Gazebo

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.

Poor Glenn Ford, talk about problems! His wife is being blackmailed, and his friend, the local district attorney, would like to bed her, and is not shy about showing it. Then there's the problem of disposing of the body of the blackmailer, who he's shot, after luring him to his home. Later he discovers he's killed the wrong man! All this very, very frustrating. I particularly enjoyed the scene where Ford's calling a list of acquaintances and asking various women if they'd seen their husbands ... that is, lately? Seeing the relieved look on his face as the replies came back, yes, was pretty funny. But, this is a comedy so all works out fine at the end. I gave it a *7* -- could have picked an *8*

I remembered this movie from when I would sit on my moms lap and watch Sunday afternoon movies with her. I remembered it being funny when I was 5 and watched it when I was 40....It is still a great tribute to what Ford can do...So funny...and Debbie was so great, and Reiner at his best..Just see it and enjoy.

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? :)

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