Bob Hope seemed such a natural family man kind of star that it doesn't exactly scream "high concept" to cast him as a smooth bachelor writer who goes an does a book in suburbia. It's like fish out of water only where the fish is used to being out of water.
Once I got used to Hope in a part that really should have been played by Cary Grant or some other particular type, I didn't mind this. There are some lively lines, satire of suburban American, that glossy early 60s MGM look that I'm always a sucker for, Jack Arnold could be counted on to do a solid job no matter the project, and the delectable Paula Prentiss in the support cast in one of her four teamings with Jim Hutton.
(Prentiss is a fascinating case - everyone seemed to think she was fabulous, she was fabulous, she was given lots of roles... but she could never break through to stardom. Her part is too small - so is Hutton's.)
As if to compensate the film also stars Lana Turner, who is poor and drags the film down. I did buy her romance with Hope though - that's an odd thing to write but it's true.
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