Petit Guide pour mari volage

Some background - Walter Matthau's character is a successful man who loves his wife (Inger Stevens) - she is attractive, she and Matthau still do things together and get along. She is prime rib, but no man wants to eat prime rib for 50 years.

So a "A Guide for the Married Man" is exactly what the title indicates. On one level, it is a hilarious comedy in which a philanderer (Robert Morse) senses his friend's (Walter Matthau) restlessness, and then proceeds to school him on how to commit adultery safely. Each principle is illustrated by a skit performed by other comedians of the time.

On another level, it actually provides sage advice for anyone thinking about getting a little on the side. That sage advice is, in the words of Micky Rourke in 1981's "Body Heat" about a completely different subject - "This is not (stuff) for you to be messin' with. Are you ready to hear something? I want you to see if this sounds familiar: any time you try a decent crime, you got fifty ways you're gonna (mess) up. If you think of twenty-five of them, then you're a genius... and you ain't no genius."

So this film is not as trapped in 60's sexual mores as other films of the decade, because married men will always want to rent a house at the beach now and then although that does not mean they want to sell their house in the suburbs and disrupt their way of life. Probably making wives nervous for over fifty years, this is a 60s film still worth seeing.

Gene Kelly, who directed this film, was a man that understood clearly timing and movement, as his distinguished career demonstrates. Being behind the camera gives him the opportunity to have his players to put into practice some of his ideas and the result is a film that is a lot of fun and doesn't appear too dated.

What Mr. Kelly accomplished with this film was bringing together two charismatic performers at the top of their form. Walter Matthau had been seen in lots of supporting roles before, but as Paul Manning, the bored husband looking for ways of having fun on the side, he is wonderful. The same could be said about Robert Morse, who had been on the New York stage and in other movies. Mr. Morse makes a fantastic contribution with his take of Ed Stander, the man who knew about how to go after the women he wanted without regard of the consequences.

Ed Stander puts a bug in Paul Manning's brain about how to have fun away from home. The only thing is, Paul is a man with a normal marriage with an adoring wife, who would not even contemplate in reciprocating what he is trying to do if he follows Ed's advice.

The other amazing thing in the film is the different vignettes that are seen throughout the movie. Some of the best and most accomplished actors working in Hollywood have a small part in cameo appearances that illustrate points that Ed would like Paul to put into practice. This way we get to see actors of the caliber of Lucille Ball, Art Carney, Jack Benny, Joey Bishop, Louis Nye, Jayne Mansfield, Phil Silvers, and others playing the dream-like sequences.

"A Guide for the Married Man" is a film worthy of our time since it takes us back to a more innocent period. Thanks to Mr. Kelly's inspired direction, the film will always be a favorite of mature fans.

How to cheat your wife without the danger that she ever notices it? That's the big issue for the friends that are surrounding Walter Matthau who thought that loving his wife is the sole thing on earth that counts even if there are other parts of the body that says it differently. Well it's called a sexcomedy but mind you this is as friendly as cinema from the sixties can get but it works brilliant and not in the least because of Walter's great performance.

Walter Matthau has great fun in his role of a husband experiencing the "seven-year itch" who tries to learn the ropes of philandering by a co-worker buddy and expert adulterer (Robert Morse). Aided and abetted by a host of guest stars in flashback who offer the "do's" and "don't's" of extramarital affairs, our novice soon learns that cheating is a serious and very technical business. One misstep or a brief lapse of judgment...and it can be curtains for Casanova.

Matthau manages to keep the potentially smarmy material light and engaging while Morse is wickedly humorous as the no-nonsense "big brother." Of the numerous cautionary "lessons" offered by the guest stars, Joey Bishop, Ann Morgan Guilbert, Terry-Thomas and Jayne Mansfield manage to grab the biggest yuks in their brief scenes.

The irony of it all is that the late Inger Stevens, who plays Matthau's wife, is a spectacularly beautiful dish who, in my mind, has it all over the bump-and-grind shennanigans of Sue Ane Langdon and/or tawdry allure of Elaine Devry. Why Matthau's character would even consider cheating on the best looking femme in the picture is beyond me.

Nevertheless, relax and enjoy these comedy pros at work, guided by the assured hand of dancer-turned-director Gene Kelly.

If you think four teenage guys trying to "score" before prom night is funny, wait'll you see the hilarious lengths married men go to philander successfully! A GUIDE FOR THE MARRIED MAN was the original raunchy sex comedy (without ever resorting to the vomit-inducing scatological humor of recent years), and even after 33 years it holds up fairly well. Walter Matthau plays a neurotic businessman who struggles to remain faithful to his wife while being tempted by his friend's seemingly foolproof program of sexual infidelity. Lots of one-liners and cartoonish humor, and Matthau gives us a character whom we can laugh at and identify with at the same time. One of the best sex comedies of all time, if only because the scene where Matthau is driven out onto the fire escape by a roomful of perky secretaries is ten times funnier than Jason Biggs jamming his nether regions into a baked good.