Sex and the Single Girl (film)

Sex and the Single Girl

original theatrical poster
Directed by Richard Quine
Produced by William T. Orr
Written by Joseph Heller
Helen Gurley Brown (book)
Starring Tony Curtis
Natalie Wood
Henry Fonda
Lauren Bacall
Mel Ferrer
Music by Neal Hefti
Cinematography Charles Lang
Edited by David Wages
Distributed by Warner Bros. Pictures
Release dates
  • December 25, 1964 (1964-12-25)
Running time
110 minutes
Country United States
Language English
Box office $4,000,000 (rentals)[1]

Sex and the Single Girl is a 1964 American comedy film directed by Richard Quine and starring Tony Curtis, Natalie Wood, Henry Fonda, Lauren Bacall, and Mel Ferrer.[2][3][4][5][6]

The film was inspired by the title of the non-fiction book Sex and the Single Girl (1962) by Helen Gurley Brown.

Plot

Bob Weston works for STOP, a scandal magazine. His colleague has written a dirty article about Helen Gurley Brown, the author of a best-selling new book with advice to single women on how to deal with men, calling her a virgin. She is very offended. Due to this article, Helen has lost six appointments. Weston wants to interview her, but she refuses to see him.

A friend of Bob, Frank Broderick, has marriage issues. Bob gets an idea that could benefit both of them. He impersonates Frank to be qualified as a patient to find juicy material. He also attempts to seduce her to get more information. Helen is seen to return his affections, but resists, knowing he's married, and dates Rudy DeMeyer instead. Bob claims he's bound for a divorce, so Helen insists on meeting his wife.

By mistake, Bob persuades two women, secretary Susan and girlfriend Gretchen, to masquerade as Frank's wife. When word gets to Frank's actual wife, Sylvia, what's going on, she shows up in Helen's office as well. Frank is arrested for bigamy.

Bob has juicy material for the magazine, but has fallen in love with Helen and refuses to write it, losing his job. A chase and a comedy of errors leads to happy endings all around, Rudy even ending up with Gretchen.

Reaction

The film was a box-office hit and one of the top 20 highest grossing films of 1964.[7] Tom Milne in the Time Out Film Guide 2009 describes the film as a "[c]oyly leering comedy...graceless stuff, criminally wasting Bacall and Fonda as a couple with marital problems...with Quine's moderate flair for comedy nowhere in evidence"[8] and with "noise substituting for wit and style" according to Halliwell's Film & Video Guide.[9]

Cast

See also

References

  1. "All-Time B.O. Champs", Variety, January 3, 1968 p 25.
  2. Variety film review; December 23, 1964, page 6.
  3. WEILERA.H. (December 26, 1964). "Sex and Single Girl (1964)". The New York Times. Retrieved August 18, 2009.
  4. "Sex and the Single Girl (1964)". Rotten Tomatoes. Retrieved August 18, 2009.
  5. Paul Brenner. "Sex and the Single Girl". allmovie.com. Retrieved October 11, 2009.
  6. Erin Donovan. "Guru:Sex and the Single Girl (review)". GreenCine, LLC. Retrieved October 11, 2009.
  7. Erin Donovan (2009-01-26). "Top 20 Films of 1964 by Domestic Revenue". Box Office Report. Retrieved January 4, 2010.
  8. John Pym (ed.) Time Out Film Guide, 2009, London: Penguin, 2008, p.952
  9. John Walker (ed.) Halliwell's Film and Video Guide 2000, London: HarperCollins, 1999, p. 738

External links

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