Silly, Sometimes Funny is the Way to Go!

Shirley MacLaine in an Edith Head gown.

When widow Louisa May Hopper Flint Anderson Benson tries to give $211 million to the U.S. treasury, she is referred to a psychiatrist. She explains that she hates money and only wants to be happy. However, every time she marries, her current husband seems to make a boatload of money...and then die!

Louisa (Shirley MacLaine) tells her story in flashback, describing her marriages to a Thoreau-reading store owner (Dick Van Dyke), an avant-garde artist Paul Newman), a successful businessman (Robert Mitchum), and a corny performer (Gene Kelly). 

Made in 1964, What a Way to Go! is silly comedy with impeccable credentials. It was written by Betty Comden and Adolph Green, the team responsible for some of the 1950s most beloved musicals (e.g., Singin' in the Rain). It earned Academy Award nominations for Best Art Decoration and the costumes designed by Edith Head and Moss Mabry.

Shirley MacLaine with Gene Kelly as Pinky.

Those costumes are reason enough to see the movie! Shirley MacLaine must wear over a dozen of them, including a stunning backless swimsuit, an evening gown seemingly made of diamonds, and an all-pink outfit (pink wig, pink dress, pink gloves, etc.). MacLaine supposedly once said that What a Way to Go! "offered pretty good perks...(working with) Edith Head with a $500,000 budget, seventy-two hairstyles to match the gowns, and a $3.5 million gem collection loaned by Harry Winston of New York."

The best of the film's four subplots is the one with Gene Kelly as a small-town entertainer named Pinky Benson. After years of performing the same lame musical-comedy act in a local restaurant, Louisa convinces Pinky to be himself for his last performance. Dressed in a suit, he sings a romantic song...and becomes an overnight sensation. At the peak of his popularity, he has become an egomaniac starring in a five-and-half hour movie called Flaming Lips. When a studio executive suggests that he star in a remake of The Four Horsemen with "Frank, Marlon, and Cary," Pinky replies: "Why should I carry those deadweights? I'll play all four."

This story also features an extravagant musical number with Shirley MacLaine and Gene Kelly. MacLaine may not be Vera-Ellen or Cyd Charisse, but she can hoof it and pairs nicely with Kelly in a homage to Follow the Fleet.

Paul Newman as husband #2.

Surprisingly, What a Way to Go! was originally intended for Marilyn Monroe. Following her death, Shirley MacLaine was cast as the lead. I can't imagine Marilyn in the role, though no doubt the movie was rewritten to capitalize on MacLaine's talents.

Frank Sinatra and Gregory Peck were in the running to play one of Shirley's husbands in the movie. Fred MacMurray was briefly considered as a sixth husband. That was likely scrapped to keep the running time was going over two hours.

What a Way to Go! doesn't rank with Shirley MacLaine's best films, but it's mindless fun that occasionally generates some genuine laughs.