Gazebo

Glenn Ford is the producer of a television mystery series who attempts to protect his Broadway star wife (Debbie Reynolds) from a blackmailer--and decides to eliminate the blackmailer via a murder plot suggested by his own series. The result is a comic chaos involving a couple of gangsters, a peculiar pigeon, and the gazebo his wife is having built on their country property.

Based on the play of the same name, THE GAZEBO strives for a mix of broad farce, screwball comedy, and sprightly sophistication--and by and large brings it off quite well. I have never been a great fan of Glenn Ford, but he manages both the broad physical comedy and the clever dialogue of this film with equal ease. Debbie Reynolds is also quite good in the role of the stage-star wife, and she and Ford have a surprisingly successful chemistry. Although the humor is more smile-and-chuckle than laugh-out-loud, THE GAZEBO is a well made, well acted, and quite enjoyable. Recommended.

Gary F. Taylor, aka GFT, Amazon Reviewer

7 out of 10

Fun time filler involving Ford and his attempts at murdering a blackmailer and then burying the body underneath a newly constructed gazebo.

Nothing profoundly exceptional here, but it is genuinely and consistently offbeat. There are some good laughs and a couple of uniquely comical moments. Ford and his rather timid delivery really carries the picture. In many ways he was much better at comedy than drama and this film not only proves it, but takes full advantage of it. The very nervous way he proceeds with the murder is a real riot alone. The very high strung way he tries to direct a live on air broadcast, that is shown at the beginning of the film, is not only funny but completely on target.

Their are a lot of twists and turns here and they all become much quicker in pace near the end. None of it is predictable. The best sequence may actually be the one involving a pigeon named Herman. Also don't miss the comment by the police chief at the very end as he is leaving the house.

Reiner adds good energy in support playing a lawyer that never stops deliberating. Character actor McGiver is pretty good also playing against type. Usually he plays very stuffy type characters who enjoy pontificating. Here he plays a gruff laborer who speaks sparingly.

This movie didn't win any awards. I'm not sure how much the critics liked it. But I enjoyed this comedy. Glenn Ford is great as a nervous guy who gets mixed up in murder. Debbie Reynolds (better known for "Singin' in the Rain") is also great in this movie. And any movie with Carl Reiner, you know it's gotta be hilarious. I really enjoyed this movie. I don't know if it's on VHS, but if it comes on TCM again, it's worth watching.

It's a good movie and I was surprised at several points but I wouldn't have been if I'd read the reviews so please be more considerate of others who still want the same experience you had when you first saw it.

I was impressed by the intelligence of this movie. What mystery writer doesn't think how he or she would handle things in real life? The physical comedy was excellent. I knew Reynolds was that good but Ford was a revelation. The costars were wonderful and always engaging when they were on screen. Because we later saw so many of them on TV shows this movie has a rather made-for-TV air about it, if those were this high in quality. And dragging in Hitchcock was terrific. What more could a mystery writer ask for in his own murder plot?

Not the best movie I've ever seen but a lot of fun. How would YOU get rid of a body? :)

Pigeon-rescuing TV showrunner Elliott Nash (Glenn Ford) is under tremendous stress. His wife Nell (Debbie Reynolds) is a star stage performer. Their district attorney friend Harlow Edison (Carl Reiner) has plenty of suggestions for Elliott's show. Elliott asks Harlow about a blackmail scheme for his show. In reality, he's actually being blackmailed with 18 year old Nell's nude pictures unbeknownst to her. She's excited about her latest purchase, an old gazebo.

The light comedic tone is an odd choice for a story about blackmail and murder. A more fitting choice would be a dark comedy. There is a difference between the two and this movie is solidly on the lighter weight side. It doesn't help with the creepy nudie pics McGuffin. The movie starts with Debbie Reynolds doing light comedy and transitions with Glenn Ford doing full-on Stooges slapstick. I'm not fully against it but this light tone doesn't really fit. It's an oddity. It's like a platypus. It's weird but it actually exists and thrives somewhere in the world.