The Art of Love (1965)

Struggling artist fakes his own death so his works will increase in value.

Director:

Norman Jewison

Writers:

Richard Alan Simmons (story), William Sackheim (story)

Stars:

James Garner, Dick Van Dyke, Elke Sommer

1 nomination.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
James Garner	...	Casey Barnett
Dick Van Dyke	...	Paul Sloane
Elke Sommer	...	Nikki Dunnay
Angie Dickinson	...	Laurie Gibson
Ethel Merman	...	Madame Coco La Fontaine
Carl Reiner	...	Rodin
Pierre Olaf	...	Inspector Carnot
Miiko Taka	...	Chou Chou
Roger C. Carmel	...	Zorgus
Irving Jacobson	...	Mr. Fromkis
Jay Novello	...	Janitor
Naomi Stevens	...	Mrs. Sarah Fromkis
Renzo Cesana	...	Pepe de Winter
Leon Belasco	...	Prince
Louis Mercier	...	Magistrate

Storyline

Painter Paul Sloan feels he's a failure, since nobody will buy his paintings. His art dealer informs him, that the works of an artist become much more wanted and valuable if the artist is dead. Therefore, Paul, together with his friend Casey Barnett, plans to fake his own suicide. However, it starts looking like Casey has murdered Paul and when Casey starts making a move for Paul's fiancée, he decides to get revenge. However, Paul falls in love with Nikki, who has also tried to commit suicide.

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Plot Keywords:

artist | buddy comedy | fiancee | romantic triangle | blonde woman | 

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Taglines:

Ross Hunter Invites You to Laugh...When You Learn All About...

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Genres:

Comedy

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Did You Know?

Trivia

The sketches and works of art that Dick Van Dyke was working on in the "Art of Love" were actually done by Alto, Louisiana native Don Cincone, an internationally acclaimed expressionist. In 1968, he was awarded the Silver Medal of Literary Arts and Sciences in Rome and his work has been collected by Walt Disney, Kurt Schon, Henry Mancini, Ross Hunter, James Garner and Vincent Price! Although he was never credited for his artwork in the movie, he still speaks fondly of his "Hollywood days" and the impact that it made on him.

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Connections

Referenced in The Directors: The Films of Norman Jewison (1999)

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Soundtracks

M'sieur
Written by Cy Coleman and Don Raye
Performed by Ethel Merman

User Reviews

Jean-Francois Millet, not Gustave Courbet

Theowinthrop: "There is also a short story by Mark Twain entitled "IS HE DEAD?" about a plot to make a reputation for a prominent 19th Century artist, Gustave Courbet, by him pretending to be dead, and his paintings being sold for larger and larger amounts of cash so that the still living Courbet and his friends make a huge profit." It was Millet, the artist responsible for THE GLEANERS and other works, who faked his death in order to raise the value of his art. Twain later turned the scam into a play, IS HE DEAD?, which finally got discovered in 2002 and produced on stage in 2007.

That said, THE ART OF LOVE has long been one of my "Favorite Films I Haven't Seen in a Long Long Time." The lack of video release is depressing. Hopefully Universal will start a cable movie channel dedicated to its own films, much like Fox Movie Channel (a great place to see long-forgotten flicks like PRUDENCE AND THE PILL).

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English French

Release Date:

8 July 1965 (Netherlands)

Also Known As:

The Art of Love

Filming Locations:

Universal Studios - 100 Universal City Plaza, Universal City, California, USA

Box Office

Gross USA:

$7,630,000

Company Credits

Production Co:

Cherokee Productions, Ross Hunter Productions, Universal Pictures

Technical Specs

Runtime:

99 min

Sound Mix:

Mono (Westrex Recording System)

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1