The Out-of-Towners (1970)

I might have taken no notice of this comedy if not for the remake with Steve Martin. That remake was thoroughly panned, but at least it did its part of calling attention to the original. With that in mind, I kept an eye out for the unfulfilled potential that would lead someone to decide on a remake.

George (Jack Lemmon) and his wife, Gwen (Sandy Dennis, whom I'd known only from Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?), head from small-town Ohio to New York City, where George expects to get a promotion. He sets off with an odd mix of anxiety and confidence, repeatedly attributing his own worries to Gwen. Bad weather delays the flight landing, upsetting what little equilibrium he had. It only gets worse from there.

Most of the misfortunes that befall George and Gwen are not especially uncommon, in the sense that several may well have happened to you by now. Many affect far more people than the two of them (see above). But to have all the travails happen to the same duo, especially within 24 hours, takes either supernatural intervention or a work of fiction.

Of course, it wouldn't be all that funny if we liked the sufferers. I understand George's irritation, but he never asks himself, "Is this the hill I want to die on?" He gets awfully particular and takes down the names of just about everyone who tries to help him, no matter how unavoidable their failures, threatening to sue them later. I'd almost call him an ugly American, except that he's traveling within America. Even under better circumstances, I think I'd want to slap him at least once per hour of company.

Gwen gets more of my sympathy, partly because she displays more sympathy to others -- which might be a problem when she needs help as much as they do. That said, she strikes me as a tad ditzy, not least when she says unhelpfully repetitive things (though she's not the only one who does that). Her inflected "Ohhh myyy Goood" becomes a catchphrase by the end. I'm undecided on whether casting Dennis was a good idea, partly because her accent already sounds New York to my ears.

If there's a lesson to be learned from this comedy, it's that NYC sucks. Or maybe big cities in general suck. Granted, things were a bit worse at the time than on the many occasions that I've been there. Lots of public servants went on strike, trash piled high on the sidewalks, and there weren't nearly enough police. OK, it's partly still like that. But if I wanted that lesson, I could rewatch "Homer vs. New York."

Neil Simon's name appears prominently as the writer. With the success of The Odd Couple and Barefoot in the Park, no surprise. But TOoT isn't on the same tier as either in my book. It's not that any particular aspect has aged badly; it's just a broad, fairly one-note brand of humor that has a hard time supporting 97 minutes. I'd have to be feeling pretty ill to welcome such unchallenging fare.