But the results are still entertaining and often quite funny, despite both the director's and the star's bizarre refusal to play up to their strengths. Overall it's far from the worst Danny Kaye movie, though not remotely in the same league as the Court Jester.
There are no musical sequences here and there is minimal wordplay. The former can be excused since this is a pure farce; it depends on structure and escalating plot devices for its humor and songs would just slow it down. The latter is more regrettable; Kaye seems a bit morose here, and his depiction of an overly nervous office worker is almost stressful just to watch. He only really comes to life in the masseuse sequence and the frenetic climax. (Both very entertaining sequences that make the film worthwhile). It's too bad that the film is padded out with fairly unpleasant scenes with the gangster character, who seems to have about an equal amount of screen time as Kaye.
I think this is the first black and white Frank Tashlin film I've seen, and it's probably one of the only ones. One of Tashlin's greatest skills was his use of vibrant color, which is absent here (lower budget, probably). The photography is still quite professional though, and miles above some of Kaye's other color films such as On the Double. Luckily Tashlin's penchant for lowbrow satire is still in full force though, especially in the ridiculous 'modern' gym and the mechanized credit card company. It plays very well into his pet topics: the usurpation of man by machine, the ridiculousness of progress, etc, and it's all aged rather well. ("You're using that evil money?" someone asks Kaye's character at some point, since he works for a credit card company. Hmm, we may really be heading for that society). Another Tashlin trademark, the climactic cartoonish chase scene, has lots of good gags though it can't really compare with his work on 'Son of Paleface'.
The writer, Bill Blatty, would become famous a decade later for writing the Exorcist, but before that most people don't know that he mainly worked in comedy films, especially with Blake Edwards. The Man From the Diner's Club is actually a lot like a Blake Edwards film in some respects, with its often bizarre humor, some of which, yes, revolves around beatniks.
