Why the 15 others who reviewed this before me didn't much care for it I don't understand. Melville Shavelson's script is very intelligent and often very clever, and it is delivered by a cast of uniformly first-rate actor/comedians. (It's no surprise that Shavelson also wrote the script for April in Paris, another romantic comedy set in the French capital. There, however, room had to be made for a too elderly and not really funny Ray Bolger, and the movie suffered for it. Here, with no weak links and a lot of very strong ones, Shevelson didn't have to lower the level of the comedy.)
One of the things I most liked about this very likable movie is that it pokes gentle fun at a host of previous movies, from Breakfast at Tiffany's to The Women to Cat on a Hot Tin Roof to .... Woodward dressed up as a parody of Audrey Hepburn in Breakfast at Tiffany's is really clever. Or is that a parody of Norma Shearer in Idiot's Delight???
The one thing that won't endear this movie to feminists, and rightfully so, are the repeated pronouncements that women must get married in order to be happy and that they will be miserable until then. I suppose that was necessary to balance the implied shenanigans, but it does get old quickly. For that, try to remember that the movie dates from a fortunately bygone era.
Other than that, there is lots to enjoy here. So enjoy!
One of the things I most liked about this very likable movie is that it pokes gentle fun at a host of previous movies, from Breakfast at Tiffany's to The Women to Cat on a Hot Tin Roof to .... Woodward dressed up as a parody of Audrey Hepburn in Breakfast at Tiffany's is really clever. Or is that a parody of Norma Shearer in Idiot's Delight???
The one thing that won't endear this movie to feminists, and rightfully so, are the repeated pronouncements that women must get married in order to be happy and that they will be miserable until then. I suppose that was necessary to balance the implied shenanigans, but it does get old quickly. For that, try to remember that the movie dates from a fortunately bygone era.
Other than that, there is lots to enjoy here. So enjoy!