Smile 1975

No doubt Christopher Guest who has spent many years making topical parodies that mock the American scene saw this terrific little comedy directed by Michael Ritchie about a Southern California beauty pageant. Toxic in its humor and jaundiced in it’s view of this beloved American past time  along with many other things that Americans hold near and dear it’s also a laugh out loud film.  The movie is set in Santa Rosa during the finals of a teen beauty pageant, and when the film opens we are treated to some really lousy (is there any other) talent hopefuls. My favorite contender was a ditzy teen who for her talent showed how to pack a suitcase and of course she scores high in the competition. The pageant is being run by the marvelous Barbara Feldon who is falling apart from the tension and stress of putting this show together and  a failing marriage. The head judge is played with dead pan style by Bruce Dern a used car salesman, and together they make one hell of a team. Also on hand is a sarcastic and testy 3^rd rate chorographer- director who is hired to push and pull the production numbers featuring these klutzy teens into shape played by the first rate chorographer Michael Kidd. Among the contestants look for a very young Melanie Griffith already a vixen and the wonderful Annette O’Toole. Some what controversial is the treatment of the only Mexican American contestant  who is mocked, picked on and whose talent consists of  a zany patriotic send up that is sabotaged by some of the other girls. True she is also pushy and nasty in her own right and makes buckets of Guacamole to bribe the judges with. I won’t say if it does her any good.