Ein Goldfisch an der Leine

A delightful and agreeable Screwball comedy that has lost none of its vintage and punch . The author of a best-selling fishing guide called Roger Willoughby (Rock Hudson) is loved by his customers in the sporting goods department at Abercrombie and Fitch run by his boss , the store owner William Cadwalader (John McGiver) . Roger is actually extremely inexperienced in outdoor-sports , but then he finds himself entered in an anglers' contest which causes confusion . Then botcher Rock becomes the unwitting object of the fun affections from two beautiful women (Paula Prentiss , Maria Perschy) . As Prentiss attempts to get for herself to Rock who also happens to be engaged to another girlfriend (Charlene Holt) . And both of whom become involved into all sorts of trouble . What is Man's Favorite Sport?... Just ask any Girl! ...Girls are good at it too! .It takes a girl to supply the answer.

An enjoyable comedy of the best vintage with the two great comedian actors , Rock Hudson and Paula Prentiss , on glittering and splendorous form . One ridiculous and absurd situation after another adds up to high speed fun . From a story titled "The Girl Who Almost Got Away" by Pat Frank and storyline by John Fenton Murray , Steve McNeil and Howard Hawks himself . Concerning a simple and light plot about a fishing contest which causes mayhem when our bungling starring is entered into a competition, including laughters , confusion , funny set pieces , amusement , entertainment and big fun . And following similar style to the deemed to be quintaessential classic comedy : ¨Breaking up baby¨ (1938) by Howard Hawks himself . Featuring a great main and support cast , all of them are in nice and enjoyable form . Dialogue and situations are breezy and clever , employing filmmaker Hawks's famous overlapping dialogue to maximum advantage .Rock Hudson givis a likable actng as an outdoors columnist considered to be a leading expert on sports fishing , but really ,he's never been fishing in his life and then mayhem ensues , this movie provided Rock with one of his best characters. While screwball Paula Prentiss add Maria Preschy spend most of their time gumming up the workd for poor Hudson. Keep an eye out for some familiar roles and some inventive biits , here standing out the support actors as Norman Alden , John McGiver , Forrest Lewis , Regis Toomey and Charlene Holt .

It displays an adequate cinematography in brilliant techinicolor by Russell Harlan . Likewise, marvelous score by Henry Mancini with catching and attractive leitmotif . The motion picture was competently directed by Howard Hawks who manages the perfect balance of mayhem and control , adding sparkling dialogue and amusing incidents . Hawks was one of the best Hollywood directors . He made various masterpieces and directed all kinds of genres , Comedy, Western, drama , Noir Film , wartime , thriller , such as : "Air Force, Sergeant York , Outlaw , Rio Bravo , Río Lobo, El Dorado, Hatari, His Friday Girl, Man's Favotite sport ? , Gentlemen prefer Blondes , Monkey Business , Fire Ball , Gone and Get it , Criminal Code, Big Sleep, To Have and Have not" and many others . This is definitively a must-see and it is guaranteed to have you falling out your seat in helpless laughter . This was Hawks' final comedy and runs a long two hours.

Howard Hawks may not have invented the war between the sexes; but where comedic film-making is concerned, he was the Napoleon of the sub-genre. In such features as "I Was a Male War Bride" and "Man's Favorite Sport", he gave each side in the conflict its turn, always from the male point of view however; and in the process, as Alfred Hitchcock did with staging scenes where something was occurring other than the dialogue's exact subject, he brought a new intensity to developing and ongoing relationships, so vital to the creation of character. In "Man's Favorite Sport", a story about a man who has never fished in his life having to try to win a fishing tournament in order to save his job, he saw a fine opportunity for physical "lazzi" and active scenes; in between the three active scenes of angling and several hilarious misadventures with physical equipment including chairs, inflatable waders and a car-park locale misunderstanding, he also found time to have his writers write some equally memorable dialogue confrontations of many sorts. The cast in this well-liked and well-remembered comedy include veterans John Mcgyver as the boss, Roscoe Karnes and others as grizzled veteran anglers, Pretty Maria Perschy, Charlene Holt and Paula Prentiss as the women in the hero's life, talented Norma Alden as a hip, wisecracking but lovable Indian, and Rock Hudson as Roger Willoughby, the beleaguered junior exec. In the film's storyline, however, Hawks faced one impossibility: Roger Willoughby by never fishing had separated his scheme for making clients happy--by using consultants at various sites and departmental experts to supply information and teaching expertise--from his job, being the man who made the entire scheme work. Strictly speaking, as Paula Prentiss says, Roger is a phony; but this does no alter the workability of the scheme; and the climax--the fishing tournament's outcome, Roger's confessing to his boss and what happens afterward form an exciting, dialogue-rich and memorable conclusion to the side-splitting goings on. The problem Hudson faces--the distinction between theory and practice of the theory--is a bedeviling one in a nation many of whose academic tsars are heavy with inadequate theories and whose practitioners are light on results themselves. I highly recommend this classic for a study of Hawks' techniques as well as for anyone wanting a loud laugh of fifty any time. Add flashy titles, low- key music and crisp, clean sets and a knockout comedy performance by all concerned, especially Paula Prentiss, and this film becomes an instant US classic satire.

I have to admit I had a serious crush on Paula Prentiss during her days as a big star. Gloriously beautiful, sexy, with that great Texas accent Ms. Prentiss was a great sexy comedienne and this is likely her greatest role in Howard Hawks Man's Favorite Sport. Initially to be filmed at Paramount with Prentiss and Cary Grant, Paramount per legend refused to cast Paula Prentiss, so Howard Hawks took the project to Universal and cast Rock Hudson and Ms. Prentiss. Man's Favorite Sport? has top notch Universal production values and both stars play off well against each other. Paula Prentiss in an interview years later said she was speechless when introduced to Mr. Hudson as she claimed he was even better looking in person than he was on screen, and that Hudson's personal appearance was so great it was almost beyond comprehension.

Mr Hudson does well in this film. This is a fine wacky comedy directed by a Master Director Howard Hawks and features Ms. Prentiss' finest performance. Paula Prentiss got and deserved equal star billing over the title with box office champ Rock Hudson. I for one am glad that Howard Hawks stood his ground and insisted on Mr. Prentiss who was loaned to Hawks and Universal Prentiss' from home studio MGM

Viva Paula Prentiss

This is both a return to an older form of comedy for Howard Hawks as well as something new. This is almost as much a remake of Bringing Up Baby as A Song is Born was of Ball of Fire, and it would have been made even the more so if Hawks had been able to follow through on an early idea of having both Cary Grant and Katherine Hepburn return to play the lead roles. It doesn't seem like Hepburn was seriously considered, but Grant was offered the lead role. He refused when they cast Paula Prentiss, 34 years his junior, as the female lead. He was tired of the criticisms around his playing romantic lead to women half his age (though he was married Betsy Drake at the time, who was 19 years younger than him).

So, they cast Rock Hudson. Hudson seems to play the part as Hawks would have wanted Grant to play David Huxley in Bringing Up Baby if he could have gone back in time and changed it. Hudson is the straight leading man here, unblemished by personality tics like a weird accent or cadence or even glasses. He is Roger Willoughby, the author of a popular fishing magazine who works in a department store selling fishing equipment to the rich of San Francisco. He has a secret, though. He cannot fish. He's never gone fishing once in his life, but his advice is great nonetheless. He just takes what he hears from one fisherman and he tells others. In comes Paula Prentiss' Abigail Page. She's the daughter of the man organizing a fishing tournament in the country, and she has a great idea. She'll invite the famous author to participate, so she goes first to Roger's boss, Mr. Cadwalader, and gets his permission, essentially forcing Roger into it without his involvement. Desperate, Roger takes her aside and admits his deep secret to her. Well, she's going to teach him to fish in the week leading up to the tournament so he can at least perform decently enough.

So is the setup for the comedic pratfalls that will follow. Being the representative of a department store, Mr. Cadwalader sends Roger with a station wagon full of equipment to try out, most of which is silly in nature. Abigail becomes immediately infatuated with him, and does everything she can to insert herself in his life, even when his fiancée, Tex, comes for a surprise visit. The thing about the humor that runs through the film is that it's fairly broad stuff. The broadest moment is probably when Roger is riding a little moped in the countryside towards the lake. He falls off, and a bear gets on it and drives away. Most isn't quite like that, but that moment stands out.

Roger is simply hopeless at fishing, and when the tournament actually starts he ends up pratfalling his way to total victory. He accidentally throws his line over his shoulder behind a rock, and a fish immediately hooks it. He accidentally throws his line over a tree branch, and a fish immediately hooks it. He gets chased into the middle of a river by the bear, and a fish ends up by the shore that he can net up real quick. It's amusing stuff, light and frivolous.

The core of it all, though, is Roger's relationship with Abigail. This is the mirror of David and Susan in Bringing Up Baby. Abigail doesn't announce early to someone that she's going to marry Roger, but it's obvious that she finds him attractive and endearing, growing closer to him as the movie goes on. This all hinges on the actors, of course, and both hold themselves quite well. Rock Hudson is put together and in over his head at the same time. He just wants to live his quiet life of passing off good fishing advice as his own, but now, in this situation, he has to find a way to get over his disgust at handling live fish, his distaste for the outdoors in general, and his fear of water. Abigail is there along the way, comfortable with it all, and enjoying the process of torturing him in her quest for his heart.

Paula Prentiss is a delight as Abigail. She's bright, energetic, and bubbly. Her lighthearted mistreatment of Roger never descends into mean-spiritedness. She's edging him towards what he wants, to not be completely embarrassed at this tournament that she's forced him into. It ends up making sense why Roger would ultimately be okay with breaking up with Tex and going with Abigail, though the relationship with Tex is rather thinly presented. Tex barely has a presence, and she's kind of irritating in her few scenes. The deck is kind of stacked in Abigail's favor there.

The resolution of the film's plot revolves around Tex, Mr. Cadwalader, and Roger's primary customer, the Major, discovering the truth around Roger's inability to fish. After winning the top prize, he comes clean and walks away. Abigail has run away, thinking that she can never have Roger because she got him into the mess to begin with, and love ends up triumphing. There's a certain predictability and safeness to the story here, but it's so good natured and funny throughout that it's so easy to recommend at the same time.

It's not Hawks' best comedy by a longshot, but it is an entertaining little gem of a find from the later stages of his career. As much a throwback as a work of its time, Man's Favorite Sport? Is a fine little comedy.

Oh, and as the title song answers, Man's Favorite Sport is girls.

Some reviewers have criticized the studio-bound look (Bringing Up Baby wasn't???), flat, high- key photography, the fact Rock Hudson isn't Cary Grant, that much of the comedy is slapstick (which, I guess, means physical and visual), that gags are recycled from older films......I mean, who cares? This is a total delight, probably the best comic roles Prentiss and Hudson ever had, and one of the funniest post World War 2 movies of all. Today, the 6th or 7th time I've seen it, I found when it was over I wanted to go out and buy a DVD of it.

Hawks' films may not have the pictorial qualities that Ford's, Welles', and Hitchcock's had, but when it came to involving you in a group of characters and their silly, yet somehow believable, antics, he had no superiors. It's not surprising it took the French New Wave, with their impatience for tired and predictable dramatic conventions, to finally recognize and rank Hawks at the very highest level of film artists.