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If fashion and Mediterranean scenery tend to dazzle you about a movie then you'll likely be all up in the clouds dancing over this one. For the rest of us who desire somewhat more from our hours invested in a movie, In-the-Cool-of-the-Day falls far short of the mark I'm afraid.

It's your basic "Two people married to other people fall in love on a romantic European trip, having been put together alone due to circumstances and also the situation in each of their marriages." In Fonda's character's case she's simply not in love with her doting and rather 'doormattish' husband. In Finch's character's case his wife (Landsbury) is a miserable joy-killing shrew of a woman who is playing ever the martyr and guilt-tripping him over a past tragedy in their lives. While Fonda's husband can't make the trip, Finch and Landsbury end up fighting and she walking out, leaving he and Fonda to continue on alone.

The back story on Fonda's character is that she has been sickly since early childhood, having had multiple surgeries on her lungs and nearly dying. In any normal family of the time that would mean the only sensible course of action, that being no one smokes near her. But in THIS film the production (writers, director, producer, etc) all thought it was no big deal to just have all involved puffing away like steam engines including Jane's character herself.

While the view on smoking was a little different back in '63 than it is today it is still fairly unthinkable that a physician would raise major concern over a trip by car through the mountains due to a little rain yet have no quarrel whatsoever about a girl with serious respiratory ailments smoking like a chimney.

As for the ending all I'll say is I found it abrupt, unsurprising, and disappointing, Fonda herself is absolutely gorgeous. The vistas and views of the countryside are spectacular. The acting is decent. The story and plot is where this film falls flat.

4/10

The premise of In the Cool of the Day was intriguing: a married man falls for his friend's wife while on vacation in Greece. Since I'd just come back from a vacation in Greece myself, I was looking forward to watching it. Plus, any movie with the insanely beautiful Jane Fonda will be good, right? Not so much. And the hairdresser and makeup artist must have hated their leading lady. Poor Miss Fonda was given a hideous wig and strange eye makeup to distort her features - you can still tell she's a beautiful woman underneath all that, but it's painful to watch such attempts to make her look otherwise. She does get to wear some gorgeous outfits, though.

Peter Finch is the lead, and he's unhappily married to Angela Lansbury. Angela refuses to be seen in public because she doesn't want the "disfiguring" scars on her face to attract attention. But there's nothing wrong with her face at all! Perhaps the makeup artist was too busy with Jane Fonda to remember Angela's scar tissue. Anyway, Peter goes from one sick woman to another: Jane has bad lungs and could die from pneumonia at any time. Then why is she practically chain-smoking throughout the entire movie?

Thankfully, there are other movies you can watch if you want to see the sights of Greece. And even more thankfully, there are other movies you can watch if you're a Jane Fonda fan (and who isn't?). So why watch this one? It's weird, uneven, and disappointing.

Saw this one on Turner today- with a great cast: Peter Finch, Jane Fonda, Angela Lansbury- all Oscar people (I think)- it was TERRIBLE ! First off, the title seems to mean nothing whatsoever... Angela carps, Jane flirts... they are off to Greece on the flimsiest of pretenses (how dumb can Angela be ?)-- then the same cat/mouse game continues-- lots of good shots of Grecian ruins, but a travelogue would have been a lot more honest use of celluloid !

It "wasn't very good."

Jane Fonda, Peter Finch, Angela Lansbury, Arthur Hill, and Constance Cummings star in "In the Cool of the Day" (1963.

I have no idea what the title means. It's one of those titles like "Fever in the Blood." Actually, "Fever in the Blood" would have been better.

Murray Logan (Finch) plays a publisher who falls in love with his friend Sam's (Arthur Hill) young wife Christine (Jane Fonda). She is a fragile woman both physically and emotionally, suffering from a lung disorder.

Part of her problem is her mother (Constance Cummings); she is afraid of her and hates to be around her. Christine's husband worships the ground she walks on, but at this point, they are separated and she is living with her father (Alexander Bonner), and they meet at his house.

Murray's wife, Sibyl (Angela Lansbury) is a recluse, due to a horrid automobile accident she and Murray were in which killed their little boy. Murray feels responsible so he puts up with her, though she's a nasty woman.

Sam makes certain promises to Christine about the way she can live her life -- he's very suffocating -- and she desperately wants to see Greece. She invites Murray and Sibyl to accompany her and Sam. Surprisingly, Sibyl accepts.

The Grecian scenery is stunning.

The movie overall moves like molasses, and it was difficult to invest in any of the characters.

As far as Fonda's hair - it was distracting. It's also the way women wore their hair in the '60s. I didn't mind her clothes, which some have mentioned. She was still quite beautiful.

The performances were okay - for me, only Lansbury and Cummings provided any spark. Fonda's performance was a little mannered for me. I can never get over the fact that Arthur Hill was the original George in Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf because he's the same in every single thing I've seen him in. Peter Finch didn't register a ton of emotion.

The ending was very clichéd.

I just found it a waste of good talent and beautiful locations.

No wonder this wasn't even listed in my comprehensive special edition video book covering thousands of movies ~ not even as a dog. Since yesterday, 10/16/06, was Angela Lansbury's 81st birthday they featured her movies on Turner Classics. Evidently Jane Fonda must still have some pull with Ted, because her performance didn't warrant viewing; it made ME uncomfortable watching her. Angela, in a recent interview, mentioned her disappointment with that movie. No surprise! That's 90 minutes I'll never get back. However, I made a lovely cauliflower au gratin and a pumpkin pie while the movie played on our kitchen TV (I kept thinking something would happen or the story would get better; it didn't).