The Feminist and the Fuzz

As someone must have said by now, this is a 1970s movie. Its subject is confrontations between bewildered, sympathetic or bemused feminists of the period and bewildered, sympathetic or bemused males of the period. It is a comedy with elements of satire, meaning the viewer know things should turn out fine, although it just does not seem so during the earlier stages. This made-for-TV classic of its sort has a likable and fine cast, a witty script and more fun per minute than almost any other film on the same topic. It is a look at the bad position women have been placed in in the U.S., at 1970, and since 1770. and what some people wanted to do about that problem; it is also about persons who do not have all the answers but are trying to negotiate a way of restating the questions. The chosen story-line pits two "natural" antagonists, a nice-guy police officer played by David Hartman who is not anti-feminine just not pro 'women's lib" and about as confused as anyone is on the topic, and Barbara Eden, a young woman who is sure she is pro-feminine but not certain how she ought to proceed. Each gets bad advice from their friends, in Eden's case JoAnn Worley and in Hartman's case just about everyone. Eden has a fiancée, nice-guy Herb Edelman, who is sympathetic but gormless; and there is a hitch...because there are so few apartments in San Francisco, Hartman and Eden cannot have the apartment they love and need except by sharing it. Since their schedules do not clash, they agree to try a mutual occupation arrangement. But not until after she has harassed him and he has frisked her, in the line of duty; by this time we viewers have had demonstrated several facts--that they annoy one another and are attracted to one another; but that he is not ready to admit she needs more rights and she is not ready to admit some in the movement have overdone their protests. The clever script omits nothing--bra burning, enlisting prostitutes who agree with the idea of liberation to the point of sometimes overdoing lack of controls, her father's spending time with Julie Newmar, a charming lady of the streets, Worley and Edelman getting together and deciding that if she wants to dominate he really wants her to do so, and the principals overcoming their differences and falling in love. A message in this film? Hardly. It is about the need for non-acrimonious communication, confronting 70's issues and the fun provided by the script's author, James S. Henerson. Jerry Paris, TV veteran actor and director, kept the events moving fluidly. In addition to the good actors already named, the cast included TV veterans Arthur Batanides, Harry Morgan as Eden's father, John McGiver, Farrah Fawcett, Roger Perry, Sheila James and Penny Marshall, among others. Cinematography was by Emil Oster, good and suitably-comedic original music by Jack Elliott and Allyn Ferguson. Theladies take up karate, the men take to worrying, but in the end this pleasant film's creators, a film very much imitated by never duplicated since, comes down on the side not of compromise but of tolerant understanding and individual choices--surely a welcome alternative to preaching, maintaining a rightless status quo for females or compounding a bad situation with more bad ideas. Give it a try; this film is funny and occasionally wise. As most who have seen it would say, this is memorable and balanced.

This movie is funny in the extreme. Barbara Eden and David Hartman Barbara Eden play their parts perfectly. I especially enjoyed the fun at the night club and the scene with Jerry (David Hartman) carrying Jane Bowers (Barbara Eden) out and putting her in the police car as his girl friend (Farah Fawcet) watched.Also the scene where Jo Ann Worley clobbers David Harman with Karate chops. The scenes with Jo Ann Worly as the head man hater,were extremely funny . Also the parts with the nosy irritable, ornery landlord added to the fun. It is too bad that these movies are not presented on TV more often. So what if they are dated. They are funny even in these disturbing times.

I can't stand feminist movies today , they are mean nasty and full of man hating themes , even the comedy versions . Back in the 70's it was different ( well in this one it was ) . The tone of the film is more of an romantic comedy with the feminist themes that are sometimes ridiculed and that is in my opinion a good thing . Barabara eden and David Hartman are playing their parts very well and also the rest of the cast is good . The end with all the people together where the confusion is solved is funny and the happy end is in the line of what you would expect from a romantic comedy . Yes i enjoyed this movie

"Officer Jerry Frazer" (David Hartman) is a San Francisco police officer who is looking for an apartment. "Dr. Jane Bowers" (Barbara Eden) is a pediatrician who is also looking for an apartment. The problem for both of them is that affordable apartments are very difficult to find in this particular city. As luck would have it, when an apartment becomes vacant both of them rush to claim it and just happen to arrive at the same time. Recognizing that the rent is a little too pricey and cognizant of the fact that they have different shifts, they then decide to share the apartment with each other. The problem is that each of them have a different set of values which are in direct opposition to the other yet agree to pretend to be married to satisfy the landlord. Likewise, they each have companions of their own which complicates things even further. Now rather than reveal any more I will just say that this film turned out to be an interesting made-for-television movie in large part because of the beautiful female cast which featured Farrah Fawcett (as Jerry's girlfriend "Kitty Murdock"), Julie Newmar ("Lilah McGuinness") and of course the aforementioned Barbara Eden. Yet in spite of these attractive ladies, the film itself suffered from a predictable plot and a deficiency of comedy. That said, while it certainly wasn't a bad movie, I didn't consider it to be all that great either and I have rated it accordingly. Average.

When I watched The Feminist and the Fuzz, I did not own a VCR. Later I thought I could purchase it, but it seems that it never came out on VCR or DVD. I often record a movie while I watch it, and so I hope that someone did that when it was shown in 1971 (?). I would be happy to buy a copy even if the quality is poor, as long as it can be seen. I tried for many years to find a copy of the PBS movie She Loves Me and had just about given up when someone saw one of my many posted requests and directed me to someone who had recorded it and offered to sell me a copy. I bring it out at Christmas time for the sheer joy of experiencing the wonderful music and happy story again. Even though it first came out as The Shop Around the Corner with Jimmy Stewart and The Good Old Summer Time and You've Got Mail, I still treasure She Loves Me over all of them. I thank you for any help you can offer for The Feminist and the Fuzz.