BootDigest
Such a frustrating disappointment
FrogGlace
In other words,this film is a surreal ride.
Walter Sloane
Mostly, the movie is committed to the value of a good time.
SnoopyStyle
Mrs. Carly Hardwicke (Kim Novak) has difficulties renting out a room in her London home. Everybody suspects her of killing her husband although he's only missing. Newly-arrived American diplomat Bill Gridley (Jack Lemmon) knows nothing of her infamy. He rents her room despite her reluctance. She even pretends to be Hildy at first. He is completely taken by her beauty. Ambassador Franklyn Ambruster (Fred Astaire) is his new boss. Police Inspector Oliphant has been observing Hardwicke and suspects her of poisoning her husband. Oliphant convinces Bill to start snooping around.With scriptwriters Blake Edwards and Larry Gelbart, this has moments of good screwball comedy. Jack Lemmon is the man to deliver that. However, the comedy doesn't maintain to the end. There are sections where it drags. There are sections where it gets dark. I get breaking into the bathroom to see a naked Kim Novak in the tub. I don't think Jack Lemmon has to shoot out the door. Fred Astaire isn't as fun. This is fun at times but not all the time.
moonspinner55
Jack Lemmon, Kim Novak, and Fred Astaire struggle to enliven minor mystery-comedy involving an American man working in London, renting a room from a sexy, shady lady who's under surveillance after her husband died rather suspiciously. First-half of the movie is lax, with a witless build-up of the characters; by the second-act, director Richard Quine turns the whole thing into mad slapstick, and the characters into ninnies. Novak's comedic timing is commendable, though Quine does his best to exploit her--and no actress could keep her dignity during a bathtub scene wherein she's required to cover her bare chest with her arms throughout a long conversation. Kinda tacky. ** from ****
pensman
Jack Lemmon plays an American diplomat, Bill Gridley, attached to the embassy in England. On his first day in London he rents a flat from a very attractive new landlady, Carly Hardwicke played by Kim Novak. But unknown to him his new landlady has a "reputation" but for what. The dialogue sparkles from Lemmon's comment to Carly's query. you don't seem to harbor any prejudices, to which Lemmon responds; no, after all he is a Democrat from Massachusetts. And from the get-go it's clear Gridley is attracted to Carly but is she single, married,or divorced. On Gridley's second day he is grilled by his station chief Frank Ambruster, Fred Astaire, who informs him that his landlady murdered her husband. Suddenly Gridley finds himself recruited by Scotland Yard Inspector Oliphant, Lionel Jeffries, to "investigate" Mrs. Hardwicke to see if he can either prove her guilty or innocent. Of course Gridley leaps to Carly's defense especially after Oliphant's hysterical explanation of how women make not only loving wives but exceptional killers. Ambruster orders Gridley to cooperate and yet after he meets her and is smitten; he agrees that she is innocent. The film is filled with red herrings from titles of bedside reading to misunderstood phone calls that only enrich the comedy and the mystery. Lemmon is great as the would be lover who vacillates between loyalty and suspicion. This film is a classic and deserves an updated release.This film has stuck in my mind from my first viewing in 1962 because of the chemistry among the three principal actors. And the finale is one of the best of any chase scenes filmed.
dbdumonteil
This is an entertaining spoof on Hitchcock style,long before Mel Brooks' "high anxiety" (1978),and much more subtile at that.Diplomat Lemmon rents a room in a mansion whose owner(Novak) might be a man-eater.After a slow start,the movie quickly reaches its cruising speed and will keep it till the end.Many scenes in Novak's desirable mansion are nods in the direction of "rear window".All the neighbors are looking out their windows,secretly waiting for something to happen.A kid warns Lemmon:"My mother says you're next",and he later adds "And my father says so too".And the final is some kind of cross between the chase movies like" north by norwest" and the "symphonic" scenes of a " man who knew too much"(1956) in miniature,as the characters are in search for an old lady among many wheelchairs,during an outdoor concert .Jack Lemmon is wonderful,his comical expressions have influenced a lot of actors,Jim Carrey owes him a lot.Richard Quine's final crazy chase is much more successful than that of "sex and the single girl" ,two years later.POSSIBLE SPOILER********************Possible spoiler A small flaw:the scene between Kim Novak and her husband is so dramatic that it jars with the light tongue-in -cheek atmosphere of the rest of the show.The same goes for the pawnbroker's scene.
