Rating: **
Review Date: 12/28/25
Cast: Brigitte Bardot, Jeanne Moreau, cameo by George Hamilton
"You were right. Love is too marvelous for words."
Maria O'Malley (Brigitte Bardot) is the daughter and accomplice of an Irish terrorist. While evading the police, she gets involved with a traveling circus and becomes Jeanne Moreau's new singing and dancing partner. Her name happens to be Maria also, and their act becomes known as "Maria y Maria." A chance wardrobe malfunction invents the striptease, and their act changes show business forever... During a tour of Mexico, the circus gets messed up in a peasant revolution and the two Marias lead the nation to overthrow the church and their nasty dictatorship.
The film is a long and long-winded farce that's supposed to be funny, but the humor falls totally flat. Maybe it's a cultural thing or a time period thing, but it just didn't work for me. It's also surprisingly violent, as dozens (and maybe hundreds) of people are mowed down by machine gun fire. Not surprisingly, the film is mainly a star vehicle for the immensely charming Brigitte Bardot, and her radiant sex appeal lights up the screen. There's no denying her talent and charisma, and her performance is full of playful enthusiasm. She looks like she's having a ball, and that alone makes the film watchable.
Production-wise, the acting and cinematography are good, and it looks nice overall. It's just a tad dull and uninteresting, and the attempts at humor left me stranded and confused more than anything. Interestingly, the film was the source of two ratings lawsuits, both of which resulted in the MPAA ruling that adult-only movies would not admit people 17 years old or younger without an accompanying adult. Essentially, this film gave birth to the "R" rating that we know today, even though it contains no sex, blood, graphic violence, or nudity. Just lots of innuendo.