S.O.B.

In this scathing satire of Tinseltown's excesses, Felix Farmer (Richard Mulligan) finds himself in a precarious predicament. The once-untouchable producer-director has just suffered his first major flop, sending shockwaves throughout the studio and threatening to shatter his already fragile grip on sanity. In a desperate bid to escape his creative crisis, Felix attempts to take his own life not once, not twice, but three times - each attempt more absurdly foiled than the last.

First, he tries to succumb to carbon monoxide poisoning in his car, only to have it inexplicably shift into gear and careen through his garage, down a sand dune, and ultimately into the Pacific Ocean. Undeterred, Felix next turns to the kitchen oven, but is thwarted by two oblivious houseguests with their own pressing concerns.

Finally, he tries to take his life in more dramatic fashion, attempting to hang himself from an upstairs rafter. However, his plans are once again foiled when he tumbles through the floor and lands squarely on Polly Reed (Loretta Swift), a notorious Hollywood gossip columnist, who happens to be standing in the living room below.

As Felix's friends and hangers-on converge on his beachside abode, the atmosphere devolves into a raucous party that eventually descends into an all-out orgy. Emboldened by this cathartic experience, Felix resolves to rescue both his film and his reputation. With Herculean effort, he convinces the studio and his wife, Sally Miles (Julie Andrews), a wholesome movie star, to allow him to rework the film into a soft-core pornographic musical featuring her in a topless role.

Felix liquidates most of his fortune to acquire the existing footage and bankroll further production. However, if he fails to deliver a hit, both he and Sally will be left financially ruined - at least by Hollywood's standards.

Initially, studio head David Blackman (Robert Vaughn) is eager to offload the film onto Felix and move on. But as it becomes clear that the revised project has struck gold, they concoct a plan to reclaim control. By exploiting California's community property laws, they convince Sally to relinquish distribution and final-cut rights.

Felix then embarks on a daring mission to retrieve the movie negatives from a bank vault, armed with nothing more than a toy water pistol. Unfortunately for him, the authorities mistake his toy gun for the real thing, leaving Felix lying in a heap of broken dreams - or so it seems, until he finally finds the creative redemption he so desperately craves.

As the news of Felix's sudden and brutal demise reverberates throughout the city, his inner circle - lawyer Tim Culley (William Holden), agent Ben Coogan (Robert Webber), and personal physician Dr. Finegarten (Robert Preston) - find themselves grappling with the moral implications of their friend's passing. In a desperate bid to honor Felix's memory, they concoct a plan to give him a burial at sea, one that will forever alter the trajectory of his legacy.

In a bold, if not entirely legal, move, they orchestrate the kidnapping of Felix's lifeless body from the funeral home, replacing it with that of a lesser-known but equally talented actor (Paul Stewart), who had met his own untimely demise just moments earlier. As the unsuspecting mourners gather to pay their respects, Felix receives a Viking-style sendoff, his corpse consumed by flames as it drifts out to sea on a burning dinghy.

Meanwhile, the erstwhile character actor - a man whose remarkable talent was often overshadowed by more flashbulb-friendly peers - finally receives the Hollywood burial he so rightfully deserved. It's a macabre yet poignant reminder that even in death, art can imitate life, and that sometimes, it takes a little bit of creative license to ensure that those who truly deserve recognition receive their due.