A Ticklish Affair

The Navy led by Commander Key Weedon (Gig Young) rushes to investigate an SOS signal coming from land. They find Navy widower Amy Martin (Shirley Jones) with three kids. The youngest one had send the signal with his imaginary friend. There is also the family's Uncle Simon Shelley (Red Buttons).

There is no romantic chemistry in this rom-com. The meet-cute is only cute for Shirley Jones and her kids. I wouldn't mind having a family-friendly misadventure with those four characters plus Red Buttons if they could have better writing. Instead, we're stuck with a stiff officer and Shirley Jones demurring into a girlie girl. It loses any hope for intensity or romantic heat. This is bland. At least the balloon ride seems fun. My one suggest for that is getting brighter colored balloons. This is desperately trying to be a family-friendly romance. Obviously, this has a lot of Navy involvement. I hope it didn't extend into the writing but I fear that's probably the case.

"A Ticklish Affair" begins with Navy Commander Key Weedon (Gig Young) arriving at the Martin household. It seems the youngest, Grover, was sending Morse code distress signals from their house in San Diego! And, the US Navy noticed it and went on alert! This was the kooky meet cute in the film....and soon Amy Martin (Shirley Jones) and the Commander begin dating and fall in love. But there's a major hitch here. The widow lost a husband in the Navy AND if she marries the Commander, she'll have to move with her three small boys to Italy! This is too much for her...and you certainly can understand her rejecting the Commander's offer. And, it's a shame as the boys really love the guy and want their mother to marry him.

This first 3/4 of the film was great...and the dilemma was real and you could understand Amy. But what follows was just stupid....and it really made a great romance an okay one in the end. It seems that Grover 'accidentally' flies away on a cluster of giant balloons and soon the fire department, police AND Navy are all scrambling to save this dopey 6 year-old. Talk about contrived!!! It really, really was a bad decision...as before this ridiculous portion, the film was amazingly good....and Jones was simply radiant.

I LOVE this one. It is not very widely known, but if you get a chance to see it, do! Shirley Jones is wonderful as a widowed mother of three young boys. Then she meets prince charming Gig Young and falls for him right away. Although he says he doesn't want to have a "ready-made family" the two continue dating anyway, and of course he falls for the whole family. But when Gig is transferred overseas and wants to marry Shirley and take the kids, she puts her foot down. She doesn't want to be constantly moving around the world like she was with her father then her first husband. But is mother's word final? Don't forget there are three boys who want a dad and an Uncle Cy, (Red Buttons) who are going to try every which way to get the two together! A real gem of a movie, worth seeing if you've ever liked family films, comedies, dramas, or romance.

Perky, pretty San Diego widow with shapely legs attracts the attention of a bachelor Commander with the US Navy. The fact she has three rowdy young boys doesn't seem to bother him; rather, he's anxious to become a father to this happy brood, while the kids work overtime trying to fix Mom up with the uniformed catch. Breezy comedy with familiar ingredients seems to take place in La-La Land--a plastic paradise--wherein an unmarried man cannot come to the aid of an unmarried woman without coy romance hanging in the air. Shirley Jones (perhaps substituting for Doris Day or Debbie Reynolds) is convincing as a young mother, but she seems a bit tense with Gig Young, who looks nonplussed throughout. Better are the alternate couple, a frisky Red Buttons and Carolyn Jones. The prolonged finale--with Shirley's youngest taking off over the city by way of some helium-filled balloons--is probably the most memorable aspect of the picture, not the characters nor the love story. ** from ****

This is one of the very few movies where Gig Young gets the girl. The casting for this movie was excellent with Carolyn Jones and Red Buttons, along with Edgar Buchanan. Shirley Jones is beautiful, as always. It is rarely shown on tv now, but if you happen to see it appear, be sure to tape it. I have it and watch it often, just for the good feelings it gives me. As a Naval officer, Gig Young is very good, acting as the protective, loving man. Red Buttons, as always, plays his part with great skill, making the movie just that much more enjoyable. I also liked the names of the characters, as they were unusual (Cy, Tandy, Key) and suited the persons who played them. Wonderful movie for a happy, contented evening's worth of watching.