Caprice marks 20th Century Fox's attempt to enter into the spy caper stakes already occupied by the likes of Charade (1963), The Prize (1963) and Arabesque (1966). At the time, Doris Day was the world's number one box office star; little did she know that her 'kooky blonde'-routine was about to fall foul of a rapidly changing cinematic landscape. This was the age of Bonnie & Clyde, The Graduate, The Wild Bunch, and Midnight Cowboy. The world wanted depressing, downbeat character dramas; not cutesy caper films about nutty industrial spies. The only room left at all for comedic spy capers was already taken by the increasingly humorous 007 films and the Flint movies with James Coburn. Caprice is a desperate effort which suffers from too many jarring mood swings and a tortuously confusing plot. Day only made the film to fulfil a contractual obligation and would later label it her worst film. Co-star Richard Harris was so sure that the film was destined to bomb that he allegedly refused to watch it, ever! Even at the time of his death, he had never seen Caprice.
Patricia Foster (Doris Day) is an industrial spy working for Femina Cosmetics. Her father also used to be in the espionage game; he was an Interpol agent until his unsolved assassination in the Alps. Patrcia is ordered by her boss Sir Jason Fox (Edward Mulhare) to steal a secret formula for rival company May Fortune. The formula can apparently create a water-resistant hairspray which will be the next big thing in the world of fashion and beauty. Things take a darker turn when counter-agent Christopher White (Richard Harris) enters the scene. Is he ally, enemy, or something else altogether? To add further to the mystery, Patricia also discovers that vast quantities of drugs are being smuggled between the cosmetic companies in the guise of a 'harmless' face powder. Soon, the long-ago murder of her father rears its ugly head once more as Patricia uncovers one secret too many and finds herself targeted for elimination.
Directed by former Warner Loony Tunes maker Frank Tashlin, Caprice has a good deal of cartoon-like energy but lacks the required finesse to be a good film. The scattershot narrative is a nightmare to follow; the back projection work, intended to suggest an exotic feel, looks horribly fake; and the performances seem generally tired and disinterested. Often Caprice seems to be mimicking earlier and better movies, right down to Doris's chic wardrobe (her sunglasses in particular are clearly modelled on Audrey Hepburn's in Charade). All this achieves is to draw unwanted attention to the fact that she's a fortysomething woman trying to come across like she's in her 20s. There are a handful of individually effective action sequences and the film is at least mercifully brief. However, as a whole it is a muddled mess, pitched at a level of hysteria from the very start which only gets more and more out-of-control as the film progresses. Is it as bad as that absolute nadir of zany '60s caper movies, John Goldfarb, Please Come Home? No, not quite... but it sure is a pretty rotten movie just the same.
Patricia Foster (Doris Day) is an industrial spy working for Femina Cosmetics. Her father also used to be in the espionage game; he was an Interpol agent until his unsolved assassination in the Alps. Patrcia is ordered by her boss Sir Jason Fox (Edward Mulhare) to steal a secret formula for rival company May Fortune. The formula can apparently create a water-resistant hairspray which will be the next big thing in the world of fashion and beauty. Things take a darker turn when counter-agent Christopher White (Richard Harris) enters the scene. Is he ally, enemy, or something else altogether? To add further to the mystery, Patricia also discovers that vast quantities of drugs are being smuggled between the cosmetic companies in the guise of a 'harmless' face powder. Soon, the long-ago murder of her father rears its ugly head once more as Patricia uncovers one secret too many and finds herself targeted for elimination.
Directed by former Warner Loony Tunes maker Frank Tashlin, Caprice has a good deal of cartoon-like energy but lacks the required finesse to be a good film. The scattershot narrative is a nightmare to follow; the back projection work, intended to suggest an exotic feel, looks horribly fake; and the performances seem generally tired and disinterested. Often Caprice seems to be mimicking earlier and better movies, right down to Doris's chic wardrobe (her sunglasses in particular are clearly modelled on Audrey Hepburn's in Charade). All this achieves is to draw unwanted attention to the fact that she's a fortysomething woman trying to come across like she's in her 20s. There are a handful of individually effective action sequences and the film is at least mercifully brief. However, as a whole it is a muddled mess, pitched at a level of hysteria from the very start which only gets more and more out-of-control as the film progresses. Is it as bad as that absolute nadir of zany '60s caper movies, John Goldfarb, Please Come Home? No, not quite... but it sure is a pretty rotten movie just the same.