The Worst Film Ever

Good concept, poorly executed.

For all the hype it got I was expecting a lot more!

Like the great film, it's made with a great deal of visible affection both in front of and behind the camera.

image4.jpeg The Countess from Hong Kong, 1967. Viewed in Bologna at Cinema Ritrovato Festival (festival of rediscovered films), July 2016. Chaplin's directorial swan song starring Marlon Brando at his most wooden and Sofia Loren at her most ridiculous. Arguably one of the worst big name films ever made but I loved watching this early study in High Camp and have to agree with Peter Von Bragh's dissenting opinion that CFHK is a masterpiece -- Yes, a masterpiece of corny Camp! Brando's stiffness as a wealthy diplomat is the crowning pit of his career. Tippi Hedren, the harried star of Hitchcock's BIRDS shines and steals the show with a brief appearance in the final act. This Shipboard bedroom farce with less than sexy Sofia Loren is truly farcical -- both stars seemto have been intimidated by Chaplin into giving their worst performances imaginable

This is a very sad movie. Sad because one expects a good deal more from three giant names linked together--Brando, Loren, Chaplin. Primarily sad because the two usually charismatic leads lack any kind of genuine chemistry together; it's clear that free-spirited Brando at this point in his career was unable to adapt to Chaplin's micromanagement style and merely looks frustrated--it's clear that he was not paying attention to much other than the paycheck--as an example, he's playing a high-ranking government official, he looks dowdy, badly needs a haircut and looks ready to go home; Loren, always the professional, really has no one to play off of, and the old-fashioned shipboard romance, so successful in another era, does not jell.There are a few funny moments, but they are forced; there are many more hilarious moments in the average Abbott and Costello comedy, and a good deal more honest humor. The cardboard sets don't help much, either, nor do the lilting Chaplin waltzes that belong in another film entirely. This is a fascinating film for students of Chaplin or Brando, but for a general audience, inconsequential. There are far too many worthwhile shipboard films that capture the magic of romance as would-be lovers gaze at the waves on a calm moonlit sea: The Lady Eve, for instance, or Follow The Fleet. Sadly, this ain't it

A Countess from Hong Kong is a comedy film and the last film written and directed by Charlie Chaplin and his only color film. The movie starred Marlon Brando, Sophia Loren, Tippi Hedren, and Sydney Earle Chaplin, Chaplin's second son.The story is based loosely on the life of a woman Chaplin met in France, named Moussia Sodskaya. She was a Russian singer and dancer that "was a stateless person marooned in France without a passport".Wealthy American diplomat Ogden Mears (Marlon Brando) is sailing from Hong Kong to Hawaii, where he hopes to meet and reconcile with his estranged wife Martha. However, while the ship takes on passengers in Hong Kong, a stowaway slips into Mears' suite. Natascha (Sophia Loren) is a White Russian countess who was forced to flee the country following the revolution and ended up in Hong Kong, where she earns a meager living as a dime-a-dance girl in a sleazy ballroom. When Mears discovers that Natascha is an uninvited guest in his quarters, she begs him to help her emigrate to the United States; when he refuses, Natascha tries a new tack, threatening to tell Martha that they've been sharing a stateroom if he doesn't cooperate. Mears grudgingly allows Natascha to stay with him and keep her secret until he can figure out a clever way to get rid of her. While many considered this as Chaplin's worst effort,it was still a lovely film.It may not be an excellent movie,but it is still a pleasure to watch for Brando and Loren alone.

This movie is painful to watch. Given the fact that Charlie Chaplin directed it, Marlon Brando starred in it, as well as two of the most beautiful actresses, Sophia Loren and Tippi Heddren, makes it more painful. Possibly Uwe Boll might have even done a better job of directing it.I think William Goldman said it best in one of his books on the movie business when he said that anyone who believes in the auteur school of film that thinks everything certain directors, like Charlie Chaplin, did was perfection should be sent to a desert island with nothing but A Countess from Hong Kong to watch.