Un dimanche à New-York

Yes, it's dated. In the early 60's New York apparently was inhabited entirely by good-looking middle-class white people, smoking was sexy (yuck), and the double standard between men and women was still in full unchallenged swing. But there's something strangely engaging and sweet about this movie, partly because New York is shown in such an innocent light, partly because the chemistry between the actors, particularly the young Jane Fonda and not-so-young Rod Taylor, is playful and endearing. At times it bumps along as it switches from the Fonda/Taylor plot line to Cliff Robertson's lovelife difficulties, but the music and the setting alone are almost enough to keep you interested. (Loved that multi-level apartment!) And the farce that ensues as Eileen's (Fonda's) brother, potential fiance and potential paramour tangle with each other is sometimes genuinely funny. I was surprised - though it has its flaws, I found the film to be a pleasant sigh from a more innocent time.

... AKA the unraveling of the motion picture production code and the sexual revolution that began in earnest in the 60s. Most films about sex in this era are pretty unwatchable today because they are trying to shock you with controversies that are long dead, and plus they take such a mechanical view of sex.

This film is different. It stars Cliff Robertson as an airline pilot, Adam, who has a swinging bachelor pad. But he also has a 22 year old sister (Jane Fonda), Eileen, who thinks she is the last virgin in New York. After breaking up with her boyfriend she goes out in search of a stranger with which to lose her virginity. She finds a likely candidate, but then she finds out that in 1963 lots of men don't mind being the second guy, but their Victorian values reveal themselves when they discover they are about to be the first.

And Adam's swinging 60s libertine view of sex? That becomes "not with my sister you don't!" when he discovers Eileen's plan. If you ever want to know what things were like on the dating scene when women still had no real career paths and were expected to quit those jobs anyways and be housewives when they married , just as all of that was about to change, watch this film. Plus it has some of the finest actors of the era who are mainly known for drama in a very funny comedy.

Was Jane Fonda really this young? In this coy 1963 sex farce written by comedy veteran Norman Krasna (Alfred Hitchcock's "Mr. and Mrs. Smith", "Indiscreet"), she plays Eileen Tyler, a 22-year-old girl from Albany paying an unexpected visit to her airline pilot brother Adam in the Big Apple. She is reeling from a fight with her fiancé Russ who is giving her undue pressure to put out before they marry. Adam assures her that waiting for the wedding night is the right thing to do and then deceives her into thinking he is doing the same. Naturally, he turns out to be a womanizer planning to shag his girlfriend that day. Feeling like the only virgin in the world, Eileen meanwhile engages in a flirtation with a reporter named Mike Mitchell. Complications ensue with mistaken identities and morality questions thrown in to make the plot more interesting.

As if you couldn't tell from the swinging title tune sung by Mel Torme, the film is an idealization of early-1960's Manhattan single life that merely toys with the idea of premarital sex well before the concept of free love came into vogue. Guided by TV director Peter Tewksbury, there is a mechanical sitcom feel to the proceedings, but the real NYC locations help and the three leads are game players. Fonda is adorably adroit in a preview of her bouncier work in "Barefoot in the Park", and Cliff Robertson plays Adam's double-standard hypocrisy with agility. However, it's Rod Taylor, fresh from filming Hitchcock's "The Birds", who shines the most as Mike in a deft turn. Jazz pianist and composer Peter Nero supplies the loudly intrusive soundtrack. This film (released just a week before JFK's assassination) has yet to make it to DVD.

One of the best romantic comedies I've ever seen. Jane Fonda has just been dumped because she wouldn't have sex before marriage and decides to spend a week in New York to forget her problems. She meets a guy on a bus and before long they're having coffee together. One thing leads to another and they're in her brother's apartment in bathrobes and her ex walks in! He assumes the guy is Jane Fonda's brother, and that's when the movie starts getting incredibly funny. It's like a screwball comedy with Cary Grant, and played very well by all the actors. Her real brother ends up playing someone else. Rod Taylor is really charming and cute and the brother is hilarious with a whole other subplot concerning his girlfriend and how all of their dates fall through. I'd never heard of this movie until it was on TCM and I'm surprised it's not more well-known. A real hidden gem, highly recommended!

If you're looking for a perfectly dated view of premarital sex, you'll be hard-pressed to find another gem like Sunday in New York. Jane Fonda, in a totally adorable role, plays a conflicted "beginner". She's refused to sleep with her boyfriend, Robert Culp, and in her confusion, seeks refuge with her airline pilot brother, Cliff Robertson. Cliff assures her that being a virgin isn't a bad thing and that he himself doesn't sleep around. Of course, he's desperately trying to sleep with his girlfriend, Jo Morrow, and hides that from Jane. To top it all off, Jane meets Rod Taylor and decides to pretend she's more experienced than she actually is.

Adapted from Norman Krasna's hit Broadway play, this 1960s romantic comedy is just that: romantic and hilarious. Jane's comic timing is always great. "In movies, this is where the screen usually goes dark," she says when Rod's kisses make it clear he wants to take things further. When he finally learns she's a virgin, he slams on the brakes. He doesn't want to be responsible for ruining her reputation, and Jane finds his reasoning absurd. He wouldn't have any hesitation in sleeping with her if, say, in a week's time she'd already had a lover. "Call me next week!" she shouts, frustrated that her innocence is off-putting.

It's really a very cute movie, but women's libbers out there will probably hate it. You're better off watching The Electric Horseman or The China Syndrome; Jane is in a strong, feminist role in those movies. In Sunday in New York, she's cute as a button, but not the most liberated tool in the shed. I loved her in this one, and found her just as visually and comically adorable as she was in Barefoot in the Park.