Seeing this movie as a 21 year old was not a good idea. I was literate and mature enough to understand that this was an adult satire, but I was too much of a little boy to understand the grownup-ness of the characters. Ultimately, my 48 year old mind understands that I missed something in SOB, but I can't get by the quarter century old memory of thinking that this Blake Edwards comedy was a dud.I do remember laughing. And Rosanna Arquette's stripping in front of William Holden ("If that's nothing, I can't even conceive of what 'something' might be!"). There was lots of sharp dialogue and slapstick. Julie Andrews looked, well, perky, but by the time she did her newsworthy strip, what little attention span I was paying to the movie had spooled out. Yet that's all I remember. A lot of insider jokes and bared breasts. This isn't so much a review as a confession that I didn't get the movie. I remember feeling faintly disgusted with Mary Poppins popping out, in a repulsive, leathery musical number. I had a narrow window of opportunity to get SOB, but I missed it.I'm not really interested in giving it another shot.

Blake Edwards, "S.O.B.," is one of the funniest satires of the vicious machine known as Hollywood ever made. Felix Farmer (Richard Mulligan)is one of Hollywood's most popular directors. All his films were box-office hits and everyone loved him...until his latest family oriented film is a HUGE flop. Farmer's life then goes down the toilet. His wife Sally Miles, America's Sweetheart(Julie Andrews),leaves him. Felix has a nervous breakdown, which gives in to suicidal tendencies. His 3 friends (William Holden, Robert Preston, and Robert Webber)try to keep his body and soul together. It's during a party at Felix's house (That turns into a orgy)that Felix comes up with an idea to save his flop: buy back his film and turn it into a sexcapade, which includes a nude scene with his estranged wife.Throughout the film, you see the backstabbing that goes on when Felix is re-working his film: studio heads that try to steal his film when it looks like it will be a sure-fire hit, assistants that try to get their foot in the door, youth pushing out the old, and sensationalism is the norm. It's also incredibly sad because it also shows that the Hollywood machine has no mercy: stars and directors are put onto pedestals, only for those pedestals to be cruelly yanked from underneath them (The once-famous star that drops dead on a beach, and remains on the beach for a few days, unknown and unloved). Felix soon becomes a victim of the Hollywood machine when they underhandedly steal his film, and goes through desperate measures to get it back. The result turns into one of the most poignant endings I have ever seen.The lines in the film are sharp enough to draw blood. Robert Preston practically steals the film away from the fact that you see Julie Andrews pretty much kill her "Mary Poppins" image by showing her boobs, swearing and being a total witch! This would make a great double feature with "The Player." Check it out!

From the opening scene to the final fade out, this movie, for it's genre, is as good as it gets.I noticed when they gave Blake Edwards his lifetime achievement award at the Oscars this past year, they did NOT mention S.O.B. amongst his list of films. Interesting. Could it be that this scathingly witting, brilliant, intelligent ... and, oh yes, HILARIOUS ... film cut too close to home?The cast is top drawer and everyone is at the top of his or her game. From Julie Andrews, playing a delicious parody of herself, to William Holden, who in the course of the movie declaims his own obituary, to Robert Preston (not a shyster ... he is a QUACK), it is wonderful. I'm sure the Hollywood Power Players hated it. Unless you are One Of Them, you will probably love it. It's great.

Its the story of a director (Richard Mulligan) that has a major career disaster with a universally panned film called "Night Wind". The director is suicidal while all of those around him are amusingly wrapped in their own ego-centric worlds.The movie is hysterically funny and rather touching, a recurring vignette in the film is a cut-away to a man that has died jogging on the beach and his little dog. The man lies dead in the sand while people walk on by. This helps give a sense of isolation; the characters are disconnected from each other, even though they work and live together.It has great performances by the cast. One stand-out is Robert Preston as very amusing "Dr. Feel-Good"; he steals every scene.Every time I see S.O.B. there are more little bits and nuances that I never noticed before. If you are a Richard Mulligan or Robert Preston fan this is a must see.For fans of Blake Edwards this is, in my opinion, one of his best comedic films.