Great locations, some probably decent for its time special effects, a Chimpanzee who tolerates the proceedings but doesn't want to be there, and Van Dyke who if you based his career on this film appears to have no comedic skills at all. It can't just be the bad dialog in the script. A lot of the set up is him by himself and he really can't carry it, but then he doesn't appear to be given any help by direction or editing. Many of the set ups dddrrrraaaaaggggg on way past their welcome.
There were some good set-ups though and you could rightfully expect some pay off from them. The life raft, a beautiful beach location where he builds his camp, the Japanese sub, and the island itself, but, nothing works. The Japanese sub is a prime example where they waste valuable time and energy on Dick just touching stuff that adds nothing to anything. It's not funny or interesting. It's a waste of film, and set, and our time.
Dick's character is charmless, and unlikable, and that's really just not funny at all. They've taken the Jerry Lewis model and adapted it and it didn't really work with him and it really really doesn't work for Dick. I don't want to spend time with unlikable characters, no one does.
The scene where he's swamped with beautiful island girls was a winning set up but rendered flat and dull in how Van Dyke play it out. The girls all deliver verve energy and spirit, and the set up is funny, fun and interesting, and Dick, well, he does nothing with it.
Nancy Kwan does have life to her but the aimlessness of the plot takes her nowhere and says nothing, it's so muddled in what it's trying to say, nothing lands emotionally, if it was actually trying to say anything at all. She's interesting but what they make her do goes nowhere and Dick certainly doesn't generate any heat from it.
It ends as a waste of time and effort for the film and for the watcher. Van Dyke proclaims he's not good enough for Wednesday, and it's left there, turns out the whole effort wasn't good enough for our time either as this film stands as a testament to the misfires of Hollywood, and not to classic cinema. What a shame too. So many good elements were here too. Location, set up, beauty, all equals nothing, which is what Dicks character seems to rate himself as too. A big nothing.
