Post by timothylane on Jun 15, 2019 11:17:48 GMT -8
Rock Hudson was known for his romantic comedies (although in reality it apparently was an open secret in Hollyweird that he was a homosexual). My two favorites were Pillow Talk with Doris Day and Man's Favorite Sport? with Paula Prentiss. I've discussed the former at ST, but not the latter. So here goes.
I recall the promo for it that I saw in Greece, which actually does a decent job of conveying the message. It features an announcer asking the title question, and then putting several photos of different sports as he lists them. Each, naturally, shows a woman performing it. I was 12 at the time, and still had no trouble getting the point. (After showing them, he identified which of the women he preferred.)
As for the movie, it features Hudson as Roger Willoughby, a salesman at Abercrombie & Fitch. Many years ago he was hired to sell sporting gear, especially for fishing. So he studied up to know what he was talking about, and eventually wrote a book about how to fish. But he really doesn't like fish and has no aptitude for outdoor activity at all, so in a sense he's a big fake.
Prentiss is Abigail Page, who does PR and has the brilliant idea of getting Willoughby into a fishing contest, much to his dismay. But he can hardly explain (to his boss or his customers, such as Major Phipps) why he can't do it. (He does tell Page, and she doesn't care.) So he ends up going on a camping trip with all sorts of A&F gear to check out. (These have their problems, as he learns when forced to test out the inflatable waders -- inflatable pants that, naturally, send him head down with most unsatisfactory results.)
It's a weird relationship. She always manages to annoy from their first meeting (when she took his reserved parking spot at A&F) through the fishing contest. The various accidents that result from this get him in trouble with his girlfriend, Tex, who doesn't want a man who seems so accident-prone. And yet, somehow, they become attached.
Willoughby knows how to fish, but actually being able to do it is another matter. Though he keeps catching decent-sized fish (not all accidents are completely negative) and eventually wins the contest, he realizes that he can't accept it. He finally manages to surrender his prize by admitting that he had assistance -- from a bear. (Don't ask me to explain how that happened.) His boss fires him, of course, and he has a local "Indian chief" (who sells fake relics) to boat him over to where Page is camping.
Major Phipps, perhaps Willoughby's favorite customer, is the new winner, but doesn't feel like it. He sees Willoughby as a mentor and friend, and eventually persuades his boss, Cadwalader (played by John McGiver) to rehire Willoughby on the grounds that this shows even an inept fisherman (and they don't come more inept than Willoughby) can succeed with the right (i.e., A&F) equipment. They get the same Indian (John Screaming Eagle) to row them within shouting distance of Willoughby and Page (who're now sharing her large sleeping bag) to inform him that he has his job back.
Willoughby and Page celebrate this by finally kissing each other, with spectacular results in terms of how the movie plays it (including a film of a train crash that actually got shown in the promo).
The film was considered a homage to Bringing Up Baby, and a lot of critics felt it suffered by comparison. I'm not sure if I've ever seen the original, and this one works well enough for me. Unfortunately, TCM never seems to show it (unlike Pillow Talk, which in fact I saw again just a few days ago).
