OH, MEN! OH, WOMEN! (1957)

One of the rare films with no writing credit.  Best guess is vet Hollywood scripter Nunnally Johnson, credited as producer/director, adapted Edward Chodorov’s B’way hit without gaining approval.  It’s one of those ‘smart’ B’way comedies of the day, tough to bring off on film and dated even when they do.  At least there’s a workable idea in here as society shrink David Niven squeezes in one last appointment before leaving on his honeymoon cruise, only to quickly realize the new patient’s neurotic infatuation is with the woman Niven is about to marry.  Yikes!  Worse, he knows it, but the patient doesn’t.  Personal knowledge vs personal ethics; what’s the right thing to do?  If only the writing were a little sharper, a little funnier, and a lot less condescending toward women.  Two of ‘em, Barbara Rush as the bride/ex, miscast as a 'delightful' ditz, and Ginger Rogers* from the secondary couple: her, demanding/needy; him (Dan Dailey) heavy-drinking actor.  Johnson, more writer than director, tends to sit on his CinemaScope setups with proscenium-bound staging until waking up in the last reel when the action finally moves out of the office and onto a real ocean liner, belatedly livening things up.  The whole lot (actors, directors, writers) swept aside by 37 yr-old Hollywood newcomer Tony Randall, the only fellow around who knows how to play these things.* On B’way, he’d replaced Gig Young in Dailey’s role.  But here, he plays the neurasthenic patient . . . and he’s hilarious.  The material isn’t any better, but Randall seems to have some sort of pacing metronome in his head, everything timed to perfection.  It makes all the difference.

SCREWY THOUGHT OF THE DAY: *Only 46, this was effectively Ginger Rogers’ Hollywood swansong.  She looks fine, not always the case in these late pics,  but hasn’t a clue how to play a funny/desperate sophisticate, hitting every line with the same determined lunge; telegraphing every joke.

ATTENTION MUST BE PAID: On B’way, Franchot Tone & Gig Young (later in the run Tony Randall) had the Niven & Dailey roles, while Larry Blyden played Randall’s film role.  Plus Anne Jackson as the wife.  I’d pay to see that cast.

WATCH THISS, NOT THAT: Randall’s great in all these early films.  Faster, less coy than later.  This one worth a peek, but see his followup, WILL SUCCESS SPOIL ROCK HUNTER/’57 to get the full effect.