30 IS A DANGEROUS AGE, Cynthia (1968)

30 is a Dangerous Age, Cynthia (Joseph McGrath, 1968)

It’s a jack-of-all-trades affair for Dudley Moore, separated for the time being from Peter Cook. Moore is composer, co-writer, and lead actor; his then-wife Suzy Kendall plays the charismatic but entangled woman he falls for, hoping to marry before he turns 30 years old in several weeks. Also, he strives for a noteworthy achievement, namely, writing a musical comedy. The opening scene sets the type of humor on display for the next 80 minutes: Rupert Street (Moore) ventures into a London registry office to book a date for a wedding. Street keeps up the nonchalant charade that he doesn’t have a bride-to-be until the stuffy bureaucrat throws him out on his ass. Cut to the credits, a Richard Lester-esque whimsical number on a bus, a bevy of fantasy women in wedding outfits on double-decker buses, all vying for the affection of a dreaming Moore.

Further fantasies depicted include Moore as Beethoven and Mozart, pontificating on their home lives, and also as a race car driver. Producer Walter Shenson and director Joseph McGrath both worked with Lester and/or The Beatles, McGrath on the early rudimentary music video clips: “Day Tripper,” “Help!” and “Ticket to Ride.” Even with the great Billy Williams as DP, the entire movie can’t move beyond this Richard Lester influence, with Moore coming off too cute by half. (“Ghastly and puckish” is how Pauline Kael described the performance.) Turner Classic Movies sometimes airs the film, and it’s not yet been issued on DVD or Blu-ray.