What's the Matter with Helen? (1971)

What's the Matter with Helen? (1971)

This 1971 exploitation film stars Debbie Reynolds, Shelley Winters, and Dennis Weaver. And it's raunchy, weird fun. You can tell it was made by some people who truly understand the craft of filmmaking. But it's very uneven. For the most part, the script is incredibly tight. This film moves, and you're never bored. Agnes Moorehead (Endora from Bewitched) is nothing short of brilliant in a supporting role as a radio evangelist.

The fact that Debbie Reynolds and Shelley Winters were best friends only adds the to strangeness of this situation. I will cop to the fact that the only reason I checked this out was because I'd recently read Rachel Syme's excellent New Yorker article titled, Watching Shelley Winters Go Rogue in Debbie Reynolds’s 1983 Exercise Video, “Do It Debbie’s Way.” This is weird stuff, indeed.

So take a chance on this and peer into the weird and wonderful friendship of Debbie Reynolds and Shelley Winters.