To help his divorced neighbor claim a substantial inheritance, a family man poses as her husband. The ruse spills over into his career in advertising, and his recent promotion relies on his ... Read allTo help his divorced neighbor claim a substantial inheritance, a family man poses as her husband. The ruse spills over into his career in advertising, and his recent promotion relies on his wholesome and moral appearance.To help his divorced neighbor claim a substantial inheritance, a family man poses as her husband. The ruse spills over into his career in advertising, and his recent promotion relies on his wholesome and moral appearance.
- Nominated for 1 BAFTA Award
- 2 nominations total
- Howard Ebbets
- (as Michael Connors)
- Sonny Blatchford
- (as Tris Coffin)
- The Hi-Lo's
- (as The Hi-Lo's)
Storyline
Did you know
- TriviaAccording to Robert Osborne on TCM, this was a film that Jack Lemmon didn't really want to do, but by doing it he fulfilled a contract with Columbia. And, like the previous year's Under the Yum Yum Tree (1963), it stupefied Lemmon that they were both very successful films.
- GoofsThe Bissells' kitchen wall telephone moves from being mounted on the outside surface of the post to the kitchen side of the post.
- Quotes
Hertz Commercial Man: [after finally being lowered into convertible] Man, that's *real* coffee!
[in tears]
Hertz Commercial Man: Oh, noooo!
- SoundtracksLet Hertz Put You in the Driver's Seat
(uncredited)
Lyrics and Music by Richard Adler
Performed by The Hi-Los
At work, Sam gets a big promotion when the product's president wants a wholesome individual with good values to head up his account. Between that and a detective in a truck spying on both houses, Sam and Janet have to continue to pretend they're married, to Min's aggravation. Then Howard appears.
Cute comedy that is overly long and a little frantic. The premise is simple but on the flimsy side and doesn't quite come off as intended - a Rock Hudson/Doris Day type comedy. It lacks the gloss and snap of the Hudson/Day films.
Nevertheless, the performances are good. Provine, with her good figure and quirky voice, is lovely as the sometimes frustrated Min, and Romy Schneider, a huge star in Europe, is beautiful and vivacious as Janet. Sam is the type of role Lemmon could play with one hand tied behind his back. I don't imagine it was much of a challenge.
The good supporting cast includes Edward Andrews, Louis Nye, Robert Q. Lewis, Anne Seymour, and Charles Lane (who died in 2007 at the age of 102 and worked to the end).
Given the presence of "Mad Men," "Good Neighbor Sam" begs comparison between the way the advertising world is presented in both vehicles. Guess what - it's about the same! The Robinson character quotes the Bible and considers most of the people he deals with as cheating husbands with no moral values.
It was fun for me to see Provine, whom I interviewed, Nye, and Robert Q. Lewis (whom I saw on stage in The Odd Couple), none of whom I'd seen in a film for a while. Nice memories and a mildly entertaining film.
- blanche-2
- Aug 24, 2012
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Details
- Release date
- Country of origin
- Language
- Also known as
- Pozajmi mi svoga muza
- Filming locations
- Bradbury Building - 304 S. Broadway, Downtown, Los Angeles, California, USA(where Sam rents a room for access to the last sign)
- Production company
- See more company credits at IMDbPro
Box office
- Gross US & Canada
- $9,072,726
- Runtime2 hours 10 minutes
- Aspect ratio
- 1.85 : 1