on the skids. Having just completed a family musical that is sure to be a $30 million flop, Felix knows that his days are numbered and tries unsuccessfully to commit suicide. When he recovers, Felix suddenly has a brainstorm and hatches a scheme to buy the film back from his studio and lens new scenes that will turn it into a pornographic movie with big stars, a sure-fire box office winner. In order to pull it off, he'll need to convince his female lead and wife, Sally Miles (Julie Andrews, not coincidentally the director's real-life wife) to defy her wholesome, squeaky-clean public image by baring her breasts on film. S.O.B. (1981) was the final film of legendary actor William Holden. ~ Karl Williams, All Movie Guide
Review
Although it is steeped in mordant wit, S.O.B. is much more than just a comedy. Blake Edwards' poison-pen valentine to Hollywood is equal parts comedy and drama. For every gut-busting slapstick gag, there's a finely observed bit of backdoor wheeling and dealing or an unexpectedly touching moment of pathos. Edwards' script (partially inspired by his and Andrews' experiences with their legendary flop Darling Lili) occasionally lags a bit in terms of pacing because it attempts to juggle so many characters and satirical targets at one time. Nevertheless, this problem is more than made up for by the script's endlessly quotable dialogue and its array of fascinating, sharply etched showbiz characters. S.O.B. further benefits from a dream cast that gives their all to bring Edwards' biting tale to life. Richard Mulligan is both achingly poignant and delightfully unhinged as Felix, Julie Andrews fully delivers on the comedic and dramatic fronts as she gleefully trashes her goody-two-shoes image, and William Holden brings a totally believable "Hollywood lifer" sense of weariness to Cully. The supporting performances are just as skillful, especially Robert Webber's hysterical turn as a perpetually exasperated press agent and Loretta Swit's tongue-in-cheek performance as a foul-mouthed gossip columnist. However, the film's biggest scene-stealer is Robert Preston, who deals out an endless stream of eye-wateringly funny quips with razor sharp timing as the delightfully verbose quack, Dr. Feingarten. In short, S.O.B. brims with enough detail and wit to overcome its occasional excesses and is well worth a look for anyone interested in Hollywood-minded satires. ~ Donald Guarisco, All Movie Guide
The story is a sharply critical satire of the film industry and Hollywood society. The main character, Felix Farmer (Mulligan), is a phenomenally successful producer-director who has just made the first flop of his career, to the dismay of the studio and the loss of his own sanity.
After emerging from a period of shock and self-destructive behavior, he resolves to save both the film and his reputation. With great difficulty he persuades the studio and his wife Sally (Andrews) to allow him to revise the film as a soft-core pornographic feature. However, the egos of the filmmakers, the studio and virtually everyone else in Hollywood continue to wreak havoc on the creative process.
Influences and Reception
When writing the screenplay Edwards drew upon several of his own experiences. The character Felix Farmer is a person very similar to Edwards, and Sally Farmer is very similar to Julie Andrews (who plays her), Edwards' wife in real-life. The story of S.O.B. strongly parallels the experiences of Edwards and Andrews in their infamous failure, Darling Lili. Intended by Edwards to reveal Andrews' heretofore unseen wicked and sexy side, the film had had a troubled shoot and went significantly over budget, and was subject to post-production studio interference.
In S.O.B., Andrews's character agrees (with some pharmaceutical persuasion) to "show her boobies" in a scene in the film-within-the-film. For this scene, comedian Johnny Carson thanked Andrews on his The Tonight Show for "showing us that the hills were still alive", alluding to a famous line from The Sound of Music opening sequence.
In general, critical opinion on the merit of the film was sharply divided. In a remarkable contradiction, the screenplay was nominated both for a Writers Guild of America Award for Best Comedy Written Directly for the Screen and a Razzie Award for Worst Screenplay. It was also nominated for a Razzie for Worst Director and a Golden Globe Award for Best Motion Picture - Comedy/Musical. Opinion has remained divided in the years after its release.
"S.O.B." (in the film) stands for "Standard Operational Bullshit" and refers to misinformation being standard, usual, and the norm. The acronym also means "sexually oriented business" (if pertaining to strip clubs) and more generally "son of a bitch" (a ruthless person).
The Spanish dub of the film keeps the acronym S.O.B. saying that it stands for "Sois hOnrados Bandidos" (You Are Honest Crooks). Notice that the second word begins with a mute H, not with an O. The Argentine title for the movie is completely changed to Se acabó el mundo (The world is ended) having no relation with the sense or the original title.
An episode of Odd Job Jack uses the same plot as S.O.B.
