A diverting bedroom farce involving a cute meeting, mixed-up identities, dialog daring for the time, and Rockefeller Center.
Jane Fonda, at her most succulent, bumps into Rod Taylor on a mid-town Manhattan bus, then again later, and then they get caught in a rainstorm and wind up at the apartment of Fonda's absent airline-pilot brother (Cliff Robertson). Taylor is, of necessity, attracted to Fonda but puzzled by her. She keeps insisting that her mother is also staying at the apartment -- a ploy to keep rapacious men at bay -- but Fonda and Taylor discover a black bra and negligee hanging in the closet. Mom's? No -- it belongs to roué Robertson's girl friend, whom he is at the moment chasing all over town.
Jane is twenty-two years old and still, well, as she puts it, "a beginner." And her brother has insisted she stay that way. In fact, he swore to her earlier than he did not sleep with women. Now, having discovered the lingerie in the closet, Fonda decides that if it's good enough for Robertson, it's good enough for her, and she decides to seduce Taylor. It doesn't work -- because Taylor refuses to take advantage of a beginner. This, as an excuse, is akin to that used in earlier movies in which the heroine drinks too much because of her anxiety, passes out, and the hero refuses to molest her in this state.
You following all this? Then it really gets twisted. Fonda's fiancé from Albany (Robert Culp) bursts in unexpectedly and mistakes Taylor for Fonda's brother. Then Robertson bursts in unexpectedly and is introduced to Culp as Taylor's co-pilot. Lots of moments that are both confusing and amusing. (If you liked "My Favorite Wife," you ought to like this. Taylor has the Cary Grant role, and he's quite good, with those upside-down ears.) Cute dialog too, with some dash for the period. When Fonda confronts Robertson with his lie under oath about never having slept with women, he pounces. "That's the loophole -- sleeping." The H-word occurs, and the V-word, and some other edgy phrases, the use of which is emphasized by the director through the use of sudden close up, indicating, "This is a shocking thing you're hearing." You get to see and hear quite a bit of Peter Nero, the Eddie Duchin of his day. You don't really get to see much of New York, though. Too bad, because in 1962, when this was shot, it had yet to deteriorate. People were clean, carefully groomed, and lived in stable neighborhoods. McSorley's Old Ale House was still exclusively male. Julius's, in the Village, was not yet completely gay, just partly gay. You could sleep in Washington Square if you didn't get caught.
It all seems harmless now, and kind of fun.
Jane Fonda, at her most succulent, bumps into Rod Taylor on a mid-town Manhattan bus, then again later, and then they get caught in a rainstorm and wind up at the apartment of Fonda's absent airline-pilot brother (Cliff Robertson). Taylor is, of necessity, attracted to Fonda but puzzled by her. She keeps insisting that her mother is also staying at the apartment -- a ploy to keep rapacious men at bay -- but Fonda and Taylor discover a black bra and negligee hanging in the closet. Mom's? No -- it belongs to roué Robertson's girl friend, whom he is at the moment chasing all over town.
Jane is twenty-two years old and still, well, as she puts it, "a beginner." And her brother has insisted she stay that way. In fact, he swore to her earlier than he did not sleep with women. Now, having discovered the lingerie in the closet, Fonda decides that if it's good enough for Robertson, it's good enough for her, and she decides to seduce Taylor. It doesn't work -- because Taylor refuses to take advantage of a beginner. This, as an excuse, is akin to that used in earlier movies in which the heroine drinks too much because of her anxiety, passes out, and the hero refuses to molest her in this state.
You following all this? Then it really gets twisted. Fonda's fiancé from Albany (Robert Culp) bursts in unexpectedly and mistakes Taylor for Fonda's brother. Then Robertson bursts in unexpectedly and is introduced to Culp as Taylor's co-pilot. Lots of moments that are both confusing and amusing. (If you liked "My Favorite Wife," you ought to like this. Taylor has the Cary Grant role, and he's quite good, with those upside-down ears.) Cute dialog too, with some dash for the period. When Fonda confronts Robertson with his lie under oath about never having slept with women, he pounces. "That's the loophole -- sleeping." The H-word occurs, and the V-word, and some other edgy phrases, the use of which is emphasized by the director through the use of sudden close up, indicating, "This is a shocking thing you're hearing." You get to see and hear quite a bit of Peter Nero, the Eddie Duchin of his day. You don't really get to see much of New York, though. Too bad, because in 1962, when this was shot, it had yet to deteriorate. People were clean, carefully groomed, and lived in stable neighborhoods. McSorley's Old Ale House was still exclusively male. Julius's, in the Village, was not yet completely gay, just partly gay. You could sleep in Washington Square if you didn't get caught.
It all seems harmless now, and kind of fun.