University of Virginia Library

"Barefoot In The Park"

Movie Has Sparkle, Light Humor

By Davis Howard

"Barefoot in the Park" opened
Wednesday at the Paramount, and
this is one movie that keeps the
audience rolling in the isles all
through the pathos and fun of an
attractive couple adjusting to the
rigors of married life. This latest
Hal Wallis production is based on
the Broadway hit be Neil Simon,
who also wrote the hilarious
screenplay.

The most acute problem to which
Paul Bratter must adjust himself
is the innate nuttiness of his wife
Corie. Off to work one morning,
Paul steps on the elevator at the
Plaza, surrounded by men and
women of unquestionable propriety
and affluence. He strikes a
pose of according dignity when
Corie sneaks up in the top half
of his pajamas, smiles, turns her
hips just so, and purrs. "Thank
you, Mr. Dooley. Next time you're
in New York, just call me up."
The elevator door closes on a most
agonized Mr. Bratter.

On the other hand, Corie is
perplexed by Paul's stuffiness. She
just can't understand why he won't
join her in walking "barefoot in
the park," when the thermometer
reads a mere seventeen degrees.
For her marriage simply means
saying, "I love you and I'm very
sexy," and while this is not a bad
foundation for eternal bliss true
love requires something more
stable. Happily, all the confusion
comes to an end when Corie takes
her mother's advice and gives a
little of herself to make the marriage
go.

The Cast

The cast is superbly headed by
Robert Redford and Jane Ronda,
who won notoriety in her last epic,
Hurry Sundown. Miss Fonda
makes an art of handling herself
well in a semi-nude state, which is
a talent that must come easily
for one so graciously endowed by
nature. She is also a very talented
actress, who delivers her lines with
a warmth that strikes the viewer
as both sincere and believable.
Miss Fonda's performance as
Corie must inevitably be compared
to an earlier and similar role she
played in Tennessee Williams's
The Period of She has
matured since doing
the Williams comedy of that
"period of adjustment," which all
newlyweds experience. Her sense
of the comic has deepened and her
stage presence and her awareness
of meaning in lines has improved.

Robert Redford has admirably
tackled a role that is very foreign
to his nature. Mr. Redford is an
individualist and a man who adheres
to the outdoor life of a
remote area of Utah, while the role
of Paul Bratter requires him to be
a sophisticate, devotedly conforming
to the part of a successful
young lawyer. He plays his part
adeptly, as well he should, for it
was he who created the role on
Broadway.

Mildred Natwick, another member
of the Broadway cast, recreates
the role of Mrs. Banks,
Corie's mother, for the film. She
is perhaps the most lovable and
laughable character in the whole
show, drawing laughter from the
moment when she collapses in her
son-in-law's arms after climbing
five flights of stairs to the Bratter's
one-room flat. Miss Natwick,
already adjusted to the whims of
her daughter, is the stabilizing element
of the film. She, along with
Redford, represents normalcy
fighting a brand of youthful gaiety
found in Carie and Velasco. Although
Miss Natwick is much more
at home on Broadway than in
front of the camera, she readers
her role with zest and vigor.

Boyer The Eccentric

Charles Boyer, as Victor
Velasco, the attic dweller who lives
above the Bratter's apartment,
shuns his matinee idol image to
become a slovenly-dressed eccentric
who harbors an affinity
for Albanian restaurants on Staten
Island. Nevertheless, he does
manage to date with Mrs. Banks,
who is suffering from her loneliness
to the loss of her only
daughter to the bonds of matrimony.

From a technical standpoint,
the production is quite adequate,
though hardly brilliant. Gene Saks
direction, perhaps colored somewhat
by Mike Nichol's treatment
of the subject on Broadway, is
always up to par. Neal Hefti's
score fits in well with the mood
of the comedy. The photographers,
costumers, and set designers have
all done a most competent job.

The largest flaw in the flick
stems from the fact that one occasionally
seems to be watching
a photographed stage, rather than
the interior of a New York apartment,
but this comes only
rarely.

At any rate, Barefoot in the
Park is a must for this weekend.