The Art of Love

Pretty mid-1960s sex comedy set in Paris, filmed on Universal's back lot, but extremely well faked. It's a rather dark-hearted farce about two buddies, an artist (Dick Van Dyke) and writer who doesn't write much (James Garner) who fake Van Dyke's death to raise the price of his paintings. That in itself is pretty tired satire, and it gets more tired when we're introduced to the two men's ladies, a suicidal local girl (Elke Sommer) and Van Dyke's wealthy fiancee (Angie Dickinson), who faints a lot and gets passed between the two guys like a soda. There's also a cabaret-owner-and-probable-madam (Ethel Merman in a series of bizarre wigs), a Jewish deli owner (Irving Jacobson), a fervent private investigator (Pierre Olaf), and a fair amount of slapstick. Van Dyke's expert and does some cute pratfalls; Garner, playing a real rotter, is atypically shrill and charmless. Dickinson hasn't much to offer but a series of eye-popping fashions, and Sommer is unaffected and delightful. A few laughs, but Carl Reiner and Norman Jewison, having recently delivered "The Thrill of It All," were capable of far better.

I wasn't aware of this movie when it was initially released and probably didn't see it for several years after it came out when I saw it on TV. This is a bright, witty charming movie loaded with a talented cast in James Garner, Dick Van Dyke, Angie Dickenson, Elke Sommer, Ethel Merman, Carl Reiner and a lot of great character actors. I've only seen this a few times as it doesn't seem to get much air time on TV and I don't know why because this is a funny movie. Norma Jewison directs this forgotten gem. It's a good escapist romantic comedy and gives Van Dyke a lot of room to display his comedic skills. James Garner hold the whole thing together. If it shows up on TV again sometime try to check it out, some good comedy situations here. I would give this an 8 on a scale of 10 and recommend it.

Theowinthrop: "There is also a short story by Mark Twain entitled "IS HE DEAD?" about a plot to make a reputation for a prominent 19th Century artist, Gustave Courbet, by him pretending to be dead, and his paintings being sold for larger and larger amounts of cash so that the still living Courbet and his friends make a huge profit." It was Millet, the artist responsible for THE GLEANERS and other works, who faked his death in order to raise the value of his art. Twain later turned the scam into a play, IS HE DEAD?, which finally got discovered in 2002 and produced on stage in 2007.

That said, THE ART OF LOVE has long been one of my "Favorite Films I Haven't Seen in a Long Long Time." The lack of video release is depressing. Hopefully Universal will start a cable movie channel dedicated to its own films, much like Fox Movie Channel (a great place to see long-forgotten flicks like PRUDENCE AND THE PILL).

This one needs to be out on DVD, with all the violent stuff Hollywood is putting out nowadays, this needs to come out so that we can laugh again. As one other poster commented, PLLLLLLEEEEEEEEEAAAAAAASSSSSSSEEEEEEEEEEE! get this one out. Dick Van Dyke is just hilarious and the way he gets back at his long time friend James Garner is terrific. They don't come up with plots like this in Hollywood anymore. I hope more people can get their votes out on this fabulous movie. Its one of the classics that has been forgotten again, just like some of Danny Kayes classics like "KNOCK ON WOOD" or "MERRY ANDREW" or Bob Hope's "OFF LIMITS".

What a cute movie! I thought it was going to be enormously silly, but I ended up really liking The Art of Love and laughing all the way through. Dick Van Dyke and James Garner seem to really enjoy playing up their comic elements, and their energies balanced each other well. With the romantic setting of Paris as its backdrop, the movie can take off on any number of ridiculous situations and it doesn't even feel ridiculous.

Dick is a starving artist, renting a room from his pal James. When they get drunk and muse about how if Dick committed suicide, his paintings would sell like hotcakes. Dick falls in the river, James can't find him, and the hypothetical appears to have come true. All of a sudden, his paintings do sell like hotcakes! But Dick has to stay hidden, so he seeks refuge in a burlesque run by Ethel Merman. As he battles his attraction to new employee Elke Sommer, James falls for Dick's fiancé, Angie Dickinson.

Believe it or not, that's the simple version of the plot. This Carl Reiner screenplay is very funny, with jokes around every corner and surprises no matter how much you think you know what's going to happen. The humor is a perfect element of tongue-in-cheek, obvious set-ups, and classic situational comedy. There's even a throwback to A Tale of Two Cities with the crazy old lady crying "guillotine!" Try this one out if you like the two leads, even if you think it might be too silly. It won't be, and it'll keep you laughing from start to finish.