Nessieldwi Very interesting film. Was caught on the premise when seeing the trailer but unsure as to what the outcome would be for the showing. As it turns out, it was a very good film.

Ogosmith Each character in this movie — down to the smallest one — is an individual rather than a type, prone to spontaneous changes of mood and sometimes amusing outbursts of pettiness or ill humor.

Myron Clemons A film of deceptively outspoken contemporary relevance, this is cinema at its most alert, alarming and alive.

Calum Hutton It's a good bad... and worth a popcorn matinée. While it's easy to lament what could have been...

mark.waltz Obviously ripped off by the hit Broadway musical and its non-musical film version, "Irma La Douce", this is a fairly amusing but empty farce that has all the ingredients except for the fizz. It's about the phony suicide of struggling artist Dick Van Dyke who pretends to be dead to increase the value of his paintings. Hiding out at the bordello of Madame Coco (Ethel Merman!), Van Dyke becomes jealous when his scheming pal James Garner romances his grieving fiancée (Angie Dickinson) but is comforted in the presence of Elke Summer, a suicidal girl he rescued from the river after he took his drunken fall.Starting off with cartoon credits that reminds me of a "Pink Panther" short, this seems all too familiar in its plot devices, especially when Garner's scheme lands him on trial for his pal's murder. The performances are exactly what you expect them to be, with rubber legged Van Dyke doing his typical schtick. While it's obvious that the singing and dancing girls working for Merman do more than wear colorful costumes, the script never confirms it. There were dozens of French set films involving artists in the 1960's, so this is nothing too spectacular, but there are some funny moments especially from the multi color haired Merman. She even gets a musical number (music by Cy Coleman) complete with can can girls. It's colorful and sexy yet generic, the type of film that haunted neighborhood movie theaters on their first run rather than play the big movie houses, and would ultimately end up haunting the late show where I first saw it back in the mid 1980's. A lot of 60's clichés abound, but professionally directed by Norman Jewison, it's amusing fun that won't bore you but won't stimulate your brain either.

David Edward Martin Theowinthrop: "There is also a short story by Mark Twain entitled "IS HE DEAD?" about a plot to make a reputation for a prominent 19th Century artist, Gustave Courbet, by him pretending to be dead, and his paintings being sold for larger and larger amounts of cash so that the still living Courbet and his friends make a huge profit." It was Millet, the artist responsible for THE GLEANERS and other works, who faked his death in order to raise the value of his art. Twain later turned the scam into a play, IS HE DEAD?, which finally got discovered in 2002 and produced on stage in 2007.That said, THE ART OF LOVE has long been one of my "Favorite Films I Haven't Seen in a Long Long Time." The lack of video release is depressing. Hopefully Universal will start a cable movie channel dedicated to its own films, much like Fox Movie Channel (a great place to see long-forgotten flicks like PRUDENCE AND THE PILL).

theowinthrop In 1938 Rene Clair directed a movie called BREAK THE NEWS where Maurice Chevalier and Jack Buchanan are in the shadow of an egotistical female star, and stage Buchanan's disappearance, and possible murder by Chevalier to build up publicity for both men - only to have the scheme blow up in their faces when Buchanan gets arrested on a capital charge himself, and is prevented from showing up in court to rescue Chevalier. Both men are almost executed - but saved at the last moment by the egotistical star who learns the truth. So she gathers all the good publicity in the end.There is also a short story by Mark Twain entitled "IS HE DEAD?" about a plot to make a reputation for a prominent 19th Century artist, Gustave Courbet, by him pretending to be dead, and his paintings being sold for larger and larger amounts of cash so that the still living Courbet and his friends make a huge profit.Those are possible keys to the plot genesis of THE ART OF LOVE, a 1965 film that starred James Garner, Dick Van Dyke, Elke Sommer, Angie Dickenson, and Ethel Merman. There are some interesting supporting roles for Carl Reiner and Roger C. Carmel, as a French defense counsel and a questionable art dealer too. Garner gets the idea that Van Dyke's paintings are quite good, but would sell for more money if he was to be thought to be dead. Garner announces that Van Dyke has disappeared, and is believed to have committed suicide. But the janitor (Jay Novello) has seen Garner disposing of a dummy. Novello sees the legs being put into the furnace, and thinks it could have been a body.Van Dyke's existence is known to only two people: Elke Sommer (his girlfriend) and Ethel Merman, his landlady. He has to keep a low profile, dressing in disguise all the time. And he notices that Garner is living in luxury from the sale of the paintings by Roger Carmel (an art dealer who may have collaborated with the Nazis). Angered at the lack of interest by Garner, and the latter's opportunistic romancing of his former girlfriend Angie Dickinson, Van Dyke suddenly realizes that Garner has left himself open for suspicion of the "murder" of Van Dyke.So Van Dyke carefully sets up "evidence" of his murder by Garner, complete with bloodstained clothing and broken teeth (and Novello's witnessing of the incident with the furnace). Motive is there - Garner is benefiting from his dead friend's paintings, and he has taken the dead man's girlfriend. So Garner is arrested (as is Carmel, who is soon willing to assist the prosecution). And Van Dyke, in disguise, watches the criminal trial with glee. Reiner, Garner's lawyer, is more concerned with not being associated too much with Garner than with defending him.The end is a race to the guillotine, complete with a clone of Madame Defarge, and Marcel Hillaire as the public executioner who abhors the death penalty.It is a moderately entertaining comedy, with some funny moments. You will never hear the words "Don't touch!" again without thinking of Reiner's attorney. Not a great film, but good enough for a rainy afternoon.

pepes I would have to totally agree with some of the other comments, that this is one of the funniest movies that I have ever seen. James Garner, Dick Van Dyke, Elke Sommers, Ethel Merman and others make this movie so hilariously hysterical. Yes it is not an Oscar winning plot, but the story still is so funny that I am hard pressed not to include this in my list of top ten 'Funnist Movies to see' only problem is that unless you find it on the TV as an old movie you cannot see it at all. Which leads me into my question to you 'Imdb'and The Hollywood Moguls how can we solve this horrible oversight. Yes I can play it again in my mind but to watch and hear again especially the hysterical old lady who is cackling "Guillotine! Ha Ha! Guillotine!" would be so awesome, on DVD with lots of bloopers would be a dream come true. Please do not fail us. PLEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEASE, (an E for each year of this oversight, let's hope you don't want FFFFFFFFFFFFF's)