Les astuces de la veuve

The Navy led by Commander Key Weedon (Gig Young) rushes to investigate an SOS signal coming from land. They find Navy widower Amy Martin (Shirley Jones) with three kids. The youngest one had send the signal with his imaginary friend. There is also the family's Uncle Simon Shelley (Red Buttons).

There is no romantic chemistry in this rom-com. The meet-cute is only cute for Shirley Jones and her kids. I wouldn't mind having a family-friendly misadventure with those four characters plus Red Buttons if they could have better writing. Instead, we're stuck with a stiff officer and Shirley Jones demurring into a girlie girl. It loses any hope for intensity or romantic heat. This is bland. At least the balloon ride seems fun. My one suggest for that is getting brighter colored balloons. This is desperately trying to be a family-friendly romance. Obviously, this has a lot of Navy involvement. I hope it didn't extend into the writing but I fear that's probably the case.

The 50's were great for the innocent, light, sexually tease, brand of movies. It could be Doris Day, (and normally was) or some other picturesque actress, add in a simple story of man chases woman until she catches him, and you have 90 minutes of perfectly good escape. Shirley Jones isn't new to acting, yet she has a hard time adding emotion to her words, either appearing to be too blasé or going overboard, but who cares, she looks spectacular, in short-shorts even. Without the out of focus facial look Doris insisted upon, you get to see just how beautiful Ms. Jones was and is. I still don't know what Doris looks like after seeing all her movies. Gig Young plays a smooth talking, got the world under control, Navy Commander, with the "I don't want to get married, and if I did, I want my own kids" by-line. Shirley is a widow with three boys having a "I wanna stay in one place, I'll never marry into the Navy again" by-line. You combine the two with some great character parts, Red Buttons who is always great, and Edger Buchanan who is just fun as the father-in-law, and boy's grandfather. Carolyn Jones is just plain creepy, in every movie, a perfect Adams wife, but not the best friend/sister-in- law. Eve Arden would have been wonderful. I love Gig Young, but knowing the guy *died of alcoholism, I'm starting to think part of that on-screen smoothness was due to a few scotches he knocked down in the trailer. If you can pick up a copy when it comes out in DVD do so, or catch it on TMC. Its well worth it. *Before someone feels a need to correct me, I'm aware Gig Young's life ended in a very tragic shooting (murder/suicide). To those who knew Gig, it was alcoholism that perpetuated the incident resulting in the death of his wife and then Gig's. He had been an alcoholic for more than 20 years.

I LOVE this one. It is not very widely known, but if you get a chance to see it, do! Shirley Jones is wonderful as a widowed mother of three young boys. Then she meets prince charming Gig Young and falls for him right away. Although he says he doesn't want to have a "ready-made family" the two continue dating anyway, and of course he falls for the whole family. But when Gig is transferred overseas and wants to marry Shirley and take the kids, she puts her foot down. She doesn't want to be constantly moving around the world like she was with her father then her first husband. But is mother's word final? Don't forget there are three boys who want a dad and an Uncle Cy, (Red Buttons) who are going to try every which way to get the two together! A real gem of a movie, worth seeing if you've ever liked family films, comedies, dramas, or romance.

This is one of those early 1960's movies where you have to suspend disbelief for ninety minutes, but it's well worth it. Shirley Jones is the widowed mother of three rowdy little boys and Gig Young is the naval commander that she falls in love with and vice versa. Red Buttons and Carolyn Jones are very good in their supporting roles. The ending is appropriately wacky (weather balloons!), fun and heartwarming with a little drama thrown in for good measure. 'A Ticklish Affair' is not a movie that a jaded cynic will enjoy, but if you like 60's romantic family comedies then I highly recommend this one. I happened to catch this one on Turner Classic Movies by accident and I'm so happy I taped it. I was smiling like crazy by the end. Great movie.

Perky, pretty San Diego widow with shapely legs attracts the attention of a bachelor Commander with the US Navy. The fact she has three rowdy young boys doesn't seem to bother him; rather, he's anxious to become a father to this happy brood, while the kids work overtime trying to fix Mom up with the uniformed catch. Breezy comedy with familiar ingredients seems to take place in La-La Land--a plastic paradise--wherein an unmarried man cannot come to the aid of an unmarried woman without coy romance hanging in the air. Shirley Jones (perhaps substituting for Doris Day or Debbie Reynolds) is convincing as a young mother, but she seems a bit tense with Gig Young, who looks nonplussed throughout. Better are the alternate couple, a frisky Red Buttons and Carolyn Jones. The prolonged finale--with Shirley's youngest taking off over the city by way of some helium-filled balloons--is probably the most memorable aspect of the picture, not the characters nor the love story. ** from ****