Sextette

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Sextette is a 1978 Crown International comedy/musical motion picture starring Mae West. Others in the cast include Timothy Dalton, Dom DeLuise, Tony Curtis, Ringo Starr, George Hamilton, Alice Cooper and Walter Pidgeon.

Directed by Ken Hughes, produced by Daniel Briggs, Robert Sullivan and Harry Weiss for the production company Briggs and Sullivan, the script was by Herbert Baker, based on the play Sextet by Mae West. Costumes were designed by Edith Head.

Filmed at Paramount Studios, Sextette was the final movie of Mae West. Featured are cameos by Rona Barrett, Regis Philbin and George Raft playing themselves. West made her movie debut in Raft's Night After Night (1932).

Although initially a box-office failure, Sextette has become a cult classic and has, in fact, done well through premium cable movie channel showings, VHS and DVD releases. As with other high-camp films (such as Mommie Dearest and Valley of the Dolls), this film's cult status is arguably due to gay audiences.

U.S. release: March 3, 1978

91 mins.; Color

Spoiler warning: Plot and/or ending details follow.

[edit] Synopsis

Legendary American movie star and sex symbol Marlo Manners (played by West) is in London, England, where she has just married for the sixth time. She and her new husband, Sir Michael Barrington (played by Dalton), then depart for a honeymoon suite at a posh and exclusive hotel that has been reserved for them by her manager, Dan Turner (played by DeLuise).

The hotel is also the location of an international conference, where leaders have come together to resolve tensions and problems that threaten the survival of the world. As the chairman, Mr. Chambers (played by Pidgeon), is trying to call the meeting to order, the delegates are crowding to the windows in an effort to catch a glimpse of Marlo when she arrives.

As they enter the lobby, Marlo, now Lady Barrington, and her nobleman husband are swarmed by admirers and reporters. When asked, "Do you get a lot of proposals from your male fans?" she quips, "Yeah, and what they propose is nobody’s business."

Once inside their suite, the couple are unable to go to bed and have sex because of constant interruptions due to the demands of her career, such as interviews, dress fittings and photo sessions, as well as the various men, including some former husbands, diplomat Alexei Andreyev Karansky (played by Curtis), director Laslo Karolny (played by Starr) and gangster Vance Norton (played by Hamilton), and an entire athletic team from the U.S., who all want to have her.

Meanwhile, Turner desperately searches for an audio tape containing his clients memoirs to destroy it. Marlo has recorded extensive details about her affairs and scandals, with a lot of dirt about her husbands and lovers. Ex-husband Alexei, who is the Russian delegate at the conference, threatens to derail the intense negotiations unless he can have another sexual encounter with her. Marlo is expected to work "undercover" to ensure world peace.

In the end, Barrington turns out to be a secret agent.

[edit] Rumors

Sextette became the source of several urban legends. One such persistent rumor is that West could not remember any of her lines and had to wear a concealed earpiece under her wig to have her lines fed to her. Dom Deluise, Timothy Dalton and other principal players have disputed that claim.

Another story is that West had a cane concealed under her long gown so that she could walk.

Yet another story is that after one scene West stayed in an elevator waiting for hours for the crew to call her out.

The latter story persists, even though it seems unreasonable to believe the people around her would let such a thing happen or that the director would not have been aware.

It was also an open set, and it seems unlikely this would have been allowed if the rumors about West were true.

Tony Curtis was quoted as saying, "Mae never missed a beat," which should have put to rest most of the outrageous rumors, and Ringo Starr was widely quoted as saying, "Mae is so fan-bloody-tastic that she just wipes all of us out." Rona Barrett and Dick Cavett both said that West was "the eighth wonder of the world."