The Facts of Life *** (1960, Bob Hope, Lucille Ball, Ruth Hussey, Don DeFore) – Classic Movie Review 9208

Director Melvin Frank’s 1960 black and white romantic comedy drama The Facts of Life is a pleasurable, civilised vehicle for Bob Hope and Lucille Ball as Larry and Kitty, two married folk from the ‘burbs who take a rest from their boring spouses (Ruth Hussey, Don DeFore) but seem destined never to get it together.

It is a shame the attack on middle-class marriage is so addled, and that the comedy is so featherweight, and that the film is so lightweight. But the movie is welcome anyway for the Lucy and Bob team, who perform the goodish gags and situations with practised ease.

The Facts of Life, with its marriages in trouble theme, is a rather unusual choice for the 1961 Royal Film Performance at the Odeon Leicester Square, London, attended by HM The Queen Mother and Princess Margaret.

Edith Head and Edward Stevenson won an Oscar for Best Costume Design, Black-and-White. Edith Head won a record eight Academy Awards for Best Costume Design between 1949 and 1973, making her the most awarded woman in the Academy’s history.

And also Oscar nominated were Norman Panama and Melvin Frank for Best Writing, Story and Screenplay – Written Directly for the Screen; Charles Lang Jr for Best Cinematography, Black-and-White; Joseph McMillan Johnson, Kenneth A Reid and Ross Dowd’s Best Art Direction-Set Decoration, Black-and-White; and Johnny Mercer for Best Music, Original Song ‘The Facts of Life’.

It is the third of four films Bob Hope and Lucille Ball made together, preceded by Sorrowful Jones (1949) and Fancy Pants (1950) and followed by Critic’s Choice (1963).

Also in the cast are Louis Nye, Philip Ober, Peter Leeds, Louise Beavers, Mike Mazurki, Marianne Stewart, Hollis Irving, William Lanteau, Robert F Simon, Bess Flowers, John Indrisano, Addison Richards, Jeffrey Sayre and Vito Scotti.

While preparing to shoot a scene on a boat, Lucille Ball fell, struck her head and was knocked unconscious. Don DeFore also injured his back while filming. Both ended up hospitalised.

Panama and Frank wrote the story as a drama in 1951 for James Stewart and Olivia de Havilland. When they rediscovered their story in 1959, they re-wrote it as a comedy.

© Derek Winnert 2019 Classic Movie Review 9208

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