Strani amori

Nancy Wilson's opening-credits title song tells us that "love has many faces...and I mean to kiss every one!" Unfortunately, there are more hisses than kisses happening here, as an attractive cast lounges sleepily in the cartoonish paradise of Acapulco yet nobody seems to be having a good time. Lana Turner (tanned and coiffed to a fare-thee-well) plays a wealthy woman who used to run around with beach boys and gigolos until she married one (Cliff Robertson, looking dour); when an ex-paramour washes up dead on the beach, Lana isn't a suspect in his death but certainly acts like she is. Hugh O'Brian plays a virile, narcissistic stud wooing vacationer Ruth Roman, while Stefanie Powers turns up as another former lover of the deceased rivaling Turner for Robertson's affections. It might be too silly--and slurpy-slow--for words were it not for some amusingly catty digs and an unintentionally hilarious bit where Lana meets an angry bull head-on. The fashions and settings are ravishing, so there's really no need for all these people to be so bitter and petty. Money seems to flow between them like water, and everyone looks great in (and out) of their clothes. Alexander Singer directs the whole thing with one eye shut; alas, his film is half-asleep. ** from ****