The Art of Love (1965 film)

The Art of Love is a 1965 comedy film starring James Garner, Dick Van Dyke, Elke Sommer, and Angie Dickinson.

The film involves an American artist in Paris (Van Dyke) who fakes his own death in order to increase the worth of his paintings (new paintings keep "posthumously" hitting the market). His conniving pal (Garner) sells the paintings and withholds the proceeds while the artist toils in a shabby garret.

Written by Richard Alan Simmons, William Sackheim, and Carl Reiner, and directed by Norman Jewison, the movie also features Carl Reiner and Ethel Merman.

Jewison noted in his autobiography that the film's flaw was that the script assumes that an artist's death guarantees a huge increase in the sales value of his paintings, which doesn't make sense in reality, and that this hurt audiences' responses to the movie enormously.

All of the paintings that were used in the movie was the artwork of international artist Don Cincone.

Plot

Struggling and starving in Paris as an aspiring artist, Paul Sloane has had enough. He wants to return home to America to resume his relationship with his rich fiancee, Laurie.

Best friend and roommate Casey Barnett tries to talk him out of it. When a beautiful woman, Nikki Donay, suddenly leaps into the river Seine to escape a man's attentions, Paul jumps in to save her. They make it to a barge, but Casey and everyone else are under the mistaken impression that neither survived.

Casey gets an idea. A dead artist's paintings could now be very valuable, particularly considering the publicity given Paul's heroic attempt to save the damsel in distress. He begins selling Paul's work, but when the artist himself reappears, very much alive, they hatch a scheme. Paul will pretend to still be dead, while continuing to produce paintings for Casey to sell.

Matters become further complicated when Laurie comes to Paris. Of all the women in all the world, Casey falls in love with her. This infuriates his best friend, resulting in Paul seeking revenge by slipping evidence to the police that Casey actually murdered him to profit from the art. Casey is tried, convicted and sentenced to death.

Cast

• James Garner .... Casey Barnett
• Dick Van Dyke .... Paul Sloane/Toulouse aka Picasso
• Elke Sommer .... Nikki
• Angie Dickinson .... Laurie Gibson
• Ethel Merman .... Madame Coco La Fontaine
• Carl Reiner .... Rodin
• Pierre Olaf .... Carnot
• Miiko Taka .... Chou Chou
• Roger C. Carmel .... Zorgus
• Irving Jacobson .... Mr. Fromkis
• Jay Novello .... Janitor

References

External links

• The Art of Love at the Internet Movie Database
• The Art of Love at the TCM Movie Database
• The Art of Love at AllMovie
• James Garner Interview on the Charlie Rose Show
• James Garner interview at Archive of American Television