starring Dean Martin, Kim Novak, Ray Walston, Felicia Farr, Cliff Osmond
directed Billy Wilder
Dean Martin's car breaks down while he is driving from Las Vegas to Los Angeles. He gets stuck in Climax, NV. Orville (Ray Walston) and Barney (Cliff Osmond), two song writers, try desperately to sell their music to Deano. The situation is complicated by a few factors. Orville and Zelda (Felicia Farr), his wife, are about to celebrate their 5th wedding anniversary. Orville instigates a fight with Zelda to get her out of the house. Barney brings over Polly (Kim Novak), a waitress whom he just met, to pretend to be Orville's wife.
Deano hits on Polly, thinking she is Zelda. Orville tries to sell his music to Deano but Deano is more interested in Polly, who isn't interested in him. She enjoys pretending to be Orville's wife but she is willing to do what is necessary to sell Deano on Orville's music. Orville ultimately decides that he isn't okay with selling out.
Zelda considers coming back to Orville but when she sees him with Polly she gets angry and heads down to the bar where Polly works. Somehow, through all this, she is unaware that Orville is trying to sell his music to Dean Martin or that he is staying in their home. Deano winds up with Zelda, for the night. Polly spends the night with Orville.
Thoughts
Dean Martin plays himself although he is referred to as Deano throughout the movie.
I didn't realize how many of Billy Wilder's films, ones he directed, that I have seen until just now. I think I've seen 10 of them. I've seen some of the classics like Sunset Blvd. and Stalag 17 but there are others I've missed like Double Indemnity and The Lost Weekend.
It's funny how there are long stretches of the movie when characters drop out of the story. Dean Martin is in it for the first 10-15 minutes and then drops out for a while. Kim Novak doesn't show up until about an hour into the movie.
I hope I haven't given away too much of this story. It has its moments. It seems to lose its way after a point but then finds it again. I like it but there are also moments that fall flat for me or seem gross. Watching Deano pawing Polly wasn't funny, but I'm guessing that some people thought it was.
On the whole I like this movie and think it is worth seeing. I'm speaking as someone who isn't the biggest fan of romantic comedies, which is how I would characterize this movie. It seems a little ahead of its time in terms of the content but a little behind the times in terms of the fact that it is black-and-white. It works in black-and-white but by the mid-1960s I think most movies were being produced in color. It kept me guessing right up until the end but I wasn't in too much doubt that it would have a happy ending.
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