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This entertaining bit of froth stands up well, as Robert Morse, the neighborhood Lothario, attempts to instruct Walter Matthau in the How-To's of philandery (why he should be interested in philandery when he is married to the incredibly built Inger Stevens is an unexplained mystery). Of course the many delicious cameos by such as Phil Silvers, Sid Caesar, Jack Benny, Joey Bishop, et. al. keep the film bouncing merrily along. Well worth a see.

Some background - Walter Matthau's character is a successful man who loves his wife (Inger Stevens) - she is attractive, she and Matthau still do things together and get along. She is prime rib, but no man wants to eat prime rib for 50 years.

So a "A Guide for the Married Man" is exactly what the title indicates. On one level, it is a hilarious comedy in which a philanderer (Robert Morse) senses his friend's (Walter Matthau) restlessness, and then proceeds to school him on how to commit adultery safely. Each principle is illustrated by a skit performed by other comedians of the time.

On another level, it actually provides sage advice for anyone thinking about getting a little on the side. That sage advice is, in the words of Micky Rourke in 1981's "Body Heat" about a completely different subject - "This is not (stuff) for you to be messin' with. Are you ready to hear something? I want you to see if this sounds familiar: any time you try a decent crime, you got fifty ways you're gonna (mess) up. If you think of twenty-five of them, then you're a genius... and you ain't no genius."

So this film is not as trapped in 60's sexual mores as other films of the decade, because married men will always want to rent a house at the beach now and then although that does not mean they want to sell their house in the suburbs and disrupt their way of life. Probably making wives nervous for over fifty years, this is a 60s film still worth seeing.

If you think four teenage guys trying to "score" before prom night is funny, wait'll you see the hilarious lengths married men go to philander successfully! A GUIDE FOR THE MARRIED MAN was the original raunchy sex comedy (without ever resorting to the vomit-inducing scatological humor of recent years), and even after 33 years it holds up fairly well. Walter Matthau plays a neurotic businessman who struggles to remain faithful to his wife while being tempted by his friend's seemingly foolproof program of sexual infidelity. Lots of one-liners and cartoonish humor, and Matthau gives us a character whom we can laugh at and identify with at the same time. One of the best sex comedies of all time, if only because the scene where Matthau is driven out onto the fire escape by a roomful of perky secretaries is ten times funnier than Jason Biggs jamming his nether regions into a baked good.

There are a lot of slams in the comments about how this film is not politically correct, or downright misogynistic. True enough, I suppose, but it isn't fair to apply today's standards to a film that is over forty years old. I was a child at that time, but a man's home really was his castle then, and yes that was definitely to the detriment of the women. But that is the way it was. So get over it. The film is a lot of fun if you don't wear the ideological blinders when you watch it. Walter Matthau is always fun to watch, and Inger Stevens was, of course, serious eye candy. There are a lot of other pretty girls in the film, and Robert Morse's character was a hoot, seeing him rationalize his lust into caring so much for his wife that he must protect HER from knowledge of his adultery. The cameo vignettes were mostly amusing as well. It is light comedy, so don't expect to roll on the floor, but I say, check it out.

A movie from a time when "mature" didn't mean graphic. The plot is right out of the buttoned-down 60's -- Walter Matthau consults with expert adulterer Robert Morse before cheating on his wife (a very sexy Inger Stevens). Robert Morse's lessons are illustrated by hilarious vignettes featuring a Who's Who of comedy stars. The Joey Bishop turn on how to handle being caught in the act -- Deny, Deny, Deny is a classic.