Customer Reviews

If It's Tuesday This Must Be Belgium [VHS]

5 star:		(31)
4 star:		(10)
3 star:		(6)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(3)

 

 

9 countries in 18 days is responsible from lines such as "I think I was born on this bus"...to which a reply came "I think I died on this bus." It's a riot, with some great comedic stars of the 60's. The core of the story is Yank Suzanne Plushette (with wigs that make her hair look like it grows a years growth in those 18 days!!) is woman on the verge of committing to marriage, and not really thrilled about it, so she joins a tour bus to see Europe. Charlie (Ian McShane) is the womanising tour guide, who marks her for a good time, but their relationship grows to the point Susan must decide whether to stop being the middle class Yank with the boring, but safe middle class marriage ahead of her, or to toss it all to the wind for Charlie and his life of little substance, but one that is exciting. You have family with daughter who has found 'boys!!', a man and wife who end up on separate buses and keep missing each other, a WWII vet visiting the site of his former battles, a man wanting an expensive pair of Italian shoes for cheap price, another visiting his long lost relatives, another who is stealing 'souvenirs' from every hotel to where he cannot lift their luggage, but never speaks, and one put upon husband who keeps threatening his wife 'I'm an going to get you for this'.

Its a great fun movie, that you will watch again and again.

Besides being an author, I am also a professional tour director. So this movie is especially funny and interesting as both a tourist and as a tour director.

Today as in 1969, American still go on packaged group tours. And I've also led group tours in America for Europeans. What happens on these tours is a lot like the movie....going to all the tourist highlights, getting lost, culture/customs misunderstandings, hotel disappointments, etc. Whatever could go wrong eventually does go wrong.

I like this movie so much that I bring it along on my longer tours to watch. In the group tour business, this is a hilarious classic.

I saw this film 2 or 3 times when first released with my parents. They were not ones to pay for a movie twice, but they did on this one. Very funny from start to finish, with another great ensemble cast, and a ton of cameos. I discovered Iam McShane in this film, who is now currently on PBS is a mystery series from the BBC. I've always loved Suzanne Pleshette, and she is a delight in a romp with a very buxom Italian lady who has poor Suzanne land in a fountain after their little car accident in Rome (POLICIA!). Reva Rose gave poor Norman Fell (Mr. Roper on Three's Company) a run for his money by joining the wrong tour in Amsterdam, and actually passing each other on different boats on the Rhine. Peggy Cass is married to Murray Hamilton (pre-Jaws) who keeps threatening to "Get her for this". A lovely lively romp and so much better than the TV Movie remake.

A forgotten comic gem that's very understated and low key. A satire on European vacation packaged tours, IF IT'S TUESDAY, THIS MUST BE BELGIUM is almost a precursor to tv shows like the LOVE BOAT as groups and/or individuals meet and then go off on their separate (mis)adventures. As stated, the comedy is very low key and understated, and the characters and individual adventures are very funny with Susan Pleshette and Ian McShane in lead roles as tourist and tour guide respectively on a european bus tour. The most memorable sequence is, of course, when a WWII vet Mike Harmon (Micheal Constantine -MY BIG FAT GREEK WEDDING) is reminiscing at a battlefield site memorial with one of the women passengers, of the battle confrontation. At the same time, a German tourist with his wife is reminiscing the same confrontation. The two pass each other simultaneously making machine gun fire noises. However, one of the funniest sequences is with tourist John Marina (Sandy Baron - Mr.Klompus on SEINFELD). While in Venice, he visits distant relatives and winds up on a receiving end of a shotgun wedding with a girl he doesn't even know. He escapes out a bathroom window and jumps into the Venice canals for a narrow escape. Other cast members include Norman Fell (THREE'S COMPANY), Murray Hamilton (THE GRADUATE, JAWS), Marty Ingalls,Peggy Cass,and cameos with the likes of John Cassevetes, Robert Vaughan,Joan Collins,and 60's pop star, Donovan. Overall, very entertaining and fun.

If you've ever gone on a whirlwind bus tour, you'll find a lot to identify with in this hysterically funny send-up of the tourist business. We see all the things that can and do happen, especially the funny (peculiar?) people on the bus with you. Suzanne Pleshette is the cute American tourist on the bus who falls for the dashing tour guide, played by Ian McShane. He has a girl in every port and happily adds the naive Suzanne to his list.

The tour group is made up of some great character actors (especially Norman Fell and Reva Rose) who take too many pictures, talk too much, steal everything from the hotels, and generally make Americans look sily. The scenery is great as the bus speeds from England to Italy in just a few days. The film is quick-paced, with lots of sight gags and a little romance, too. A great popcorn movie.

This is a very funny movie about a diverse group of American Tourists who are going to see 9 countries in 18 days. Suzanne Pleshette is lovely as a Yank business woman and Ian McShane is very nice as the 'seen it all' British tour guide. There is a WWII vet on the Bus, and in a very funny scene at Bastonge, Belgium, he is describing how they held off the German attack (during the Battle of the Bulge) then, they cut to, a German vet, talking and gesturing as if holding a machine gun, how they held off the American attack, they pass each other by without noticing one another, it's very clever.Also, there is one quiet Tourist, who takes a bunch of souvenirs from wherever he is. He gets the morning wake up call, says meekly, "thank you." Then, cuts the phone line and takes the hotel telephone as a souvenir.This film really is an overlooked gem. There are no sexual scenes ..., unless you find Miss Pleshette wearing only a mans shirt to be risque.

Finally! I.I.T.T.M.B.B. is coming out on DVD May 20, 2008. There's no need to pay $40 for a scratchy faded VHS. I loved this movie way back then. Since that time, I have traveled lots of times, but never ever in a package tour. Why? Because this movie taught me not to do so!

As a child in the 1960's, my parents took my older brothers and I on a 3 week tour of Europe. The trip was just like the movie. We travelled first to England, and then by bus all over the continent, with people from all parts of America. My brothers and I were as bored as the teenage girl in the movie. Thankfully, I've returned to Europe many times, visited one country at a time and stayed in the finest hotels. This movie is a wonderful reminder of my first trip to Europe with my family, because everything about it is SO true. I want to own a copy of the film, but I am waiting for it to come out on DVD. Hopefully, it will be released on DVD very soon. I'm certain that it will be a big seller because millions of Americans have experienced Europe on bus tours, and can truly relate to the film.

What a sensational find! The film is a snapshot of a much simpler,and nicer time.

This was a well shot, lovely looking film - with a best-in-class-cast.

Suzanne is the focus here, and is 100% authentic playing a lady searching for meaning in her life. The stories of all the cast build upon each other, and ring true-- you do care.

This film was a benchmark, made at the end of the 60's with a sensitive touch. Excellent in every way.

60's star Donovan provides the haunting theme song which is used in several ways and tempo's as the flim plays out.

The yummy costumes are right-on for the period,and the shots of a very groovy Europe can't be beat.

For those that remember, UNIVERSAL liked this theme well enough to shoot a TV pilot with a simailar theme called "Magic Carpet" with Susan St. James.

It did not sell, but a few short years later, Aaron Spelling had long lasting success with The Love Boat, and Fantasy Island.

This is a classic film that is NOT TO BE MISSED. I bet you bought it already!

I haven't seen this film shown on TV for several years and I'm always looking for it, so as soon as I found out it was being released on DVD, I ordered it immediately. Sometimes old, well-loved movies are a big disappointment when viewed years later - maybe they're associated with a happy time in one's life, or tastes may have changed - whatever the reason. Happily, I found this wasn't the case with "IITTMBB" because I enjoyed it as much as I ever did. When I was a teenager, I had the opportunity to go to Europe at approximately the same time period as this film was made, and my memories of Europe (and tours) are exactly as it depicts. My favorite scene is where Michael Constantine and a German tourist simultaneously re-enact the Battle of Bastogne according to their own memories - that's priceless. There are a lot of running gags: poor Irma and her fear of European toilet paper, with her long-suffering husband (Norman Fell) and the various misadventures that befall them; the man who steals anything not nailed down from his hotel rooms; Murray Hamilton and Peggy Cass and their rebellious daughter, Shelley - the list goes on. Suzanne Pleshette is lovely as the centerpiece of the movie, and a very young Ian McShane is adorable as the tour guide who sweeps her off her feet. Voiceovers and cameos are used a lot, and both add to the comedy and keep the movie from slowing down. I'm sure my affection for this film is enhanced by nostalgia, but all I can say is that I was not disappointed at all. This movie has a lot of endearing characters, gorgeous scenery, great clothes, funny situations, and an enjoyable look back at a time when the world was a lot more innocent. I highly recommend it.