Um Domingo em Nova York

If you're one of those shallow enough to complain, as another reviewer does, when a film "betrays it's Broadway roots," you're probably not sophisticated enough to appreciate the very real pleasures of a film like Sunday IN NEW YORK where the lines in the screenplay actually contribute enormously to the enjoyment of the film. While not quite as well crafted as the classics of the genre, Neil Simon's BAREFOOT IN THE PARK or Jean Kerr's MARY, MARY, Sunday IN NEW YORK benefits enormously from Norman Krasna crafting the screenplay from his own successful Broadway play.

Krasna is, in fact, prescient in several of his lines where he acknowledges that "in the future" people will take these things more in their stride - at least to the extent of premarital sex at the age of these characters - but while the age of experience may have shifted, the frustrations and anxieties of initiation probably never will and following "innocent" Jane Fonda, her protective but experienced brother, Cliff Robertson and the object of her temptation, Rod Taylor, through these beautifully filmed 105 minutes will provide not only enormous fun for those grownup enough to enjoy the ride without explosions and chase scenes (actually, there are a couple of those!) but a wonderful window on how we viewed our sex lives only a few years ago.

Sunday IN NEW YORK may be on a craft level of Neil Simon's first Broadway (and film) hit, COME BLOW YOUR HORN, but Krasna had been providing satisfying works for both Hollywood (WIFE VS. SECRETARY, MR. AND MRS. SMITH, WHITE Christmas) and Broadway (DEAR RUTH, KIND SIR) for decades before Simon started, and this represents some of his best comedy writing. It's a second tier joy. Consider making it a "flying double feature" (Robertson plays an airline pilot with TWA which is complicating HIS sex life) with the British BOEING BOEING, and you've got a great Sunday's escape in any city you please. Solid literate fun.

After growing up with Peter Nero's soundtrack (sparkling piano playing), I FINALLY got to see this movie on TCM, and it was worth the wait. The leads, male and female, are a feast for the eyes (oh, to be a young swinger back then...) in a simple story that takes place during one day. The lead theme, of Fonda and Taylor meeting and spending part of the day together, and the consequences, is well-matched with a funny subplot that has Robertson (as Fonda's brother) and his lady-love trying to schedule some quality time together. Culp's Pepsodent smile has to be seen to be believed. Entertaining, lighthearted film.

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!

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.

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.