Some Kind of a Nut

An obscure comedy that bombed in movie theaters in 1969, SOME KIND OF A NUT follows the plight of Fred Amidon (Dick Van Dyke), a Manhattan bank teller caught up in a divorce from Rachel (Angie Dickinson) while planning a future with a new fiancée, Pamela (Rosemary Forsyth). The movie opens with Fred and Pamela picnicking in Central Park and encountering a bee that stings Fred on the chin. Fred grows a beard to cover the bee sting, which his boss objects to and demands that he shave it off. Fred refuses, taking a stand after a lifetime of conforming to other people's demands. After he is fired, co-workers go on strike and Fred is soon joined by hippies and jazz musicians with beards. Garson Kanin's very lightweight "anti-Establishment " comedy begins well but quickly wanes with its one-joke plot, descending into mediocre slapstick despite a few zany comedic moments. SOME KIND OF A NUT suffers from a badly miscast Dick Van Dyke, who often defaults to his broad brand of physical comedy when a more low-key approach was clearly needed. Angie Dickinson is totally wasted here, while Rosemary Forsyth does what she can with an unsympathetic character. Much of the intended hilarity falls flat, as in scenes when Pamela's brothers attempt to shave off Fred's beard. Only Zohra Lambert hits a proper note of goofiness as an overage "hippie" enamored of Fred's cause for independence from traditional values.

This is really an awful film. In 1968, Garson Kanin was very highly regarded - most famously, he wrote "Born Yesterday" - but this was the first film he had directed since "Tom, Dick and Harry" in 1941 (this film was started before Kanin's second film of the year "Where It's At" in the spring of 1968, but was halted in mid-production, and was finished after the latter film) and the results were a disaster. The script sucks and Van Dyke is thoroughly obnoxious and unlikeable in the lead. About the only positive thing I can say about the film is the presence of the two beautiful blonde female leads - the sexy Angie Dickinson and the classy, elegant Rosemary Forsyth.

The opening 10mns of "Some Kind of a Nut" feature New York City bank teller Dick Van Dyke and a female co-worker trying to avoid getting stung by a bee in Central Park on their lunch hour (they end up tearing each other's clothes off, and getting ticketed for disorderly conduct). Writer-director Garson Kanin is straining so hard to be with-it, he turns even a comic genius like Dick Van Dyke into a person we'd rather be without. After Van Dyke grows a beard to cover the bee sting on his chin, he's ordered by his conservative employer to shave it off; after he refuses, he's fired and branded a rebel for "bucking the system". A prime example of old-fogey Hollywood (i.e., the entertainment Establishment) trying to "keep up with the kids" in 1970. Unfortunately, "Some Kind of a Nut" isn't nutty enough. As a history lesson for cinephiles, it's interesting--but as a comedy, it's an embarrassment. NO STARS from ****

Bank teller Fred Amidon (Dick Van Dyke) is divorcing his wife Rachel Amidon (Angie Dickinson). He and his girlfriend Pamela Anderson (Rosemary Forsyth) are having a picnic in Central Park when they are attacked by bees. Fred gets stung on his chin. He can't shave and starts growing a beard while on vacation despite Pamela's objection. The bank manager is not happy with his look and fires him. Others join and walk out.

The Central Park start is a little funny. At least, it is trying very hard to be funny. This is a film premise looking for its humor. I get the clash of hippie and banking. I try to stay within the time period. As social commentary, there is something here. As a comedy, it just goes flat.

Kanin holds all the responsibility for the train wreck that this is since he wrote and directed it. Much ado about a beard. A complete waste of talent and seems to be some misguided attempt to reflect the push back against social norms of the time. It's 1969 and only the fringe, biker gangs, hoods and hippies would be caught in a beard, or maybe your grandfather or great-grandfather.