Goofy comedy, based on a play (pretty obviously), about a womanizing dentist (Walter Matthau) who pretends he's married to keep his mistress (Goldie Hawn) in check. When he finally comes around to the desire to marry the girl, he keeps up the lie and tells her he's getting a divorce. She insists on meeting the wife so she won't feel so bad, and Matthau gets his receptionist (Ingrid Bergman) to pretend to be his wife. Of course, Bergman harbors a secret crush on Matthau. Meanwhile, the hippie next door to Hawn (Rick Lenz) wants to break Hawn and Matthau up. The plot is pretty predictable, but the movie's funny, so it doesn't matter much. My one big problem with the film is Walter Matthau. Matthau a ladies man? Maybe, if he flashed his money around or something, but that guy is seriously hideous (I think I've said this before and it was pointed out that, in real life, he was a big womanizer, but, yeah, he was famous and he had the money to back up his propositions). Bergman is quite good. This was the first film she actually made in America since she was banished in the early '50s (all of her other English language films being shot in Europe). But it's really Hawn who steals the show, and won an Oscar for it. She's such an odd and beautiful gal. I don't know if I'd say her performance is Oscar worthy, but I can understand her win. She's hard to resist.
Review of Cactus Flower
