User reviews

Blacklisted writer Michael Gordon returned to Hollywood to direct such harmless diversions as this one about four bored middle-class commuters who dream of leaving their humdrum existences and revisiting their idea of a dream bachelor pad, replete with wet bar, long sofa, fantastic view, and what may be the most voluptuous idea of a mistress the Hollywood of the sixties had to offer--a sociology student doing her thesis on the sex life of the suburban male played by Kim Novak. This movie would be a drag without her. She takes her place among the best American movie sex symbol acts of that time: Gina Lollobrigida in "Come September"; Tuesday Weld in "Soldier in the Rain"; Sue Lyon in "Lolita"; Virna Lisi in "How to Murder Your Wife." It was a good year for Novak--1962. Richard Quine ("Operation Mad Ball") directed her opposite Jack Lemmon in what I think is her funniest and most mysterious performance as "The Notorious Landlady." Her best moments on screen have always been the ones where she played smart women, and Cathy and Carlyle Hardwicke are two of the smartest she's ever played.

Some films ought to be seen in the context of the era in which they were made. It's unfair, in a way, to dismiss a lot of them because they appear to be dated, or because they don't hold our attention because one can't identify with the subject which is being treated. This seems to be the case of "Boys Night Out", a mildly amusing comedy from the early 60s. Directed by Michael Gordon, it shows its age, but still, there are a lot of ingredients that show the viewer how we lived during those less complex times in this country.

"Boys Night Out" would be impossible to make in the present climate. Where could stars of the stature of Kim Novak, James Garner, Tony Randall, be found to play in it? Salaries alone would make such an enterprise impossible by today's standards, and yet, a little more than forty years ago, this sleek package was put together without much problem, or so it appears.

The film offers some rewards to the viewer that stays with it. The idea of four men getting together to rent an apartment and get a dream woman to cater to their fantasies would not be easy to do without including a lot of sex. Little do these men realize they are, in turn, being a case study for the same woman they all desire.

Kim Novak, at the height of her beauty, does a wonderful job with her Cathy. James Garner also has wonderful moments, especially playing opposite Jessie Royce Landis, who appears as his mother. Tony Randall, Howard Duff, Oskar Homolka, Zsa Zsa Gabor, Jim Backus, Fred Ward, and the rest of the cast are good in the film.

"Boys Night Out" is a comedy about male fantasy about the best of two different worlds.

This was a fun Kim Novak film I had never seen. Novak stars as a graduate student who is writing a thesis on "the adolescent sexual fantasies of the adult suburban male." She ends up being hired by four men (three married, one divorced) as a "housekeeper" in an inexpensive but very opulent and large apartment in New York City. The three married men are portrayed by Howard Duff, Howard Morris and Tony Randall. James Garner plays the divorced man. These men commute to work together from Connecticut to New York on the same train. It seems that they frequent the same bar before deciding to go back home to their respective wives. At the bar, Garner witnesses his boss (Roger Addison from Mister Ed) canoodling with his mistress. According to Garner, his boss keeps an apartment in New York where he can entertain his lady before he returns home to his wife.

The married commuter men, bored with their wives and each feeling that something is lacking in his respective relationship, begin to fantasize about having an apartment in the city where they can entertain their mistresses as well. As a joke, the three married men enlist Garner in locating a luxurious but cheap apartment. Garner goes to Peter Bowers (Jim Backus), a landlord who is anxious to rent an apartment in his building in which a murder took place. Garner is able to secure a decent price. Novak ends up answering the same ad. After informing her that the apartment has been rented, Garner offers Novak a position as a housekeeper. Much to his surprise, she accepts the position. Elated, the three husbands think that their infidelity dream is going to come to fruition. Garner isn't too keen on the prospect, and he's the only guy who is actually free!. Each of the three husbands tell a white lie to their respective wives that they are taking a course in New York City and as a result, will be spending the night away from home one night a week.

Novak takes the opportunity to conduct her research during each evening with each husband. She gets them to reveal why they're unhappy in their relationships and their feelings in general. Each of these sessions are recorded on a tape recorder. In a form of competition, the men begin to tell each other white lies about their evenings with Novak--as a result, each man thinks that the other has slept with her. Eager to keep getting good fodder for her thesis, Novak doesn't correct them. Garner, repulsed by his friends' tall tales about Novak, refuses to visit her for "his night." He finds himself genuinely falling for her.

Eventually the wives get suspicious and they seek out to find the truth behind their husbands' evenings in New York City. How does this all work out? Watch and find out.

This is very much your typical 60's pseudo-sex comedy that has one foot planted in the production code era and one foot in the budding sexual revolution. Many of them don't work well and seem antiquated today, but the talent of the players involved helps this one along. I'd recommend it.

Just looking at the lovely Kim Novak is enough for any man (or woman). She most convincingly plays her part in this comedy romp from 1962, a very dated 1962 film at that, although the premise and, really, the events, are timeless. Who can ever tire of her beauty. James Garner was so handsome in his youth as well. We also see the delightful Anne Jeffreys. I enjoyed this comedy and recommend it. It is a rather pleasant not so over the top comedy and an enjoyable film. I repeat again, whatever Kim Novak is in a movie, she brings not only her spectacular beauty but a marvelous acting ability. The dresses she wears in this movie are terribly outdated, but I recommend the movie for one and all.

Just watched this with Mom. We both liked this early '60s comedy about four men (three married, one divorced who lives with his mom) who sublet an apartment for themselves and a woman who secretly is studying the sexual habits of middle-aged men like them. It stars Kim Novak, James Garner, Tony Randall, Howard Morris, and Howard Duff. There are also many familiar character actors from various classic movies and TV shows. Silly and funny in spots but mostly pretty enjoyable for what it is. So we say Boys' Night Out is worth a look.

Boys' Night Out (1962) is one of those easy breezy comedies that comes on TCM a few times a year. I record it, watch it a few times, then delete it thinking I'll buy it, but then it comes on again to my delight:)

It's about a group of 4 men, 3 married with children and one divorced and living with his mother, who cook up a zany scheme to secure and share a NYC love pad with a young beautiful blonde to break the boredom in their lives. Little do they know, they are the subject of their ideal beautiful 25 year old blonde's own scheme, and she willingly agrees to be available for each "boys'" night out.

If you are thinking it's a love-fest, remember this was distributed in 1962, so there are lies and innuendo, but Kim Novak, in a role easily played by Doris Day just a few years before, maintains her virtue and the wives get their chance to get even. Novak shines in one of her best comedic roles. She and leading man James Garner have great chemistry. He's so handsome and hilarious at the same time. If you've never seen his comedies before his star of television days, then keep your eyes peeled for his movies. He's a charmer who always delivers a great performance. Tony Randall and Jessie Royce Landis lead the supporting cast. They always add tremendously to a picture.

This film is on the tail end of the really tastefully cute comedies, and it's a great film to enjoy when you want pure rom-com escapism. One more thing, it gets better with repeated viewings. Some new lines pop out each time that make it even more enjoyable. I didn't love it the first time as much as I have each time since.

Fred Williams (James Garner), George Drayton (Tony Randall), Doug Jackson and Howie McIllenny are friends out on the town. Three are married and Fred is divorced. Only it's another night of non-excitement. They catch the train back home and come up with the idea of sharing a love nest in the city and a single blonde. The guys make Fred rent a place. Cathy (Kim Novak) shows up looking to rent. Fred talks her into a 'companion' or 'housekeeper' job.

James Garner is great and I like that Kim Novak is playing the boys. She doesn't have the greatest of range but she's fine in this role. She tries and does well enough. The movie is much too long and it needs some more fun. The four guys are fun with their childish idiocy. It would have been great to keep that tone for the whole movie. The middle drags a little. The problem may be the gang gets inevitably split up.

Coy little foreshocks of the coming sexual revolution rumbled through Hollywood when Camelot was in sway. One of them, Boys' Night Out, is a fitfully amusing sex comedy in which (it's of course understood) there is no sex.

Four flannel-suited soldiers of commerce commute from Connecticut to work in Manhattan; three of them – Tony Randall, Howard Duff and Howard Morris – have wives and families while the fourth, James Garner, is divorced. They stay in town every Thursday, their big night out which generally consists of their sitting around nursing beers because they can't think of anything better to do.

Fast forward: They pool their allowances to share the costs of a swank bachelor pad equipped with Kim Novak (who, out of her mauve phase, looks washed out in the bold ‘60s colors she sports). They divvy up the nights of the week to play playboys. But far from the full-service playmate they expect, Novak's doing post-graduate field work in sociology. (Her thesis: `Adolescent Fantasies Among Adult Suburban Males.') She manages to keep the evenings chaste – and her research a secret – by giving the guys what they really want: a chance to bitch about the job (Randall), to potter around fixing things (Duff), to eat the foods he's deprived of at home (Morris). Only Garner wants something more, because he's fallen for her.

No flies on the three wives, however, who hire a detective to find out what their husbands are really up to in town. At this point the movie devolves into full-tilt farce, pitifully lacking in laughs. But the whole thing is dispiriting. That love-nest, for instance, in all its garish bad taste, exposes a sheltered, Hugh-Hefnerish idea of luxurious decadence. And the lives that the men try to escape from, only to return to, seem bleached of any satisfaction: they get to cut loose only on the train shuttling them from their humdrum jobs to their humdrum wives (who, meanwhile, stay home dieting and drinking). Isn't it disingenuous, then, when the movie presents its neatly wrapped resolution – everybody back home in the proper bed – as if it were the happiest of endings in the happiest of all possible worlds?

A feline and spacey Kim Novak seems to arrive from another planet in this romantic comedy from the blacklisted director of Pillow Talk. It's James Garner and Kim instead of Rock Hudson and Doris Day -- so underneath the squeaky clean froth, their clinches have just a hint of real sexual chemistry. Clever script has theatrical touches if no depth. Second bananas play their farcical roles well, especially Tony Randall.

However feast your eyes on the apartment, the height of Kennedy-era Mod; don't miss the turquoise kitchen, his-and-her bedrooms, and more.

Would make a nice double feature with the new remake of Stepford Wives. There's a happy ending (of course): The men discover 'boy's night out' is actually more fun if the women come, too. That's progress, in a tiny way.

JAMES GARNER's handsome presence adds dignity and charm to a sex farce about wannabe playboys TONY RANDALL, HOWARD DUFF and HOWARD MORRIS who want some playtime away from their wives. His natural skill as a light comic actor is sharply in focus for all the scenes where he plays opposite JESSIE ROYCE LANDIS who plays his addle-brained mother.

KIM NOVAK is the blonde dish who is doing a sex survey on American men and decides to use these men as her lab subjects. But when the men's wives find out about their hubbies' boys night out, the fur flies leading to an overly energetic scene where all hell breaks loose.

Garner and Novak are so appealing in their prime that it's easy to overlook the deficiencies of some situations, none of which are remotely credible. It doesn't help that Novak plays her role in a dreamy, trance-like manner out of sync with comedy roles. She's utterly charming but a bit out of her depth when it comes to the light touch.

Howard Duff and Howard Morris do nicely in amusing roles and Jessie Royce Landis seems to be enjoying herself immensely as Garner's overly concerned mother. But the laugh lines seem a bit forced and you can't help wishing the whole project had a brighter script. The wives are well played by Patti Page, Ann Jeffreys and Janet Blair.

There's a datedness about the sets and wardrobe that can be a bit distracting at times, but Novak is always a pleasure to look at and her chemistry with Garner is an asset.

WHY??...would any man want to "share" Kim Novak or any woman in a "love nest" with his 3 buddies?? Am I missing something. BTW, Kim looks a bit old for the role of a college student.

This delightful comedy has some great bits, especially from the four commuter buddies (particularly Tony Randall, later one-half of TV's "Odd Couple"). James Garner is excellent as usual as the one buddy who's not married and thus the default romantic lead. The gang consists of Garner, Randall, Howard Duff, and Howard Morris. The great supporting cast includes old favorites William Bendix, Oskar Homolka, Jim Backus, and Fred Clark.

The movie is silly, but there are some great lines and lots of fun along the way. The story deals with married men who feel stifled by their wives. They dream up a scheme to share a "love nest" apartment in the city, complete with a blonde. Kim Novak shows up and the plan is put into place, but the boys don't know that Kim is interested only in her secret sociological research. Nothing "happens", but the boys are too embarrassed to admit it to each other and the wives eventually draw their own conclusions. Jessie Royce Landis (NORTH BY NORTHWEST) gets special mention for her performance as Garner's mother, who rallies the three wives against their "cheating" husbands. The movie is a little racy, but only to the point of innuendo, and it's all in good fun.

There's a great running gag where the boys will be riding the train to/from work and Tony Randall will start telling this presumably raunchy story when a passing train roars by, leaving the audience to imagine what could have been said under all that noise. James Garner (THE GREAT ESCAPE, THE NOTEBOOK) has some great drunk bits, jumbling the syllables of his speech ("ti many martoonis").

Jim Backus ("Gilligan's Island", "Mr. Magoo") has a wonderful scene as an apartment owner willing to haggle his own asking price down as low as it takes to rent out a swanky flat (complete with wine rack and mirrored bedroom ceiling). Fred Clark (AUNTIE MAME) plays a private detective, a master of disguise. His character really shines in the chaotic climax, amid a cyclone of arguing spouses and flying pottery.

I've personally never been a big Kim Novak fan. Her performance here is standard, I'd say. Patti Page sings the title song and gets a rare opportunity to act, playing one of the wives.

Some among the cast are a real treat to watch. Others, not so much. There are some great witty lines, but the story is pretty flimsy and among the gags that are hits there is the occasional miss. As a film overall BOYS' NIGHT OUT falls a little short, but it is very entertaining light fare. A hidden treasure, well worth checking out if you get the chance.

(The movie airs occasionally on TCM and is available for purchase on a burn-on-demand DVD-R from the Warner Archive Collection.)

In full 1960s sex comedy splendor, this silly movie makes fun of how men turn from harmless boys to lecherous wolves just by using a three-word excuse: Boys' Night Out. Four longtime friends, three of which are married, go out for boys' night and lust after every good-looking girl who crosses their path. They long for their bachelor days and all chip in to rent an apartment for whatever affairs they might have in the future.

However, when they get the chance to put their talk into action with bombshell Kim Novak, the married men turn out to be surprisingly faithful. The lone bachelor in the group, James Garner, is free to romance the beauty, and the pair falls in love. Parts of the movie are really funny, but parts of it are dated, too. After all, any movie that celebrates the lift of the Hays censorship is bound to over-do it on the close-ups of ladies' derrieres and sex jokes. But if you don't mind those kinds of comedies, like Pillow Talk and Sex and the Single Girl, get ready for a fun-filled movie with Kim Novak, James Garner, Tony Randall, Howard Duff, Janet Blair, Zsa Zsa Gabor, William Bendix, Fred Clark, and Jim Backus.

This movie seems to have been inspired by a French sex-farce that couldn't get distribution in the still-puritan America of the 1960s.

The emerging Playboy philosophy shows its pipe-smoking spirit in its first act, followed by a second act that wished it could have pushed the boundaries but clearly didn't have the muscle or the nerve, and topped off by a third act where everyone comes together for a last gasp at laughs-by-vaudeville before a happy ending for all.

Still, it gets by, if only on the charm of its cast with Tony Randall deceiving us all with his nerd image (whoddathunk he'd be a Pop at 75?), Jim Garner Jim Garnering his way through and Kim Novak stealing every scene with her feline eyes and her strangely-prescient-Princess-Di do.

I just saw the film the other night while watching a mini-marathon of other early 60's comedies. This film is the one that stuck out in my mind as being great. This movie serves the purpose that any good movie should serve, that being it is entertaining.

With the Sexual Revolution already seeping into the culture, it was only a matter of time before it made its presence felt in Hollywood's most conservative studio, MGM. What might have come across as risque or boundary-pushing then comes off as a bit tame/passe now, but you kind of have to admire the effort, even if the status quo is reaffirmed at the end. That's just how storytelling has worked since time immemorial. For this film in particular, it teases quite well. As is the issue with many comedies, sex-related or not, the third act becomes a little too convoluted only to have an overly simple resolution. All that to say, this started out really good, but the ending was underwhelming at best. The cast and the rest of everything else was fine. Not too big on James Garner; Tony Randall, more so. It was a bit shocking for me to see Howard Morris --best known to me as Ernest T. Bass on The Andy Griffith Show-- to be playing such a buttoned-down character, but he was just as good. Kim Novak, the primary reason for me checking out this in the first place, was very attractive (as expected), and gave a decent performance. Nothing earth-shaking --the American mainstream would have to wait at least five or six years-- but suitably entertaining, just the same.

This film is quite similar to "Let's make love" by Billy Wilder starring Marilyn Monroe. Just like in that movie, the married men are so boyish one could wonder how they got married in the first place. Of course, that is part of the comedy in this "sex" farce. The contextual environment and the mentioning of the word "sex" are the only aspects that by any means are "dirty" and could have been questionable in the American cinema of the 50s. However, graphically there is nothing arousing except for a short kissing scene. Although the film starts off entertainingly and promising, it drags out way too long and the ending is nothing but corny. To that comes weak dialog without a single memorable line. I would suggest checking out the Monroe film instead, unless one is a fan of Kim Novak.

No offense to some of you, but I very seldom agree with that whole "It was a simpler time" thinking, because EVERY decade is full of people saying that about every PREVIOUS decade! (And they're probably always partly right and partly wrong.) And in a way, this movie is evidence of that - it's full of characters analyzing (and over-analyzing) subjects (like why the men want to fool around - which of course COULD BE because they just WANT TO). And of course, it's full of the whole "Men from Mars, Women from Venus" subject, and of course, "Kinsey"-type sex surveys. So as one person on the message boards (partially) says, it's a case of "The more things change...." Luckily, this movie makes light of all these things. There's a line toward the end where Jessie Royce Landis makes a reference to "the Kennedys getting elected." This always reminds me of the difference between a movie MADE in the early ' 60s and any given one SET in the early ' 60s - the latter OFTEN has Kennedy references (and many OTHER topical ones) squeezed in EDGEWISE, instead of A FEW, worked in CASUALLY, the way it's done here. Of the supporting actors, I think William Bendix had the best part, as the bartender with the friendly advice for James Garner.

Tony Randall is the ubiquitous cinematic sidekick of the 60s. Sandwiched between the Hudson & Day comedies "Lover Come Back" and "Send Me No Flowers" (and a few other films), he appears in this comedy as a bored husband, looking to kick up his heels. Joining him are Howard Duff, Howard Morris, and James Garner. They are four friends who are restless for some adventure, so they cook up a plan to share a "bachelor pad". If this sounds something like "The Apartment", which was released two years earlier, that is not surprising, but this film is more antic.

Morris, who is designed for comedy, would later play the hilarious Ernest T. Bass on The Andy Griffith Show. Garner, who had just finished with his TV series "Maverick", is the only one of the men who is unmarried. He lives with his mother, who would love to see him hitched.

The four find an apartment and a comely blonde, Cathy (Kim Novak), to play hostess. Cathy has an ulterior motive for agreeing to indulge their fantasies. It's all PG-rated fun, the kind that 60s comedies specialize in. In the end, things get out of control, in a harmlessly silly kind of way.

Watch for Patti Page, who sings the title song, as one of the wronged housewives.

The late 1950s and early 1960s had mass production of two types of films. One was rock n' roll mostly with beach parties. That sub-genre all but disappeared with the decade. The other has lasted beyond that, but only in smaller occasional numbers. It's the fluffy sub-genre in comedy-romances. Mind you, it's not the full genre of comedy-romance with films that have meaty plots, interesting stories, and/or clever scripts with lots of funny dialog.

No, this is the sub-genre of fluff. There's no danger of mental overload here, but every likelihood of brain napping. It's easy to tell these films because they have very simple plots, the endings are obvious and guessed right away, and they will be little more than slightly funny and amusing at best. In short, the only reason to watch them is for the stars who made these films for the money and to give one's brain a rest.

"Boys' Night Out" is just such a film. This film is the only one made by Kimco, Kim Novak's film company that was formed to propel her sagging career. She got some good male leads and names of the day - James Garner, Tony Randall and Howard Duff, along with some other male and female names. But the film didn't even recover its $1.5 million budget. Well, it didn't revive Novak's career, but it didn't hurt the careers of any of the other players.

Novak was a good enough actress, but outside a few good early parts she became typecast as the sultry, mysterious siren. Those roles took her just so far, and films became fewer and fewer.

It may be a stretch to give this film five stars, but the cast seemed to enjoy themselves, especially with the pandemonium in the ending. And, it was nice to see Oskar Homolka in a comedy. If this plays on TV for free, it's worth a watch during nap time. Otherwise, one should skip it.