Don't Make Waves (1967)

When a New Yorker (Tony Curtis) relocates to California, his car crashes over a Malibu hillside and is accidentally set on fire by an Italian bombshell (Claudia Cardinale). That's just the beginning of the complications of his California adventure as he becomes involved not only with Cardinale but the married man (Robert Webber) who's "keeping" her, his wife (Joanna Barnes), a sky diver (Sharon Tate) and her bodybuilder boyfriend (David Draper). The director Alexander Mackendrick directed Curtis in one of his best films, SWEET SMELL OF SUCCESS but they're not so lucky here. This satire on the Malibu beach lifestyle can't even cough up a grin much less an actual laugh. It's aimless and haphazardly shoots satirical barbs all over the place, hoping to eventually hit an intended target. The movie only remotely comes to life toward the very end as one of those Malibu beach houses perched on the edge of a cliff begins a slow stop-and-start descent down the hillside during a mudslide. Perhaps worst of all, the film manages to make the breathtaking Cardinale, much too shrill here and poorly directed, unappealing! The dreadful score by Vic Mizzy is one of those Mickey Mouse jobs. The title song is sung by The Byrds. With Jim Backus, Mort Sahl and Sarah Selby.