Hard to remember now, but Anthony Newley was a huge star in the ’60s, a popular singer/actor/composer, not to mention the husband of Joan Collins. But Newley was apparently disenchanted by his fame and his marriage, and in this autobiographical feature —Newley wrote, directed, produced, starred in, and composed the songs for it—he complains about all of this to his two toddlers (playing themselves). As Merkin, Newley puts particular emphasis on his own womanizing, including relationships with Polyester Poontang (Collins) and Mercy Humppe (Playboy centerfold Connie Kreski), while two ancient Hollywood comics (George Jessel and Milton Berle), representing God and Satan, struggle for his soul. Newley seemed to be aiming for Fellini’s 8 1/2, but the result was as self-indulgent and witless as it sounds. (“Polyester Poontang”? “Mercy Humppe”? Puh-leeze.) The movie was a major critical and commercial disaster, helping to hasten the end of Newley’s career and his union to Collins. So, in a way, it solved his problems.
