The Family Jewels (1965)

Second viewing at least; earlier viewing or viewings occurred prior to 1987.

A motherless nine-year-old girl loses her father and must choose the one among her screwy uncles who will be her guardian. She also has a criminal uncle who some think dead, and who has an eye on the girl's inherited fortune. Throughout this process she is taken care of by her long-time chauffeur and bodyguard.

The best films are those who have very serious themes, but have the elegance to keep that seriousness almost invisible, all the while entertaining us with its art. The Family Jewels certainly qualifies in that category. Children who are heirs to a huge amount of money is a very serious issue a sad case of which has been an item in Brazilian criminal news these days. A more central thematic aspect concerns the ability to choose one's parents. I doubt there are many people to whom this thought has not come over the course of their lives: are these two people (or, in some cases, one) the most qualified ones to bring me up? Are they even compatible with me on any level? This film intelligently avoids a too direct confrontation of this question (the parents are dead), and instead focus on the next stage of choosing the replacement. But, as I said earlier, all this becomes nearly invisible as the film entertains us with the leading actor's multiple impersonations. No doubt these impersonations are the film's raison d'être, although there are two good sequences with the chauffeur (the heist at the beginning; the gas station), a character which involves no make-up. As some critics have (too harshly) pointed out, not all the humor is top quality. I think there are more hits than misses, though.

Rating: 57 (unchanged)