House Calls (1978)

User Rating:

6.6/10   

Director:

Howard Zieff

Writers:

Julius J. Epstein (story)
Alan Mandel (writer)

Release Date:

7 August 1978 (Sweden)

Genre:

Comedy | Drama | Romance

Tagline:

More than a touch of comedy. Just what the doctor ordered.

Plot:

Charley is a surgeon who's recently lost his wife; he embarks on a tragicomic romantic quest with one woman after another until he meets up with Ann...

Plot Keywords:

Enema | Based On Novel

Awards:

1 nomination

Cast

Walter Matthau	...	Dr. Charley Nichols
Glenda Jackson	...	Ann Atkinson
Art Carney	...	Dr. Amos Willoughby
Richard Benjamin	...	Dr. Norman Solomon
Candice Azzara	...	Ellen Grady
Dick O'Neill	...	Irwin Owett
Thayer David	...	Phil Pogostin
Anthony Holland	...	TV moderator
Reva Rose	...	Mrs. de Voto
Sandra Kerns	...	Lani Mason
Brad Dexter	...	Quinn
Jane Connell	...	Mrs. Conway
Lloyd Gough	...	Harry Grady
Gordon Jump	...	Dr. O'Brien
William J. Fiore	...	Dr. Sloan

Runtime:

USA:98 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English | Spanish

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

Singapore:PG | Iceland:L | Australia:M | Finland:K-16 | Sweden:7 | USA:PG

Company:

Universal Pictures

Trivia:

The song that Walter Matthau is attempting to sing in the shower is Cherubino's song from Act II of Mozart's "Nozze di Figaro"

Quotes:

Ann Atkinson: You broke my heart!
Dr. Charley Nichols: Don't worry, I'm a doctor, I can fix it.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in "Mystery Science Theater 3000: Hercules Against the Moon Men (#5.10)" (1992)

Soundtrack:

On the sunny side of the street

Comedy Souffle

Walter Matthau is by all means an incredibly talented performer. He is a joy to watch and a true one of a kind. However in the looks department he rates pretty low. He may be one of the ugliest leading men this side of Don Knotts. Yet this film practically shoots itself in the foot from the very beginning by portraying, with a straight face, Matthau as a doctor who has become a super hunk/chick magnet. All the hot, young women are chasing after him! His locker is filled with their love letters!! He actually beds a different one each night!!! Problem ensues though when he meets Jackson. She is a middle aged women who is a bit 'rough around the edges'. She wants him to drop his playboy ways and commit solely to her, yet he is not sure he can.

Overly smug, 'sophisticated' comedy that is really just too light and easy going. It's in desperate need for a fuller story and little more conflict. The comedy should have been broader instead of just being a long precession of glib one liners. There's a few comic set ups that are never even followed through on. However Carney's eulogy to a dead baseball owner and their subsequent burial of him underneath home plate, is good and does deserve a honorable mention.

The casting of Jackson is one of the few inspired things about this film. Her sharp British wit is a perfect foil to Matthau's easy going style. Yet it doesn't play this up enough. The one true 'confrontation' doesn't come until the very end. Although the 'spat' is definitely contrived it does at least offer the lively fun you expected of this from the very beginning.

Another problem with this film is that it tries to mix the old fashioned romantic comedy with the modern day sensibilities and cynicism. The silly 'goof ups' at the hospital really don't seem so funny when only a few years earlier these same problems were shown in the excellent film THE HOSPITAL with much more serious ramifications. It also looks awkward to have such 'old school' middle agers suddenly jumping into the trendy 70's lifestyle of casual sex and one night stands.

There is also the stilted habit of referring to sex as 'humping'. This seems like a very dated, antiquated term even for back then. Let's face it this is a slow moving comedy made specifically for adults. Kids really wouldn't want to see it anyways. They should have just sucked it up, accepted the 'R' rating, and called sex by the 'F' word like everybody else.

Jackson and Matthau were later reunited in the 1980 film HOPSCOTCH.