A Guide for the Married Man *** (1967, Walter Matthau, Robert Morse, Inger Stevens, Sue Ane Langdon, Linda Harrison, Carl Reiner) – Classic Movie Review 7251

Director Gene Kelly’s 1967 bedroom farce A Guide for the Married Man assembles a whole army of familiar Sixties comedy faces to illustrate the dos and don’ts of marriage, and the pluses and minuses of unfaithfulness.

Walter Matthau, Robert Morse, Inger Stevens, and Sue Anne Langdon are the welcome players who star in this thoroughly entertaining, grown-up comedy, in which Paul Manning (Matthau) learns the ropes of unfaithfulness with the help of smooth guide Ed Stander (Morse), his best friend who has been cheating on his wife.

Sue Anne Langdon plays Irma Johnson, an attractive blonde who lives nearby and catches Paul’s roving eye. Lovely Inger Stevens plays Paul’s wife, Ruth. Matthau gets a classic grouchy line to say to her: ‘Well if you think I’m going to stick about here just watching you be cheerful you’ve got another think coming!’ Frank Tarloff writes the screenplay from his own book.

Linda Harrison and Carl Reiner in A Guide for the Married Man (1967).

All the 20 guest stars are credited as ‘Technical Advisers’ and they make the movie a bit bloated and unwieldy, but, on the other hand, they are very welcome. Even so, the film is surprisingly short at just 89 minutes. They cameo celebrities are Lucille Ball as Mrs. Joe X, Jack Benny as Ollie ‘Sweet Lips’, Polly Bergen as Clara Brown, Joey Bishop as Charlie, Ben Blue–Shoeless, Sid Caesar as Man at Romanoff’s, Art Carney as Joe X, Wally Cox as Man Married 14 Years, Ann Morgan Guilbert as Charlie’s Wife, Jeffrey Hunter as Mountain Climber, Marty Ingels as Meat Eater, Sam Jaffe as Shrink, Jayne Mansfield as Girl with Harold, Hal March as Man Who Loses Coat, Louis Nye as Irving, House Buyer, Carl Reiner as Rance G, Michael Romanoff as Romanoff’s Maitre’d, Phil Silvers as Realtor, Terry-Thomas as Harold ‘Tiger’, and Heather Young–Girl with Megaphone. These guest stars, including The Turtles who sing the title song, were paid $10,000 for two days’ work.

‘A Guide for the Married Man’ is performed by The Turtles, with lyrics by Leslie Bricusse and music by John Williams, who wrote the score for the movie.

Also in the cast are Jackie Russell, Virginia Wood, Karen Arthur, Michael Romanoff, Evelyn King, Jackie Josep, Jimmy Cross, Tommy Farrell, Jason Wingreen, Pat Becker, Aline Towne, Claire Kelly, Eve Brent, Majel Barrett, Marian Mason, and Linda Harrison.

The one-time X-rated film is now a PG!

© Derek Winnert 2018 Classic Movie Review 7251

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