A code crippled Eisenhower era comedy that somehow found its way into the Kennedy 60s, this movie is basically a sex romp with no sex and alarmingly little romp. Co scenarist Stanley Shapiro, who would go on to do much better work in this area in "Pillow Talk", said that he worked steadily on the screenplay from eight in the morning to five at night and then some after dinner. And maybe that's the problem. The dialogue feels labored, worked over, trying too hard, with one decent joke followed by ten or twenty that don't even raise a half smile. And if you noticed, as I did, a distinct dearth of physical comedy maybe that's because the director is someone who is more at home in an Alabama courtroom or a New York inner city high school than at a swingy Italian villa. Oh well. At least Gina's got charm to go along with her other, more assertive attributes. And it's nice to see Walter Slezak not playing a sleaze or a Nazi. Give it a C.
Review of Come September
