One More Time
One More Time
PG | 01 May 1970 (USA)
One More Time Trailers

London nightclub buddies Salt and Pepper link Pepper's dead twin to diamond smugglers.

Reviews
aramis-112-804880

The two very famous stars (at the time, in the notorious Frank Sinatra orbit), in their mid- to late-forties, were playing silly "hip" and "mod" types, in a typical late 60s Silly-British-James-Bond-Rip-Off.Apparently this movie was a sequel to "Salt and Pepper" (which I have not seen), about two nightclub owners Salt (Sammy Davis Jr.) and Pepper (Peter Lawford). It's not as weird as it seems back then, stars were stars even if they were middle-aged. These days if you're over thirty you can't be a lead; but in the good old days of freewheeling movie-making you could be in your fifties and a heart throb. And this movie is pretty freewheeling, as it was directed by the totally unprofessional Jerry Lewis, Dean Martin's sidekick and most famous these days for telethons and running around yelling, "Lay-dee! Lay-dee!" Jerry Lewis was a megalomaniac of the worst kind, one with no discernible talent. He does a lousy job which was a shame, since Sammy Davis, Jr. had enormous talent. He could sing, dance, act and do voices. He was one of the most talented individuals in the public eye in the twentieth century and it shows through. But mostly, Lewis lets Davis run around with as little discipline as himself.Everything looks like it might have been put together by amateurs for a college course. The plot is silly, but lots of them were back then. It was a kind of "deconstruction" of movies in the late 60s. Watch Tony Curtis movies like "Arrivederci, Baby!" or Dean Martin's "Matt Helm" flicks (which may have drawn Lewis to this project, as he always liked to play "catch up" with Martin). Silly was in, but this flick was hardly as well done as later with the Abrahams/Zucker or the Farrelly Bros.Apart from keeping Lawford and and Davis in the public eye and keeping them "cool," I can't think of a reason for making this movie at all. The plot is silly, the acting is on par with people who know they're doing a picture of little value, and Lewis made a hash of the direction. It's one of the movies you watch through just so you'll never have to see it again.Highlights: 1) Mix-up of the opening credits (you know you're in trouble if that's the best part); 2) a couple of good cameos in unexpected places (okay, if you're in imdb you can see Christopher Lee and Peter Cushing are in it; and though they're only there for a few seconds, they lift the movie momentarily.

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Michael_Elliott

One More Time (1970) * 1/2 (out of 4) Charles Salt (Sammy Davis, Jr.) and Christopher Pepper (Peter Lawford) are once again on the run after being connected to a murder of the rich Lord Syndey Pepper (Lawford).ONE MORE TIME really shouldn't have been made and I'm really not sure why it was. This here is a sequel to SALT AND PEPPER, which apparently made enough money at the box office where the producers thought a sequel would be a good idea. For some reason, Jerry Lewis was brought on to direct the picture. I viewed this shortly after the legendary comedian passed away. Days after I went through countless talk show appearances and various interviews and yet I never heard him talk about this film.With all of that said, I wasn't a fan of the original picture and this one here was pretty much more of the same as we get Davis and Lawford running around, trying to be funny but being letdown by a pretty bland screenplay. There's just nothing fresh or original here and both stars just appear to be going by the numbers. What's even stranger is that Lewis stayed behind the camera yet he has Davis doing this strange scenes that just don't work. Davis is pretty much asked to act like Lewis but it's not funny and it's more awkward than anything else.The film has some fairly poor pacing and there simply weren't enough laughs here to make the film worth sitting through. If you enjoyed the first film then perhaps you'll enjoy this one a tad bit more than I did. The highlight is without question a cameo by a couple British stars.

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JohnHowardReid

An odd scene in which Christopher Lee and Peter Cushing make their brief appearances as Dracula and Frankenstein respectively, distinguishes a not very distinguished but occasionally likable caper through an olde English castle. Peter Lawford makes an unintentionally laughable attempt at a dual role, but Sammy Davis puts over a couple of songs capably. In other respects, his high jinks and constant mugging betray the directorial hand of Jerry Lewis whose celebrated directorial talent for smashing up sets is also on a modified display here. The script, such as it is, could be described as a somewhat meandering peg, but at least it allows for opportunities for a couple of less familiar character actors to ham it up with the principals. As usual, Lewis is overfond of both close-up and zoom lenses. Alan Cuthbertson has a brief scene and then completely disappears. The film has bright photography and was obviously made on a fairish budget. All in all, it could be described as an unfunny knockabout farce, but it does have its moments of genuine amusement – almost despite its general air of directorial, editorial and thespian ineptness.

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bravo78

An unfunny disjointed mess of a movie. Directed by Jerry Lewis, it's apparent the movie was a vehicle for Sammy to channel the comedic stylings of Lewis. Safe to say, Sammy is no Jerry.The plot has Lawford assume the identity of his wealthy slain twin brother by getting the police to believe it was his character (Pepper) that was killed. And he keeps this little secret from his best buddy Sammy (Salt). Movie moves to big castle and no hilarity ensues.Lewis has Sammy engage in some comedic 'bits' where Sammy has difficulty crossing the street, difficulty with a teapot, difficulty with a water heater and unwittingly encountering some Satanic ritual. All fall flat. Really flat. The teapot scene was just pathetic.And unlike their earlier pairing in 'Salt and Pepper', Sammy and Lawford now seem devoid of chemistry. 'One More Time' is for Jerry Lewis and Rat Pack fans only.

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