If you like quick, witty banter of the silver screen, or if you like Rosalind Russell in her fast-talking screwball comedies, you've got to rent the cute flic The Feminine Touch. I couldn't stop laughing, and I don't even like screwball comedies! The good news (for me) is that it's very light on the screwball. It's a pretty intelligent script that focuses on whether or not jealousy is good (or even necessary) for a marriage.
Don Ameche is a stuffy professor with a knockout wife (Roz - if you don't think she's pretty, just cut her a little slack) that most of his students have crushes on. But he never gets jealous; he doesn't believe in it. In fact, he's written an entire tome on the subject. Roz is a little more hot-blooded than he, and she would love for him to punch out one of her admirers to show he still loves her. When Don's manuscript is finally noticed by a big-time publisher, the lovely assistant (Kay Francis) gives Roz something to be jealous of! While Don and Kay are in constant conference about his book, Kay's boss and boyfriend who refuses to settle down (Van Heflin) continually makes the moves on Roz.
This movie is so funny, it's hard to point to just one favorite scene. I love when Don gets pressured by the dean of the college to give a football star a make-up exam. He assures him the test is easy to pass, because he "gave it to the janitor's eight-year-old son and he passed with flying colors". The test: given a wooden block and a piece of candy, which would you rather eat? I love seeing Van in the different role of the immature philanderer, always making up different phobias for attention. Don's comic timing is fantastic (not surprising, given his background on the radio), and there's no reason why he didn't take over as the head of all screwball comedies, instead of Melvyn Douglas or Cary Grant. Roz is hilarious as always, and she has physical and verbal comedy to show us her larger-than-life persona. Poor Kay is relegated to the "unwanted" one, but she keeps up with the other three in their pace and energy. For a hilarious evening after a hard week, rent this classic.
Don Ameche is a stuffy professor with a knockout wife (Roz - if you don't think she's pretty, just cut her a little slack) that most of his students have crushes on. But he never gets jealous; he doesn't believe in it. In fact, he's written an entire tome on the subject. Roz is a little more hot-blooded than he, and she would love for him to punch out one of her admirers to show he still loves her. When Don's manuscript is finally noticed by a big-time publisher, the lovely assistant (Kay Francis) gives Roz something to be jealous of! While Don and Kay are in constant conference about his book, Kay's boss and boyfriend who refuses to settle down (Van Heflin) continually makes the moves on Roz.
This movie is so funny, it's hard to point to just one favorite scene. I love when Don gets pressured by the dean of the college to give a football star a make-up exam. He assures him the test is easy to pass, because he "gave it to the janitor's eight-year-old son and he passed with flying colors". The test: given a wooden block and a piece of candy, which would you rather eat? I love seeing Van in the different role of the immature philanderer, always making up different phobias for attention. Don's comic timing is fantastic (not surprising, given his background on the radio), and there's no reason why he didn't take over as the head of all screwball comedies, instead of Melvyn Douglas or Cary Grant. Roz is hilarious as always, and she has physical and verbal comedy to show us her larger-than-life persona. Poor Kay is relegated to the "unwanted" one, but she keeps up with the other three in their pace and energy. For a hilarious evening after a hard week, rent this classic.