JasparLamarCrabb The kind of fluff that's hard to dislike. Ad-man Jack Lemmon pretends to be married to neighbor Romy Schneider to help her gain an inheritance. Things get goofy when the situation spirals out of control, with Lemmon having to continue the ruse at work to impress a potential new client (Edward G. Robinson). Lemmon was always great at playing the befuddled everyman and he's perfect here. He's well matched with Dorothy Provine as his infinitely patient wife. Schneider is at her peak, extremely vivacious and quite funny. It's a high energy romantic comedy from David Swift (who'd previously directed Lemmon in the equally frothy UNDER THE YUM YUM TREE) with a lot going for it. The performers are top notch and Lemmon's Rube Goldberg-like contraptions are very clever. The supporting cast is hilarious and includes the likes of Neil Hamilton, Louis Nye, Robert Q. Lewis, Mike Conners (as Schneider's ex-husband)and, briefly, the Hi-Los. The high-gloss cinematography is by Burnett Guffey. It's based on a novel by Jack Finney!

williwaw Jack Lemmon was groomed at Columbia and what a run Lemmon had... working as co star to glamor girls Rita Hayworth, Doris Day and Kim Novak in a series of great films. Jack Lemmon was also loaned out to WB for his Oscar winning Mr. Roberts working with Henry Fonda, William Powell and directed by John Ford, and loaned out to UA for Billy Wilder's comedic masterpiece Some Like It Hot with the peerless Marilyn Monroe, and Joe E Brown. (All four: Wilder, Monroe, Brown and Lemmon ought to have won Oscars).Good Neighbor Sam was one of if not the last film Jack Lemmon made at Columbia Pictures, and it is a riotous film co starring Romy Schneider, Mike Connors, Edward G Robinson and the dazzling Dorothy Provine (on loan from Ms Provine's studio Warner Bros). Dorothy Provine should have been a major movie star.David Swift who directed Pollyanna with Jane Wyman, a film that made Hayley Mills a star and other fine films such as Mr. Lemmon's Under The Yum Yum Tree directs here and creates a lot of fun. The cast is superb.This is a laugh out loud funny film, and one of Jack Lemmon's true gems.

duncanjbb 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.

theowinthrop 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.