What's So Bad About Feeling Good? (1968) on Netflix
Pete is a cynical artist in a New York City commune whose members wait for the world to end. A toucan carrying a contagious virus arrives, and Pete catches it.
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- Netflix3.3/5
- IMDb6.5/10651 votes
- Rotten TomatoesNot available
Trailer
Plot summary
Pete, a former advertising executive, lives a Beatnik-Bohemian life in a loft commune in New York City whose members are aimless, indolent or melancholy while they wait for the end of the world. One of them lives inside a burlap sack, with only her feet showing. A toucan from South America arrives as a stowaway aboard a Greek banana boat, carrying a highly contagious virus that brings intense giddiness, happiness and kindness to those it infects. Pete catches it and, for the first time, feels that his life has a purpose. His girlfriend Liz is horrified by the change in him.
Cast
- Jeanne Arnoldas Gertrude
- Morty Guntyas Sgt. Gunty
- Joe Ponazeckias Officer Ponazecki
Did you know?!Facts and trivia about What's So Bad About Feeling Good? (1968)
Can contain spoilers, watch the movie first.
- The film was shot entirely on location in New York, and the cooperation of Mayor John Lindsay meant it was the first film ever to be shot in New York City Hall.
- A September 2020 episode of This American Life compared the film to the COVID-19 pandemic, citing masks against airborne contagion and the economic impact of a virus on tax revenue; the film has also earned comparisons to the Apple TV show Pluribus, as in both the infected transfer the virus through kissing.
- The film was the first in a three-picture deal between Seaton and Universal, and the script was written by Seaton with Robert Pirosh, the pair having last worked together on A Day at the Races back in 1937.
- "For those of us who've been in analysis, it'll be a lot of fun," said George Peppard, who signed to play the male lead in this comedy about a virus that makes people happy.
