Peter Bogdanovich‘s Squirrels To The Nuts is screening at Manhattan’s MOMA theatre through April 5th. Eight years ago I saw an earlier, much shorter version of this Ernst Lubitsch-meets-Leo McCarey farce, called She’s Funny That Way. That version ran 94 minutes; the retitled Squirrels to the Nuts runs 123 minutes — nearly a half-hour longer.
Squirrels To The Nuts is said to be a much better film than She’s Funny That Way. (“In its full, free-floating form, Squirrels recovers Bogdanovich’s elegance, airiness, and ability to smoothly manage a large cast of characters,” according to the MOMA notes.) I didn’t care for She’s Funny That Way, but I’d love to see Squirrels. Perhaps it’ll screen at one of the American Cinematheque houses down the road.
But may I say something? Squirrels to the Nuts has to be one of the worst-sounding movie titles I’ve ever heard in my entire life. I’m not talking about the content of the film; I’m talking about an awful feeling that sinks in when you read or say aloud that title. The title doesn’t just make you feel anxious and uncertain; it pretty much screams in your ear “DON’T SEE THIS FILM!…in fact, run in the opposite direction.”
HE is asking for other terrible titles — titles so bad that they instantly kill any potential interest.
