The leading actors are all competent, except for the wooden Cliff Robertson. Rex Harrison is splendid as a 17th Century nobleman trapped in the 20th Century.This is from his original review. Personally I may have liked Cliff Robertson's performance the most, and I would hardly call it "wooden."
THE HONEY POT opened in Chicago in 1967, the same year that Roger Ebert began his career reviewing movies for the Chicago Sun-Times. To avoid speaking ill of the dead -- however accurately or justified -- I'll say that if Ebert's assessment of Cliff Robertson as "wooden" came from his original-release review of that film, then perhaps Ebert did not yet have a mature appreciation for effective underplaying.
Mankiewicz is one of my three favorite directors; and THE HONEY POT is among my favorite of his films. The leading actors are far better than simply "competent," and Cliff Robertson here delivered one of his best performances, I think. Not only did he offer excellent readings of some of the picture's wittiest dialogue, but Robertson had to bear the additional challenge of keeping the audience uncertain (for nearly half the film) of whether he was hero or murderer.
Even though Turner Classic Movies tends to schedule THE HONEY POT in overnight time slots (as the network did just this week), many people who discover this clever and elegant picture enjoy it -- and probably would remember it for longer than they might bother wondering why a youthful Roger Ebert was too unsophisticated to appreciate it.
Most great films deserve a more appreciative audience than they get.
Scope: I couldn't agree with you more! I found it by accident early in the morning and, thankfully, was able to record it and watch later. This needs to air prime time.
shareThanks for your solidarity, carsal7! (It's always especially good to see anyone else appreciate the neglected treasures.) THE HONEY POT has just been released on Blu-ray; but we know by experience that it won't stay in print for long -- or have many copies manufactured -- if the distributor won't move enough merchandise to satisfy themselves.
So I definitely agree that HONEY POT should get some primetime exposure on TCM. After almost 50 years, it's still true that the more people who see it, the more word-of-mouth will be circulating in time for its next airing ... which can lead to still more viewers the NEXT time!
Most great films deserve a more appreciative audience than they get.
I finally watched The Honey Pot tonight (having DVR'd it during that same September showing). I almost didn't record it due to it's fairly low rating here on IMDb and was really wondering if I wanted to devote well over two hours to a now relatively obscure film (though that doesn't seem to stop me any other time;-). Well, I'm glad that I did! It has very good acting - yes, even, no especially, Cliff Robertson, who Hollywood seldom used well - but also a great script, loaded with clever twists. I don't know why this film doesn't have a better reputation. Although it is filled with a number of major stars of the day, none of them are really considered iconic by current film audiences; they are to movie buffs like ourselves, of course, but few under forty could probably identify Harrison, Hayward, Robertson, Capucine, or Adams (the exception being the then still very young Maggie Smith). As a result, it probably isn't a must see for very many newer film viewers. What a shame. So, as you say, let's talk it up!
shareEbert had a tendency to be impressed with himself.
"Be sure you're right, then go ahead."
Davy Crockett