Blu Ray Review: Fitzwilly (1967)

Kino Lorber has released the delightfully amusing Delbert Mann feature Fitzwilly, in which we see Dick Van Dyke continuing to use cinema to extend past his popular Rob Petrie character from television.

I recall seeing Fitzwilly at the theater, first run, and not only being happy to see Dick Van Dyke, but also Barbara Feldon, then popular on TV’s Get Smart as Agent 99, and both Stephen Strimpell and John McGiver whom I loved from the TV series Mr. Terrific running at around the same time (it tanked after a short season, but we kids loved it). But I also remember people being disappointed that Fitzwilly was dryer, more sophisticated, not the slapstick of Rob Petrie or the off-kilter silliness of Get Smart. In fact, Fitzwilly is very funny 60s comedy feature that is a very welcome blu ray release.

Dick is the title character, a butler for a wealthy lady (Dame Edith Evans) who is accustomed to a high level lifestyle. However, she actually has very little money, so Fitzwilly and the other servants commit robberies in order to keep her lifestyle at the level to which she has become accustomed. Enter an assistant (Barbara Feldon) whom the lady hires to help work on a reference dictionary she is putting together. This disrupts the activities and puts the household in a financial bind.

This was Barbara Feldon’s feature film debut, as well as the first appearance of Sam Waterson (who is spotted as a chauffeur). The cast includes, along with the aforementioned, such welcome veterans as John Fiedler, Norman Fell, Cecil Kellaway, and former Dead End Kid Billy Halop in his final feature appearance (he would continue to do television work).

Fitzwilly is pleasant, whimsical, and features conversational dialog that is sharp and witty. There is nothing bombastic about the comedy in this film, which is quite sophisticated. For younger viewers like myself back in the summer of 1968 (when it reached Wisconsin theaters), the reaction was sometimes disappointment. While we kids accepted Dick’s cockney turn in Disney’s Mary Poppins, many expected more Rob Petrie-esque humor in a film like Fitzwilly. (ironically when Dick did provide broader comedy in the Disney features Lt Robin Crusoe USN and Never a Dull Moment, the movies were not very good).

Well, this kid liked Fitzwilly in the 60s and watching it now, on blu ray, in the 21st century, I found it to be even more pleasant and amusing, and Dick’s droll performance is somewhere near his best work.

Kino Lorber’s blu ray includes a lighthearted, interesting, and entertaining commentary track by historian/filmmaker Michael Schlesinger, and historian/archivist Stan Taffel.

The blu ray can be ordered at this link: FITZWILLY