Two Weeks in Another Town (1962) review

Down-and-out actor Jack Andrus (Kirk Douglas) - who had a nervous breakdown and spent three years in a mental institution - gets a chance to start working again with old buddy Maurice Kruger (Edward G. Robinson), who's shooting a movie in Rome - while there, Maurice tries convincing Jack to supervise the dubbing process ... and gets involved in a love triangle with moody leading man Davie Drew (George Hamilton) and gorgeous Veronica (Daliah Lavi).  It was a box office disaster when it came out, and does have its flaws - with all due respect, but Douglas doesn't work as an "anxious and tormented artist" (he was too shielded by his own self-confidence), every scene with Claire Trevor (as Robinson's tormented wife) winds up with her in hysterics, and the ending is a hoot - but it's compulsively watchable considering the star-power and some memorable moments, especially when Douglas, while on the beach with his young girlfriend, explains to her how "lonely" it is to be involved in showbiz.  The line "I like girls with black eyes and a soft mouth" doesn't sound so sweet when you find out Douglas "discovered" Lavi when she was ten-years-old ... and then there's the whole Natalie Wood scandal.  Hopefully, all grievances and offenses have been settled in the Great Beyond....