Cinema: Soft-Core Satire

The film version of Kurt Vonnegut's recent play Happy Birthday, Wanda June brings to the screen for the first time a widely read and respected writer. Since Happy Birthday, Wanda June is an especially inept movie, it would be comforting to report that Vonnegut has been victimized by the Hollywood barbarians, his work vulgarized beyond recognition. But it is not so. Vonnegut's own company (called, with inadvertent irony, Sourdough Ltd.) co-produced the film. His name appears in the traditional superstar's position above the title, implying not only box office eminence but a certain pride.

There is little to boast of here. The...

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