Hook, Line and Sinker (1969)

User Rating:

4.7/10   

Director:

George Marshall

Writers:

Rodney Amateau (story) and
David Davis (story) ...

Release Date:

6 June 1969 (USA)

Genre:

Comedy

Tagline:

Jerry has to get away from it all! Even if it means a $100,000 spree on credit cards!

Plot:

Man (Lewis) is told by his doctor (Lawford), and best friend, that he has a terminal illness. At his wife's urging...

Plot Keywords:

Dying Man's Last Fling | Fraud | Beautiful Woman | Fishing

Cast

Jerry Lewis	...	Peter J. Ingersoll / Fred Dobbs
Peter Lawford	...	Dr. Scott Carter
Anne Francis	...	Nancy Ingersoll
Pedro Gonzalez Gonzalez	...	Perfecto (as Pedro Gonzales Gonzales)
Jimmy Miller	...	Jimmy Ingersoll
Jennifer Edwards	...	Jennifer Ingersoll
Eleanor Audley	...	Mrs. Durham
Henry Corden	...	Kenyon Hammercher
Sylvia Lewis	...	Karlotta Hammercher
Phillip Pine	...	Head Surgeon
Felipe Turich	...	Portuguese Mortician
Kathleen Freeman	...	Mrs. Hardtack - Baby Sitter

Also Known As:

Kook's Town (USA) (working title)

Runtime:

91 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

Finland:K-12 | Sweden:11 | USA:G | West Germany:16

Filming Locations:

Loures, Lisbon, Portugal

Company:

Jerry Lewis Productions

Trivia:

The house set is the same used for "Bewitched" (1964).

Goofs:

Revealing mistakes: The sink can be seen to wiggle (obviously loose) moments before Peter pulls it up with the plunger.

Quotes:

Dr. Scott Carter: There's only one decent thing left for you to do: turn yourself in.
Peter Ingersoll: Decent thing? That's insane!
Dr. Scott Carter: I'll be behind you all the way.
Peter Ingersoll: Oh, sure you will. A mile behind me.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in I Walk the Line (1970)

Underrated change-of-pace Jerry

Underrated Lewis comedy is quite good in parts. The film begins as if it were a TV sitcom with Jerry "happily" married to Anne Francis (of TV's Honey West) with two children and living in none other than the set from TV's Bewitched. We see him trying to outwit a gopher in the garden (who in turn outwits Jerry), trying to unplug the kitchen sink, cope with too many family members in the bathroom, and deal with an unattentive baby-sitter. This is middle-aged Jerry, still zany but a responsible parent earning a good wage. Think Tim Allen on Home Improvement. His wife is both beautiful and smart bringing the art of the housewife's budget duties to almost Wall Street levels. A visit to his doctor reveals he is dying from heart problems. Jerry tells his wife and she suggests that he pretend to abandon the family and use his credit cards to travel around the world. She assures him that his $150,000 life insurance payoff to her would be protected because she can't be held for her husband's debt if he abandon's his family. In addition, she has put in ad in the paper stating she would no longer be liable for his debts and the doctor would testify that a dying man would be too distressed to make rational decisions. Though the audience is signaled that the wife and doctor are scamming poor Jerry, there is no ground work to suggest there was anything wrong with the marriage to warrant such evil action from his wife. I was a little lost for words until I got used to the situation change. I suppose modern audiences weaned on Pulp Fiction and Fargo would find this an asset. After I accepted the new premise I enjoyed the rest of the film, especially a fairly clever last twenty minutes. Jerry Lewis' performance is quite good balancing between drama and comedy. The plot twists are just right to keep the audience interested. Non-Lewis fans might be surprised.