Les astuces de la veuve

I LOVE this one. It is not very widely known, but if you get a chance to see it, do! Shirley Jones is wonderful as a widowed mother of three young boys. Then she meets prince charming Gig Young and falls for him right away. Although he says he doesn't want to have a "ready-made family" the two continue dating anyway, and of course he falls for the whole family. But when Gig is transferred overseas and wants to marry Shirley and take the kids, she puts her foot down. She doesn't want to be constantly moving around the world like she was with her father then her first husband. But is mother's word final? Don't forget there are three boys who want a dad and an Uncle Cy, (Red Buttons) who are going to try every which way to get the two together! A real gem of a movie, worth seeing if you've ever liked family films, comedies, dramas, or romance.

A Ticklish Affair has Shirley Jones as a Navy widow with three small boys who isn't sure that she wants to marry someone in the service again. And having sons Billy Mumy, Bryan Russell, and Peter Robbins in tow might scare anyone away in the service or not.

But Commander Gig Young is a persistent courter and I'm sure you can see where this nice family film is going. The film boasts some nice location cinematography in and around San Diego, especially of the San Diego zoo.

The climax of the film the rescue of young Peter Robbins from a most dangerous predicament is quite well done.

Add Edgar Buchanan, Carolyn Jones, and Red Buttons to the mix and you've got a nice film for the kids.

I wondered how this movie with Gig Young, Shirley Jones, Red Buttons, and Carolyn Jones could only rate 2 stars out of 4 on my TV's guide. Then I saw the last 20 minutes. The movie had the stars and the start of a decent premise and then was ruined by ridiculousness in the last 20 minutes. They must have thrown some serious money at the 4 stars to get them to buy into this one. I can't see that it's ever been released to home video, so that should be a key indicator. It's that disappointing.

This is one of the very few movies where Gig Young gets the girl. The casting for this movie was excellent with Carolyn Jones and Red Buttons, along with Edgar Buchanan. Shirley Jones is beautiful, as always. It is rarely shown on tv now, but if you happen to see it appear, be sure to tape it. I have it and watch it often, just for the good feelings it gives me. As a Naval officer, Gig Young is very good, acting as the protective, loving man. Red Buttons, as always, plays his part with great skill, making the movie just that much more enjoyable. I also liked the names of the characters, as they were unusual (Cy, Tandy, Key) and suited the persons who played them. Wonderful movie for a happy, contented evening's worth of watching.

The 50's were great for the innocent, light, sexually tease, brand of movies. It could be Doris Day, (and normally was) or some other picturesque actress, add in a simple story of man chases woman until she catches him, and you have 90 minutes of perfectly good escape. Shirley Jones isn't new to acting, yet she has a hard time adding emotion to her words, either appearing to be too blasé or going overboard, but who cares, she looks spectacular, in short-shorts even. Without the out of focus facial look Doris insisted upon, you get to see just how beautiful Ms. Jones was and is. I still don't know what Doris looks like after seeing all her movies. Gig Young plays a smooth talking, got the world under control, Navy Commander, with the "I don't want to get married, and if I did, I want my own kids" by-line. Shirley is a widow with three boys having a "I wanna stay in one place, I'll never marry into the Navy again" by-line. You combine the two with some great character parts, Red Buttons who is always great, and Edger Buchanan who is just fun as the father-in-law, and boy's grandfather. Carolyn Jones is just plain creepy, in every movie, a perfect Adams wife, but not the best friend/sister-in- law. Eve Arden would have been wonderful. I love Gig Young, but knowing the guy *died of alcoholism, I'm starting to think part of that on-screen smoothness was due to a few scotches he knocked down in the trailer. If you can pick up a copy when it comes out in DVD do so, or catch it on TMC. Its well worth it. *Before someone feels a need to correct me, I'm aware Gig Young's life ended in a very tragic shooting (murder/suicide). To those who knew Gig, it was alcoholism that perpetuated the incident resulting in the death of his wife and then Gig's. He had been an alcoholic for more than 20 years.