University of Virginia Library

CINEMA

They Call This Film A Comedy?

By Paul Chaplin
Cavalier Daily Staff Writer

What would happen if, alter
Rock Hudson married Doris Day,
Gina Lolabrigida entered the scene?
That's what Universal Studio's "I
Love My Wife" resembles on its
surface: an updating of Universal's
sex comedies of the early sixties.
Unfortunately, there isn't much
comedy, nor is the film a success.

In the credit sequence, director
Mel Stuart presents the
mother-dominated adolescence of
Richard Burrows. His name should
be Portnoy, especially when Master
Burrows grows up to be horny Dr.
Burrows, played by Elliott Gould.
These opening scenes are the
funniest parts of the film, but in a
sick way; it's not really funny, but
look what they're doing on the
screen these days! We're shocked
and surprised into laughter.

Robert Kaufman's script is
frequently meritorious in individual
scenes and in some character
creations. Dr. Burrows is an
intriguing figure, whereas his wife
Jody is a poor caricature. The
script, I feel, needed tightening and
some more background information
about how Burrows came to marry
Jody, or at least how they met and
what their courtship was like

Gould's Possibilities

Gould's performance is quite
good. He doesn't mug as much as
he did in "Getting Straight," and he
seems to have better control over
his character than he's had before. I
believe if he is directed by someone
with a forceful yet guiding hand, he
may develop into a more versatile
actor.

Brenda Vaccaro has some fine
moments as Jody. She is amusing as
she screams at her husband while
attempting to drown herself by
plunging into a pool while wearing
a flannel nightgown and her mink
coat. Angel Tompkins plays Helone,
an actress and Burrows' mistress, in
a manner suited for this character,
namely as an icy, demanding bitch.

Stuart's direction bothered me
quite a bit, in that his film looks
more like a product for a television
"world premiere." There is one
fairly interesting scene, however.
Gould and Tompkins are opposite
each other during a conversation.
Stuart pans from one to the other
as they talk, in what I guess is
supposed to show their relationship
is doomed since they can't even get
together in the same frame. That's
not a bad idea, but for it to be
effective, if that's what it's meant
to convey, there should have been
more imagination used throughout
the rest of the film.

"Sick Humor"

"I Love My Wife," like "Diary
of a Mad Housewife," tries to be a
serious examination of modern
marriage, disguised as a comedy. In
these films, Gould, Vaccaro, and
Richard Benjamin (in "Housewife")
are all mentally sick people, but
conceived as pitiful caricatures.
There is, again, a gross or "sick"
type of humor in the films.

In both, the endings leave us
empty and frustrated. There was a
ray of hope that Carrie Snodgress
would lead a better life as a
housewife, but we know Gould will
never abandon hopping from bed to
bed. If "I Love My Wife" had more
substance, we could accept this
ending, and the film. Instead, we
come damn close to being bored.

(Now at the Paramount)