Under the Rainbow (1981)

To first hear of UNDER THE RAINBOW is to disbelieve. No, a big studio wouldn't be dumb enough to fund a spy comedy caper set against the backdrop of the filming of THE WIZARD OF OZ with 150 drunken midgets. You're pulling my leg, right? Wrong! It is real and it is terrible. It feels like every exec's 70s drug binge induced dreams were all wrapped up tightly into one project and spat out at audiences in the early 80s.In 1938, Adolf Hitler (yes, that Adolf Hitler) sends his top spy (Billy Barty!) to the US to meet up with Japan's no. 1 spy (Mako!) to deliver a map of American military targets to get the US into WWII. Unbeknownst to Barty, his rendezvous is a hotel (run by Adam Arkin) across the street from a movie lot where 150 Munchkin extras are staying. Also at the hotel are a Duke and Dutchess (Joseph Maher and Eve Arden) who are being guarded by Secret Service man Bruce Thorpe (Chevy Chase) who also has his eye on OZ midget wrangler Annie Clark (Carrie Fisher). You still with me? You shouldn't be.So how bad is this flick? Well, the opening ten minutes have Billy Barty saluting Hitler and hitting him in the crotch. Nothing like Nazi humor in 1981. Perhaps the filmmakers were influenced by the "success" of Spielberg's 1941? And who exactly is this made for? The reliance on slapstick, dogs and midgets would suggest kids. But the midgets are all boozing it up and there is a brief sojourn through a woman's locker room. There are also some weak attempts at humor involving the Japanese. Get this...the Japanese take lots of pictures and mispronounce things! Amazingly, it took 5 writers to make a movie this unfunny (proving that DATE MOVIE isn't just an age thing). Perhaps the film's biggest copout is that, in the end, it is all just a dream of a guy who got knocked on the head a la THE WIZARD OF OZ. To the film's credit, there is one funny gag involving Tony Cox, who has since gone on to become Hollywood's leading little funnyman. Also featuring Zelda Rubenstein and Phil Fondacaro alongside his brother Sal Fondacaro (who is also a little person despite them being born years apart).

What a great underrated movie. Everywhere I look it gets awful reviews, but they don't seem to take into account the campiness of the movie. It doesn't make fun on little people, or at least it doesn't poke more fun at them than anyone else! It makes fun of everyone! If you can find it, at least rent it and give it a try. If you watch it, you'll want to buy it... I did.My whole family enjoyed the movie, and I believe yours will to... Wholesome fun for anyone who enjoys spoofs of spy movies or comedies in general.Chevy Chase is at his prime and best in this movie, sure the script isn't great, but what movie in this genre is? The slap-stick of the movie is incredible and the acting is above most in the category! I have several friends that happen to be little people, and they all enjoyed the movie, and didn't find it offensive in the least. The writers make fun of everyone, while not belittling anyone (except Nazi war criminals, give it a chance!)...

But it was supposed to be a spoof. I could not stop laughing as the movie was so much of a farce I found it to keep me laughing all the time. I would not recommend it for theater view but if you have never seen the movie I would say its worth watching as a rental as the cost of it is so little now. You could rent something much more costly and worse like Dead Calm. I found that all the dumb things that happened such as trying to keep the suicidal dog in the picture just more then my sides could take at times. When that dog jumped out of the window for the ball I lost it. How could you not think something as this movie which I assume was to be as "B" a movie as anyone could possibly make not be funny? I found it much better then the Vacation movies by far. I would say that this review has a spoiler but this movie cant be spoiled as there is no real plot.

This is a great movie that satirizes Hollywood stereotypes in a fun filled slapstick romp. Sadly, many people miss the point of satire, and will only see the stereotypes. They will not enjoy the movie, but then why do people with no sense of humor even pick up a comedy??The main character is led through an unbelievable sequence of events while staying at a hotel awaiting a tryout for "The Wizard of Oz". The hotel is filled with hopefuls for the Munchkin parts, and has been chosen as a supposedly quiet meeting place for a Japanese and German spy to exchange info.The German is a midget, and the addition of a Japanese tour bus stopping at the hotel makes the meeting of these two spies quite a mess.toss in lots of slapstick, satire, and chase fun, and you have a comedy romp that the whole family can belly laugh to.