Main Cast: Yul Brynner, Bill Nagy, Mitzi Gaynor, Barry Foster
Release Year: 1960
Country: US/UK
Run Time: 100 minutes
Plot
This is an unimpressive spy-comedy from director Stanley Donen who inserts his specialty, a small song-and-dance number, into the odd proceedings. Gangster Nico March (Yul Brynner) has been ordered out of the United States because of his unsavory activities and back to the Greek island from whence he came (actually Rhodes). Once on the island, various characters enter the picture, including a local, corrupt police chief. Nico decides to send for a bundle of money left in the States but his double-crossing "friends" send him a bundle of feminine wiles instead, Gabby Rogers (Mitzi Gaynor). Obviously, Nico is none too pleased with the lousy substitution for hard cash, though he does not yet realize he is sure to fall in love with her. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide
Review
The surprise in Surprise Package is what a dull film it is. Director Stanley Donen helmed many fine and a number of superior pictures, and even when he was off his form, his pictures were rarely actually dull. But Package is, as they say, the exception that proves the rule. Donen, apparently aware that the film was not going to be a winner, seems to be trying to inject it with some life, but a fast pace with no support underneath it quickly becomes dull itself. The Art Buchwald-Harry Kurnitz screenplay is a major source of the film's problems, but in and of itself it doesn't sink the film; the basic structure is workable, if not particularly credible or involving, and some of the dialogue is diverting. With the right cast, this could have been the basis for an enjoyable, if creaky, way to spend a couple of hours. But Yul Brynner is visibly ill at ease trying to play comedy here, and he torpedoes any number of laughs. Mitzi Gaynor tries to get by on having a nice personality, when what is needed is a true star persona. And Noel Coward seems to lose interest in his role before he finishes his first line. The cinematography is worthwhile, but this is a film that cries out for color rather than black-and-white. Package contains a couple of laughs and Donen manages a few interesting set-ups along the way, but on the whole, Package is not a keeper. ~ Craig Butler, All Movie Guide
