Die Himmelsmaschine

Confusing movie? Maybe, but I guess I have to be the one digging up valuable info. I can't tell you much, just what I know. What little info there is on this film is on my In Memoriam: Alexander Salkind segment in my KringleQuest.com website. So here goes, and remember, I'm quoting straight from what I wrote: "This was [the Salkinds'] only 'vanity project,' in that the script had been conceived and written by Berta [Dominguez D.] for the express purpose of casting herself in the lead female role. As both writer and star, she would assume the pseudonym Cassandra Domenica, while her husband would cast Tony Curtis...[as] the bizarrely named central character, one Parsifal Katzenellenbogen, the notorious inventor of the skywriting industry...this lively piece of satire[, which takes a lighthearted look at the history of advertising slogans,] has never been released theatrically in the U.S.; for some reason, it is the only Salkind picture from the twilight of [his career] to bear that distinction." Hope that clears things up for those you who were 'confused' by this title.

Actually, I enjoyed VERY much the film because it is all about Alexander Salkind and his wife's lives (Berta Dominguez). Had you had the chance to meet their incredible and surrealistic world (and lives), you could see how real this film is. Berta's role is played by herself, Parsifal (Tony Curtis) plays Alex's role; the housekeeper, the baron, are real life characters that used to hover about Berta's luxurious apartments in Paris. Christopher Chaplin plays Bertas real son, Ilya. Alex looking to raise money to produce his films. Berta with her younger lovers. The whole madness lived in their environment is very well represented in this film. Acknowledging that it was never meant to be released on cinemas, for family and personal reasons. And for the same reasons the credits show Cassandra Domenica instead of Berta Dominguez. I would love to see this film shown in cinema theatres, especially knowing it is the last film in which Orson Welles plays. Hector S. Peralta, Berta Dominguez's nephew.

It took me years and years to track down a copy of this strange comedy.

I first heard about it in the early 80s, when Peter Lawford's widow, Patricia Seaton, was interviewed and asked to comment on Lawford's final film. I remember her saying that Orson Welles did not socialize with the cast, and he actually had his meals brought to him so he could eat privately.

This interview was about 1983 (after the film was completed) and then I believe that years later, the movie eventually premiered at the Cannes Film Festival, and then was never released theatrically or on tape thereafter. Today, it seems lost and forgotten, despite the all-star cast.

Tony Curtis seems to be having fun with this role, but other than Mr. Curtis, the other stars show up rather briefly.

Also, actress Marisa Berenson has a role, but she is not listed in the IMDb credits, nor is Parsifal listed in her own filmography.

One of the oddest devices in this comedy is how the director likes to speed-up the action for comic effect, reminiscent of older, zany screwball comedies.

I appreciate the interesting insight from the other user commentators, who provided the information that this personal "vanity" project is based on the eccentric life of the Salkinds, the producers of the Superman and Three Musketeer films, among others. That helps shed some light on this movie, but doesn't make it a better viewing experience, unfortunately.

If you liked Skidoo, or The President's Analyst, you're going to LOVE Parsifal. It's a zany collection of actors, doing zany, wacky things for an hour and 22 minutes! Erik Estrada, Peter Lawford, a 69 year old Orson Welles, Don Pleasance, and of course Tony Curtis, as Parsifal. He is a madcap inventor, trying to sell one of his inventions to pay off his debts. He keeps getting calls from everyone about his overdue debts, while his wife (Berta Dominguez, who also wrote the screenplay for this thing) is sleeping with everyone she can lay her hands on (hah!). The butler and the maid are just atrocious, but no-one seems to notice. They change the butler's name so it's not so German, but he keeps clicking his heels anyway, which seems to be a WWII reference to the Nazi's. Its a fun, wacky, silly, ALMOST pointless story, but there actually is a barebones outline of a story here. Christopher Lloyd must have watched this before he made "Back to the Future".... his mannerisms are JUST like Parsifal, when he goes crashing from room to room, lurching back and forth, yelling, mumbling at the same time. Arthur Beatty is a tall, black man "Jasper", who keeps appearing and spouting words of wisdom, in the true spirit of the 1960s. Interesting photo of the cast of this film on Beatty's facebook page, as of today. After watching this, I'm not really sure who everyone is, and their place in the story, but its on netflix, so I may watch it again. There IS nudity and cussing, so put the kids to bed! Directed by Henri Helman, who directed a whole lot of things en français, so I'm guessing he is French. If you like offbeat, alternative films that don't really make sense and were probably improvised on the spot, you will like this one.

Inventor Tony Curtis is broke. He's looking to sell his latest invention to anyone, and it looks like junior Mafioso Erik Estrada is the guy. Curtis arranges a dinner party for Estrada, who brings along movie star Peter Lawford -- in his last movie role -- but Curtis' wife, Berta Domínguez-Domínguez and her passel of male hangers-on objects.

It's objectively an awful movie, and a pain to look at, because there's some real star power here, including a brief turn by Orson Welles as King of the Chicago gypsies, Donald Pleasance essays a Scottish accent, and Ron Moody a Prussian one. Miss Domínguez-Domínguez wrote this -- more on that later -- and the only reason why it was produced is that her husband was Alexander Salkind; I suppose this is what you do for your wife if you can get someone else to pay for it, and Salkind had an awful large numbers of chips to cash in after Superman. Not so many after this, I imagine.

I strongly suspect that Mrs. Salkind wrote down a few brief ideas,gave everyone a silly name, and left it for the actual actors to fill in their roles. Little makes sense, nothing is done that links from anything anyone else is said, although there are rough attempts by the actors to mug it up. It doesn't work Nothing works, nothing makes sense, and this was withdrawn after being presented at Cannes. It escaped anyway.