Rien ne sert de courir

This film was probably launched as a "Cary Grant" vehicle, a remake of "The More the Merrier", but I suggest it is a major comedy for several other reasons. As William Rutland, peer and genial businessman and busybody, Grant is mature and good; but involving him in the housing shortage in Tokyo during the 1964 Olympics was a stroke of near-genius. Adding in the old storyline about a girl planning to marry for money and introducing the right man for her instead, in the persons of Samantha Egggar and Jim Hutton, was better, with Grant acting as matchmaker. But making Hutton a member of the US Olympic team and keeping his event a secret, adding in a comedic Russian spy, the smallness of their shared apartment which Grant sublets to Hutton after wangling his own way in, plus visiting a Japanese household of friend Miiko Taka with Eggar and fiancée John Standing, he of the "tall forehead" and boring personality, was I claim pure gold comedically speaking. Charles Walters directed this satirical comedy in breezy style, with story by Robert Russell and Frank Ross from Sol Saks' and Grason Kanin's inspired story. The cast included besides the principals George Takei as a Tokyo police officer, Ben Astar as Dimitri the bumbling Russian spy, skilled actor Teru Shimada as Taka's father, Lois Kiuchi as her mother, Ted Hartley as Yuri, Hutton's Russian fellow athlete-friend, and hundreds of others in bit parts and small roles. The very genial music for the film by Quincy Jones was low-key and delightful; Henry Mancini supplied songs also; the cinematography by Harry Stradling Sr. was lovely from start to finish; and the production designs by Joseph C. Wright were varied and serviceable through. Outstanding scenes in the narrative include I suggest the way in which Sir William's trousers keep disappearing, the attempt by Grant in underwear to enter the Olympic walking event to obtain a signature on a document from Hutton, the party where Grant suggest to a lady Russian shot putter that she put her derrière somewhere else than in his dinner, the trip to see Eggar's friends (the Kurawa family) and the police station scene, among others. This is a sometimes slick and always amusing and I find frequently very-involving story filled with characters that seem unusually real. It may have begun as a Cary Grant vehicle; but I find Hutton is brilliant, and it became despite a bit of over- lengthy presentation a classic as a romance, a comedy concerning overcrowding and a presentation of very memorable characters whose general theme is how one need to deal with life by means of honesty rather than by taking the seemingly easiest path. A favorite of many, many filmgoers, myself included.

Cary Grant-the perfect Leading Man-filmed his last movie at Columbia. The film was a remake of George Stevens classic film The More The Merrier with the incomparable Jean Arthur and Joel McCrea. Cary Grant controlled everything about his movies and cast Jim Hutton-who made all those comedies at MGM with his co star Paula Prentiss, and lovely Samantha Eggar. Cary Grant himself plays the older man played by Charles Coburn in the original film.

This film is set at the Tokyo Olympics of 1964 and the setting is terrific and Harry Stardling Jr was a great cinematographer. Directed by Charles Walters who was an MGM staff producer who did work sometimes uncredited in movies such as Cimmarron, Annie Get Your Gun, or credited such a Joan Crawford's Torch Song. No matter as Cary Grant like all mega stars such as Lucy, Sinatra ran their pictures totally.

Hutton is an interesting star. Discovered by Universal while in the US Army in Germany, he was given a 7 year contract by MGM and cast in George Peppard's The Subterreans. Hutton hit a home run co starring with gorgeous Paula Prentiss in Where The Boys Are and the duo made 3 more movies Bachelor in Paradise, The Honeymoon Machine with Prentiss and Steve McQueen, and The Horizontal Lieutenant with Prentiss. He went on a year long suspension to get out of his contract but had to film Looking For Love with Connie Francis before MGM would release Hutton. Hutton moved on to work with Lana Turner, John Wayne, Roz Russell, Bob Hope, Burt Lancaster, and Charlton Heston and his big break was this movie with Cary Grant deferring the leading man role to Hutton.

Samantha Eggar had the impossible task of starring in the female role created by the peerless Jean Arthur in the original.

Walk Don't Run made money most of which went to Cary Grant and while he was inundated with movie offers the very very rich Cary Grant retired

This movie was successful due to Cary Grant but in no way was the hit that The More The Merrier

I saw this again on TV the other night, and the sad fact is that it's a very dated, formula-driven 1960s comedy that would deservedly be forgotten except for three things:

1) If you're interested in the Olympics, it offers one of the few looks at Tokyo during the 1964 games. I'm not sure if any other films use the Tokyo games as a setting. Also, it offers a glimpse at 1960s Tokyo, which apparently no longer exists.

2) He was old and graying and his material was awful, but in many ways, this film displays the magic of the great Cary Grant. He rose above lame material one more time, and without him, this would have been unwatchable.

3) I will never forget the closing line from the original TV ads for this film: "Run, don't walk to see 'Walk, Don't Run.' " They don't make them like that anymore.

It was on TV during lockdown, nothing else on, and I was busy pottering around but got quickly drawn in. There are some absolutely masterful moments, tiny details in the acting and scripting that are reminiscent of a bygone age of film in which love honesty kindness and trust were still understood. The acting is superb throughout and they all have immense timing and patience to make it even funnier. An unexpected joy.

Cary Grant's last film is an enjoyable, albeit entirely unnecessary, remake of the classic The More The Merrier. That film starred Joel McCrea, Jean Arthur, and Charles Coburn. Grant play the Coburn role as an older man who tries to play matchmaker to a younger couple he is sharing an apartment with. The couple here are Jim Hutton and Samantha Eggar. Poor substitutes for screen legends McCrea and Arthur but both are likable. The original took place during WW2 so it used the wartime housing shortage as part of the plot. This moves things to Tokyo during the Summer Olympics in order to keep the plot intact of Grant not being able to find a room anywhere else. On the whole, it's an amusing movie but probably much less so if you've seen the original. This is pretty much a scene-for-scene remake with few changes. Grant's a rough fit for the role as it is intended but he does give it his best, using his charm and wonderful screen persona to great effect. He's certainly the best thing about the film and, at all times, my attentions were on him rather than his co-stars. Obviously I would recommend you see the classic 1943 film over this. But, if you have seen that, there's no harm in giving this one a try to see a different cast approach the same story. As far as last films of great stars goes, this could be worse. Just look at some of Grant's contemporaries and you'll see some truly sad ways to end a career. Cary wisely knew to get out while the getting was good. That's a lesson a lot of stars could still learn today.