Customer Reviews

Boys' Night Out [VHS]

5 star:		(5)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

BOYS NIGHT OUT is finally available remastered on DVD. Pillow Talk has had more said about it and its social reflection then this little gem from the same director. This is the era when Playboy magazine and "The Pill" were becoming major influences on the so-called Sex Revolution in the US. Boys Night Out is a sex comedy that is very much tied to this time, which in this case quickly dates it but that is true of most comedy. Next to Pillow Talk, I personally feel Boys Night Out is the better film. With Boys Night Out we just have more fun - the writing is better, the directing/editing is tighter and the cast is superb. And what a cast, you can't go wrong with Kim Novak and James Garner and the many supporting actors are Hollywood's best. Note: The title song's clever lyrics were written by the great Sammy Cahn and sung by cast member Patti Page. So set your sexual mores back to 1962 and sit back and enjoy this light romp of lust and love. Recommended!

There were a lot of humorous surprises in this movie. For starters, James Garner lives with his mother and is a nerdy weather buff! Then there's Kim Novak, who takes to the role of a seductress with aplomb, only a minute after she arrives for what she thought was an apartment inspection. The 1950s-style paternalism all the men dish out to Novak in spite of their lurid extramarital fantasies is downright charming. I give this movie two thumbs up, and am sure you will too.

Fred, Doug, George, and Howie (James Garner, Howard Duff, Tony Randall, and Howard Morris) Share the commuter train daily to and from work. On Wednesdays they spend the night at Slattery's bar, away from home and family, until the 11:35 commuter train. Fred's boss spends Wednesday nights out in his "home away from home."

One day Howie confiscates a copy of Playmate magazine from his son's lunch box. This gives the commuters an idea.

Kim Novak (Cathy) is a sociologist who finds a perfect setup for applied research. Now before you cover your kid's eyes, it is not that type of movie. In fact, every time a juicy story starts, some train comes by and all we get is the punch line. It must be an educational movie as the husbands tell their wives that they signed up for classes at "The new School for Social Research." I looked it up and the school is real. One class is "creative accounting"

Be sure to look at the cast list. It is fun to try to remember other movies that they were in.

What does every man wish for? A place in town that his wife doesn't know about where he can spend his "leisurely" time. James Garner is the single man who rents the apartment for his 3 married friends, which also comes with a blond babe, Kim Novak. You can imagine the hilarity that ensues when the wives find out about the apartment and the blond! and Garner begins to hate his friends as they spend time with Novak, whom he's beginnig to fall for. This is a 1962 movie when innocence was still fasionable. This is just plain fun!

This is a lesser known sex comedy from the 60's with Kim Novak and James Garner, in good comic form, ably supported by fine character actors in both major and minor roles; the script is pretty much from the same design mold of the Rock Hudson/Doris Day comedies. This is especially apparent with Tony Randall on hand playing an almost identical role to the ones he played in those comedies. Lots of "will they tumble into bed when they shouldn't?" and "how will the hero actually get the girl?" questions are posed, and settled without too much concern for realistic logic by the fadeout. Sets and colors used are rich and very 60's in design, and Novak's graduate school character sports a wardrobe, even Novak might have had trouble affording, but that is also typical of these films. Even today I would like to have an apartment that nice! Park your critical thinking at the door and settle back for a fun ride though; it's a good cast and they deliver the laughs.

"Boys' Night Out" is a good but not great comedy starring James Garner & Kim Novak (along with a strong supporting cast). The premise of the movie is a bit disturbing (if you don't find adultery funny, anyway), but the plot plays out like an episode of "Three's Company" with things not being as they seem.

If you think Kim Novak was a good actress, you might like this. I didn't. If you love James Garner, which I do, you may or may not like it. I didn't. I thought it was a dull, unbelievable story. Unbelievable would have been ok if it hadn't been so dull and Kim so blah. Skip this one.