Wives and Lovers

This one is a forgotten gem. I watched it again after some 35 years and it struck me that all the ingredients for a good film are on display. Firstly, a stellar cast that are all uniformly excellent. A directer who, tho predominately from a TV background, innately understands the material .. and lastly, a wonderfully taught script by Jay Presson Allen who would go on to pen such films as Hitchcock's "Marnie" and "The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie".

If you're a fan of the genre, in this case the early 60's 'sex comedy', you could do worse than to seek this out. It's a cut above the Doris Day/Rock Hudson films of the period.

I don't know who manages the back-catalogue for Paramount, but this could certainly do with a DVD release given the popularity of the afore-mentioned Day/Hudson films and the buying power of the baby boomers. Certainly, it has more 'bite' in the screenplay with some dialogue that obviously went under the censor's radar at the time.

This is a typical story of suburban married life, the roses and thorns, the bliss and clashes.

As an aspiring writer, Bill Austin (Van Johnson) stays home to churn out some writings while his wife, Bertie (Janet Leigh) goes out to work. He isn't happy about it, wants change. However, soon Fortune smiles on him and good changes occur; then he's on his way up as a writer, but there's a price.

Problems begin when he spends too much time away from his wife and being assisted by his attractive literary agent, Lucinda (Martha Hyer). One thing leads to another while they work on scripts together. Bertie, left alone, also goes astray, all of this leading up to a divorce as the only solution.

It is middle-of-the-road entertainment about family feuds and makeups. If you are a fan of Van, Janet, or Martha, you'll enjoy this bright and witty film.

Wives and Lovers (1963)

Janet Leigh is great, Van Johnson likable but a little over the top. Together they make a decent pair struggling with newfound wealth as he sells a big play and they move from the Upper West Side to Connecticut. In the process, their marriage goes on the rocks, and all the clichés of suburban life are played out. It's funny and warm and silly and a bit thin overall, but not so bad as entertainment goes.

Director John Rich is a television man, which explains a lot. Picture the style of "Gomer Pyle" and "Gunsmoke" and "Dick Van Dyke" (all part of his pedigree) and you'll get something of the feel of this "movie." The fact it rises above these trappings is pretty encouraging. Behind the scenes is Lucien Ballard, the crack cinematographer who also did "The Wild Bunch" six years later, among many others.

You can't avoid thinking of other couples in suburban traps, like Tracy and Hepburn, or in a different and more contemporary sense, Hudson and Day. There are good jokes and flat ones here, amidst some pretty good dialog. There are sidekicks of note, squandered perhaps, mainly Shelly Winters and Ray Walston. (One really funny moment occurs when Walston is playing with the stereo and these radio whiny noises come out, exactly like "My Favorite Martian," which he is most famous for.)

Van Johnson is no Spencer Tracy, for sure, but that's okay. He's likable enough, and natural enough, to be a good struggling dad. The opening scenes look more like 1940s New York than 1963, but that's really the point, because old New York gets left behind. Johnson is better, in fact, as a dad than as a successful playwright, and for the second long half of the movie I just never believe him. Nor his supposed attraction to his agent with her horrid hair.

But Janet Leigh? She's worth watching and holds the movie together. If you loved her in "Psycho" for the half hour she's alive in it you'll maybe see another fuller actress here. Her role, as a struggling, willing, and then slightly rebellious housewife, is not very attractive, but she makes it attractive anyway, and less a cliché than many other actresses who might start to shriek or cry far too often and loud. Once you tune out the dreck you'll see a very good actress pulling off a difficult role, and my appreciation of her rose a little.

I guess when you'll hunting hard for pieces to like in a movie you know the whole is disappointing. But heads up about those pieces if you do give it a whirl.

A family fun classical movie for the whole family. I am that I have this movie to add to my own personal video library. It's a real winner! The cast is outstanding and fun to watch. Shows how families were during the 1950's

During Van Johnson's career, he played a lot of really nice guys. I have no idea what the real Johnson was like...but the image for years was of a nice, unassuming guy. However, in a major change of pace, in "Wives and Lovers" he plays a complete jerk...a guy more interested in his own success than his wife (Janet Leigh) or young daughter. I think the film is supposed to be a comedy...but I found Johnson's character so unlikable that it was hard to summon up a laugh.

When the story starts, Bill (Johnson) is a husband who stays home to earn money as a writer. His wife, Bertie (Leigh), works outside the home in order to let Bill follow this dream. As a result, they are rather poor...but happy.

One day, Bill's agent (Martha Hyer) arrives at their small apartment to make an announcement....she sold Bill's book. Not only that, she got a fortune for it...as well as the movie rights...and stage rights. Now, Bill is the toast of New York...and in the process he completely neglects his family. For him, it's all-important that he follow his dream and he makes various promises to his family to spend time with them...though over time you realize his promises mean nothing. What's next? See the film...but rest assured, after a while, Bertie tires of waiting at home for him to return.

In so many ways, this film is a product of the 1960s...with newer mores than you would expect in earlier Leigh and Johnson films. So, there's more innuendo as well as cursing. It also shows marital problems...which you didn't see very often in previous decades.

In many ways, the film reminds me of the recent film "Marriage Story". Neither are funny and it's sad (at least to me) seeing these people tearing each other apart. Not a fun movie to watch...but brave in its material.

By the way, if you prefer to remember Van Johnson positively, you might want to skip this one. He is such a jerk in the film.