Side Dishes

Films: The Facts of Life
Format: DVD from Mokena Community Public Library through interlibrary loan on laptop.

Infidelity has long been a plot point in plenty of movies, but I’m not sure how often it was used specifically as a point of comedy in the formative years of Hollywood. The Apartment, which trades a great deal on infidelity and is at least partially a comedy came out in 1960. In this case, though, it wasn’t the main characters who were cheating or being cheated on (okay, one character was a part of a relationship like this, but she wasn’t married). I’m sure I’m wrong in this, but it feels like in creating main characters who are cheating on their spouses in a comedy might have started with The Facts of Life, which also came out in 1960.

Like I said, I’m sure I’m wrong. It feels so strange, though. Comedy infidelity moments happen in movies all the time these days, often as a way to move one character forward in his or her (but generally it’s “his”) personal journey. But it still feels like a rare thing to have the characters we are supposed to like and want to spend time with being the ones doing the cheating in a comedy. There are examples (A Fish Called Wanda springs to mind), but still feels rare.

Sex and Several Cities

Film: A Touch of Class
Format: DVD from NetFlix on laptop.

I’m not really sure what I expected with A Touch of Class, but I didn’t expect a film that looked this dated. To suggest that this was considered one of the best films of 1973, enough that it was nominated for Best Picture, is surprising to me, because there’s very little here that translates to an audience 40 or so years removed. Glenda Jackson won the Oscar for her performance, and I like her performance here, but she is just about the only thing about this film that I thought was worthwhile.

This is a simple story. Vickie Allessio (Jackson) is a divorcee with two kids living in London. Steve Blackburn (George Segal) is married and has two kids and also lives in London despite being an American. The two meet in a park, then meet again the next day when sharing a cab in a rainstorm. Steve is obviously interested in Vickie and she hasn’t had a relationship for a while and admits that she could use some good non-committal sex, but not in the cheap hotel he has lined up for them. Instead, she expects a weekend away, which he agrees to since he claims to have never been unfaithful to his wife in the same city.

Wood You?

Film: Knock on Wood
Format: DVD from Rockford Public Library on laptop.

I’ve heard of Danny Kaye, but aside from White Christmas, I’m not sure I’ve seen a single one of his movies before watching Knock on Wood. I more or less knew what to expect, though. Unlike many of the song and dance types of the era, Kaye was pretty much a straight comedic actor specializing in light comedy with a few songs tossed in. That’s certainly what we’re getting with Knock on Wood, which manages to spoof the spy genre, more or less prank the film Dead of Night, and still toss in a couple of songs and a romance. And, as befits a comedy, the goal is to leave with a smile on the collective face of the audience.

American ventriloquist Jerry Morgan (Danny Kaye) has a successful act but a staggeringly unsuccessful love life. Every time he gets serious about a woman, his alter egos Clarence and Terrence open their mouths and say terrible things about his latest flame, ending the romance immediately, and Jerry tends to then take out his rage on his dummies. His manager Marty (David Burns) is convinced that the best thing for him is to meet with a Swiss psychiatrist, so off they go.