Strange Bedfellows

The Strange Bedfellows are Rock Hudson and Gina Lollabrigida, a married but separated couple, separated now for seven years. Gina would like a divorce because she wants to marry her new boss Edward Judd. But Rock has reasons to want to patch things up. He's in line for a big promotion on his job and the old money in the person of Howard St. John that runs the company likes the stability of a family man in his top executives.

Rock and Gina had a lot of passion in their relationship. Great for sex, but they brought into other things and didn't agree on anything. Gina is a bohemian free spirit and Rock is a conservative oil executive and is that ever a redundancy.

Gig Young is in a typical Gig Young part and I did love seeing the way Edward Judd got over him pretending to be a British secret agent. Paul Lynde did a fabulous job in Rock's Send Me No Flowers as a funeral director and since the film is set in London, Terry-Thomas steps in and does a fine job as a British funeral director.

Strange Bedfellows is not as good as Rock's films with Doris Day, not quite as good as his previous film with Lollabrigida, Come September. Still I think it will please audiences today.

This film will make you appreciate how well written and well directed the Rock Hudson/Doris Day romantic comedies were.

Hudson has a tendency to be stiff, but here it is worse than I've ever seen it. Gina Lollobrigida was 38 and possibly because her character is supposed to be a political activist, she doesn't wear much make-up. She looks rather plain and not glamorous, so it is a mystery why Hudson falls for her. If you're expecting the Italian sex symbol, Gina Lollobrigida, this is not the film. Gig Young plays the Tony Randal sidekick part to Hudson. Young is a good actor, but really is too handsome for the sidekick role.

There is no reason I can think of to watch this film, except for perhaps a short scene where Rock Hudson wakes up in bed with another man. Hudson is quite calm about it. Lollobrigida explains that he had no other place to sleep, so she put him in bed with Hudson. She asks Hudson if he minds. He answers that he doesn't mind. It is only because of what we know now about Hudson's sexuality that the scene is funny and sticks out. I an pretty sure that this is the only film where Hudson is in bed with another man.

The movie's 1950's puritanical tone destroys the sex comedy aspect. Since this was made in 1965, when censorship was ending, it is unfortunate that the producers didn't seek to take advantage of the new freedom. For example. Gina is a member of a group that supposedly supports artist's freedom of expression. The group has Gina ride nude on a horse like Lady Godiva to protest an artist's censorship. However Gina doesn't really go nude, but wears a flesh colored body stocking. This destroys the whole point of the protest and destroys any hope of the viewer seeing Gina looking sexy.

So, in summation, if you want to see Rock Hudson's dullest performance, Gina Lollobrigida's least sexy performance, and Gig Young as a bumbling sidekick, this is the movie for you.

If you're looking for a funny romantic comedy where Rock Hudson lies to get a woman into bed, you've got plenty to choose from: Pillow Talk, Lover Come Back, A Very Special Favor, and as a last resort Strange Bedfellows. I love Gina Lollobrigida, and she gets to wear some pretty clothes in this movie, but it's not one I'd want to rent again.

Rock and Gina have a whirlwind romance and get married after spending a great weekend in bed. Come Monday morning, they discover they not only have nothing in common but their beliefs and opinions are polar opposites. Rock leaves during a fight and never comes back. Seven years later, neither one has gotten a divorce-for a reason never explained-and Rock is a successful businessman who needs to promote his family image in order to get a promotion. Gina is still an uncontrollable, protesting wild child, but rather than rent a respectable wife for the weekend his boss is in town, he attempts to tame her.

This movie has some funny moments, but the main story just isn't great. I wasn't rooting for the couple to fall back in love with each other. Rock is a pathological liar and a first-class jerk, and Gina's temper is childish. Why can't these people cut their losses and get divorced? If you love the two leads, you can give it a shot. There's a clever sequence at a funeral parlor run by Terry-Thomas, and a funny bed shortage when Gina invites all her friends over and Rock ends up in bed with her new boyfriend. Besides that, you're better off renting Come September.

In London, businessman Carter Harrison (Rock Hudson) has a paint-tastic first meeting with Italian bohemian Toni Vincente (Gina Lollobrigida). The whirlwind romance results in their marriage after 24 hours. After the honeymoon period, the couple finds that they agree on absolutely nothing. They separate. After seven years, they decide to divorce. When they reunite, the fire in their relationship is rekindled.

I really like the opening premise of this fire and water relationship. As they whipsaw back and forth, I eventually lose my grip on them. I like them fighting, but I struggle with them overall. I can never be sure if I buy them as a couple. I am as confused as some of these characters. Rock Hudson is a little too straight in his performance. I can imagine this rom-com done much better.

Witless farce from the usually-estimable comedy writer Melvin Frank, who also produced and directed, stars Rock Hudson as an American oil company executive in London, married but estranged from fiery Gina Lollobrigida for the past seven years, who must present a happily-united front for the company's general (why? so it'll "look good"). When Rock first meets Gina, she's an artist painting protest slogans on signs and walls--but the movie is so bashful, her signs are always half-finished so we won't know what she's protesting against. They marry immediately (presumably so they can have sex without guilt), but the next morning find they have nothing in common. Frank, who co-authored the screenplay with Michael Pertwee from a rather old-fashioned story he originated with Norman Panama, substitutes shouting for snap--and Lollobrigida does must of the shouting. Hudson tries to keep up with her, but his colorless brand of acting assures that he'll blend in with the furniture and nothing more. Atrociously shot by cinematographer Leo Tover, with the phony backdrops and scrappy rear-projection upstaging even Gina Lollobrigida in a variety of 'kooky' outfits. * from ****