March 27, 2011
from August 27, 2007
While not technically a summer movie, I watched it in the summer so it counts.
There are many great big-screen duos- Bogart and Bacall, Hepburn and Fonda, Butch and Sundance, Statler and Waldorf- but none of them lit up the screen like Ray Miland and Rosie Grier in 1971.
It has a premise as old as time- take a pair of opposites and stick them together. Ray Miland is a bigot, Roosevelt Grier is a very big black guy, what could be more natural than to stick Miland’s head on Grier’s body?
“Grierland,” or “Milier,” whichever you prefer, is the titular two-headed transplant. Rich old guy is dying, and to keep him alive he is put on the black guy’s body, without the benefit of first removing the other guy’s head. Hi-jinks ensue.
To quote Ray Miland from early in the film, “Is this some kind of joke?” Sadly no, it is not.
Overall, Grease and The Thing With Two Heads perfectly sum up the feel of summer. How, I don’t quite know, but somehow they do. If they don’t they should.
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