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Good Neighbor Sam (1964) More at IMDbPro »

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14 out of 16 people found the following comment useful :-
A Funny Movie It's Star Never Liked, 17 May 2005
8/10
Author: theowinthrop from United States

GOOD NEIGHBOR SAM was one of three films from the middle 1960s that Jack Lemmon detested. After making THE DAYS OF WINE AND ROSES and THE APARTMENT Lemmon felt he was finally being recognized as a fine dramatic actor, and suddenly he was in this film, UNDER THE YUM YUM TREE, and HOW TO MURDER YOUR WIFE. He felt that these were minor films, and always disliked making them.

In the case of UNDER THE YUM YUM TREE, one can sympathize with Lemmon's feelings. He never played a more detestable character in any of his films than in YUM YUM TREE where he was a total letch. But he was in top comic form, supported by good casts and good scripts in SAM and WIFE. They were not great movies, but both were entertaining.

The plot of GOOD NEIGHBOR SAM is an old one: a family friend is in a tight spot and needs to borrow the spouse of his/her closest friend to get out of it. Another example of this is GUEST WIFE, where Don Ameche borrows Dick Foran's wife (Claudette Colbert). There the complication is that Ameche's boss (Charles Dingle) believes Ameche's wife is an amazing, supporting woman in her "husband's" remarkable career as a correspondent in Asia. Here Romy Schneider borrows Dorothy Provine's husband (Lemmon) to pretend that she is happily together with her husband to claim a $15,000,000.00 estate. But her husband (Mike Connors) shows up, and to save the situation pretends he is Provine's husband. This leads to complications of mutual jealousies between Connors and Lemmon, as well as problems concerning a multi-million dollar ad campaign Lemmon is handling on behalf of dairy farm millionaire (and total prude) Edward G. Robinson.

The film has many nice spots in it, especially for Robert Q. Lewis, as a friend and fellow employee of Lemmon who is nearly driven nuts by watching the odd goings on between Lemmon - Provine - Schneider - Connors. Also the ultimate private detective, Louis Nye, who has some great (and for 1964 really advanced) devices for his business. My favorite bits are now a trifle dated - the running gag about the old Hertz Rent-A-Car ads ("Let Hertz Put You In The Driver Seat"). A wonderful chase, involving painting and billboards, raps the film up very nicely. Lemmon was wrong - not in the same category as SAVE THE TIGER, GLENGARRY GLEN ROSS, or THE APARTMENT, but a worthy, entertaining film.

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11 out of 12 people found the following comment useful :-
A classic that should have been a winner, 12 November 2005
9/10
Author: duncanjbb from United States

I saw this movie back in 1964 when it first came out. Although I was 9 at the time, this movie is one of my all time greats. Why? Great plot, absolute entertainment, no violence, classic spoof and shtick, spy props, the amazing back yard invention, back scene production of the "Let Hertz put you in the driver's seat", (do you remember the TV ad?), John Q. Lewis and the gorgeous Dorothy Provine, one of my all time greats.

This is so full of fun humor. There should be a remake with Steve Martin and Carmen Electra.

One more important aspect is the sixties clothes, cars, homes, furnishings, and style. This is pure entertainment.

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12 out of 14 people found the following comment useful :-
1960'S SUBURBIA--- WHERE DID IT GO?, 23 September 1999
Author: gary renfield (gary_renfield@email.com) from NEW JERSEY, USA

The first time I saw this movie, I was floored by this funny, sexy romp. My God, Jack Lemmon even used the word "hell!". Oh, did I mention that I was 9 years old at the time! Upon seeing it again, many years later, I was glad to see it "held up" better than I thought it would. It's "plenty" dated (so what???). The silliness and familiar faces make it worthwhile.

The theme song is memorable (you'll know it when you hear it). Jack Lemmon's eccentricity at home, is in great contrast to his constant fight to appear normal in his advertising agency persona. The advertising "game" was used as the backdrop of many movies of the 1960's, whether comedy or drama. There is a running gag througout this movie, spoofing the filming of a popular Hertz Car Rental commercial. It's very funny. I was also pleased to see Edward G. Robinson make an appearance in a "light" role.

Not a GREAT movie, but if you enjoy Jack Lemmon versus the world type comedies, you'll enjoy this one too.....

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9 out of 9 people found the following comment useful :-
As Mr. Nurdlinger might say, good clean fun!, 3 May 2001
8/10
Author: Doug-135 from East Lansing

I also saw this movie as a child, and fell in love with it. I particularly liked the wacky gadgets Sam would build, and the theme song (by Frank De Vol) is very catchy. One time when it was on TV, I was able to make an audio tape of it on this crummy little portable real-to-real tape recorder my dad gave me. I played it so much that I was able to memorize whole lines of dialog - "you can't alter a man's death-bed request with a lot of childish spying and gossip. Now obviously this man and woman are husband and wife, Mr and Mrs Howard Ebbets, and as such, I set the distribution of the Lagerlof will for 9am tomorrow morning. Now good day..."

It's nice to see Mike Connors in a pre-Mannix role, and you can never get enough of Louis Nye. Edward G Robinson does a good job of playing the wealthy dairyman, Mr Nurdlinger. Plus his participation gives the whole production a needed bit of weight. This is the kind of movie they're talking about when they say - "they don't make 'em like that anymore." And I say, it's our loss.

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5 out of 6 people found the following comment useful :-
Inspiring comedy that inspired some..., 26 July 2002
10/10
Author: eva25at from Vienna, Austria

*** This comment may contain spoilers ***

***POSSIBLE SPOILERS***

"He is known to be highly oversexed. Can you imagine what it must be like to be married to a man like that? She's sexually normal. (Sam Bissell to his wife)

Sam Bissell is the heart and soul of suburbia. He has a nice home, complete with loving wife Min (Dorothy Provine), two kids, a duck and a neighbor who can borrow his lawn-mower. He works in the city, is treated patronizingly by his boss and hates it: hidden, deep inside of him , an artist is lying in wait for his coming-out. He builds "mobiles", free-form sculptures a la Tinguely. His mother in law is sceptical ("Where the neighbors can see it?"), but his wife is supportive ("Sam is so clever with his hands").

His advertisement agency is about to land a contract with a very rich client, Simon Nurdlinger (Edward G. Robinson). Somehow, this old-fashioned gentleman disapproves of the agency's oversexed campaign to sell this dairy products ("unchastity, wenching, harlots - to sell eggs?"). Furthermore, his scrutiny of his potential business partners revealed - you guessed it - "libertinism, liquor and impurity". Only one man in this firm can pass moral muster - you guessed it again - and so, Sam, who wanted to quit, is promoted instead and brought before Mr. Nurdlinger ("this is the genuine article!").

Sam, Min and her newly arrived girl-friend and next-door-neighbor Janet Lagerlof (Romy Schneider) celebrate his advancement in half-a-dozen night-clubs. And yes, there is this hilarious scene, where Sam, who's had some too many, decides to give the young generation a little lecture on clean living ("Would anybody from Ohio please wave their hands?") before falling downstairs (how the back of his poor stuntman must have hurt!).

What would old movies be without codicils? Janets grandfather left her $15 million in his will - on condition that her marriage is sound and effective. The only good news is, that, under californian law, her divorce won't be definitive for 6 months.

Two of her cousins could contest the will and turn up promptly to have an eye on her "happy marriage". Her own husband absent, Min's husband present - you guessed it again. Sam is not too bad in his part ("I think we fooled them"), even his wife joins in...Yet, those cousins stick to them like leeches and so, Janet has no choice but to drive her "husband" to work. After their goodbye-kiss is witnessed by Mr. Nurdlinger, both are forced to go along with their diversion: Janet for the sake of her inheritance, Sam for the sake of his job...

They start with a dinner at Nurdlinger's ("I would like to invite Mrs. Bissell for our weekly book-burning") and carry on with Sams over-night-stay in Janets house in order to deceive the private investigator who shadows them around the clock. Things get even more complicated when Janets ex, Howard (Mike Connors) joins Sams household...

Game pass between two neighboring houses, two husbands who hatch ingenious plots for amorous purposes - Roald Dahl must have seen this film before writing down "The Great Switcheroo" on which the Kevin Spacey turkey "Consenting Adults" was based. And if Spacey can st... I mean: get his inspiration from Lemmon, so can Crowe (ever compared "The China Syndrome" and "The Insider"?). But they were not alone: The shower scene from this film went directly into Billy Wilders "Kiss Me Stupid", and if sophisticated listening devices and infra-red night cameras are your thing, no need to see "The Fortune Cookie"(the film that anticipated Watergate), look no further that this one...

Gags galore, one hilarious sequence chases the other...I will never forget the moment when Lemmon is invited by his boss to put his feet on the desk - sadly he has forgotten his socks...Or, when he spends an evening with Romy and later has to eat his wife's burnt macaronis, because he cannot admit he has feasted on Romy's steaks...At least two scenes are classics: One is the "Kissing Battle" against Connors, where each husband nearly chokes his rival's wife, the other is Lemmon's little Jekyll & Hyde number:

Lemmon nr.1,(half asleep in Romy's house after seeing her in her nighty): "I wonder why she left the door open?". Lemmon nr.2: (rises). Lemmon nr.1: "Where are you going?". Lemmon nr.2: (sexy voice):"You wouldn't understand these things. Lie back and live clean" (enters Romy's bedroom).

The comedy becomes fool-proof when Lemmon's wife dresses his rival in his shirt, shorts and socks (christmas gift from Lemmons mom):"Don't stand here in my underwear and threaten me!"), and I wonder what Freud would have done with the scene where Romy and Jack have to paint over their faces on gigantic bill-boards: He considers himself as sad clown. She sees him as Frankenstein...

The story has even something autobiographic in it: Sam is an advertising man who wants to be an artist. Lemmon was a Harvard graduate in war sciences, but somehow I can't envisage him in a lab, devising things like agent orange or submarines whose sound waves render whales deaf...

Well, Swift is not Wilder, the film could have been trimmed here and there, but we have Jack in top form, our very own Romy Schneider, funny Dorothy Provine and Edward G. Robinson as moralizer. What else could you want? Enjoy!

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3 out of 3 people found the following comment useful :-
Jack Lemmon in top form:, 2 March 2002
7/10
Author: Ron-181 (rhall96319@aol.com) from Lake Butler, Florida

Jack Lemmon stands at the top of his profession when it comes to comedy. No other actor has his sense of timing or expressive manners to offer competition to the master. "Good Neighbor Sam" is Lemmon at his best. Playing the average guy next door who gets into all kinds of problems through mostly no fault of his own. Everyone will enjoy this movie and the other Lemmon films similar to it. I rated this a 7.

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5 out of 7 people found the following comment useful :-
Frenetic, Overplotted Comedy, 16 August 2003
7/10
Author: Bob-45 from Savannah, GA

"Good Neighbor Sam" bombed big time when it was released in 1964. At the time I thought, "What a shame. This is Jack Lemmon's best comedic acting in years, and this is a pleasant movie."

Looking at it now, I understand why "Good Neighbor Sam" was a failure. For one thing, it's way overplotted (there's enough subplots for THREE sparkling comedies). It's played at the sitcom level and runs over two hours. The "domestic violence" subplot is disturbing, even for the times. However, it is still funny, beautifully cast (especially Lemmon, Dorothy Provine, Romy Schneider and Edward G. Robinson) and mostly gentle satire (the Hertz commercial retakes are a hoot). Best of all, the "billboard defacing," which happens near the end of the movie is the funniest sequence of all, meaning "Good Neighbor Sam" NEVER lets up.

Special note should be taken of Frank DeVol's music (the recurring theme is a classic). I recommend this one highly

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3 out of 4 people found the following comment useful :-
One of those "Comfort Movies", 30 January 2007
10/10
Author: plparshall from Buffalo

I grew up in the 50's & 60's so this is what I call a comfort film. Aside from the plot, I get a kick from watching the morning scene of everyone waking up in the upper class 1960's suburbs, the office scenes, the morning commute, the after work cocktails, the clothes. Remember the business hat? Everyone wore one with their business suit until Jack Kennedy hit the scene bare-headed. Kind of like Clark Gable taking off his shirt and not wearing a T Shirt. I've always felt that the scene where Sam Bissell does the double-take on the car full of commuters next to his car and sees sheep was an innocent preview of the coming unrest of "The 60's". So while it's a great comedy with great actors/acting I watch it to take me back to a time when there was no globalization and no competition for the US. Everyone was making "good money" and there were no threats, no negativity. Several of the films from approximately 1958-1965 were like this - I've always felt the 60's officially began between that period after Kennedy was shot and the Beatles landed in NYC (which is the starter's gun). Certainly How To Murder Your Wife is a close second, YUM YUM Tree, some of Doris Day's movies, Ride The Wild Surf (best fiction Surfer Movie ever made). What a great time to grow up. So don't be a Nurdlinger - watch this movie. Hope this adds an enjoyable note when you watch this movie.

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6 out of 10 people found the following comment useful :-
Funny stuff, 5 November 2004
Author: misspaddylee from Toronto, Ontario

If you're looking for laughs served up by experts, "Good Neighbor Sam" is just the ticket. Misadventure ensues when the business world and mixed-up home life of a hapless chap collide.

Jack Lemmon was the best at this type of thing and plays it for all it's worth. There's an hysterical bit by Louis Nye and the fabulous Hi Lo's appear in a recurring gag. DeVol's music adds to the fun.

Mike Connors is wonderful. He more than holds his own in the comedy department with the fabulous Jack. Good looking and funny - could have been another Cary Grant if the right parts had come along. Two lovely gals, Dorothy Provine and Romy Scheider, provide charming support. Enjoy.

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2 out of 3 people found the following comment useful :-
An Amusing Romp, 12 May 2005
Author: bkoganbing from Buffalo, New York

When Good Neighbor Sam was released in 1964 Jack Lemmon was being taken seriously as a dramatic actor as well as a light comic actor as witnessed by the rave reviews he got for The Apartment and Days of Wine and Roses. While Good Neighbor Sam doesn't stack up against those two films in Lemmon's career, it's still an amusing and pleasing romp.

Have you ever noticed how many films like Good Neighbor Sam start out with a mistaken impression? Through a lie told by Romy Schneider who is the good neighbor that Sam has, people in her life and in his get the impression that they are married. He's married to Dorothy Provine and she's married to Michael Connors. And both for their own reasons have to keep the deception up. All the situations the principal players get into stem from the original white lie.

It would be so much easier if everyone told the truth from the gitgo, but then we wouldn't have a movie.

Lots of familiar names pop up here in support. Edward Andrews as the unctuous boss of the advertising agency Lemmon works for, Louis Nye as the creative private detective who gets it wrong, and last but not definitely not least Edward G. Robinson as the puritanical dairy king.

Minor league Lemmon, but still fun. And as another reviewer says, that theme is unforgettable. You'll have it in your brain for days.

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