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A Guide for the Married Man
A Guide for the Married Man
	Theatrical release poster
Directed by	Gene Kelly
Screenplay by	Frank Tarloff
Based on	A Guide for the Married Man, as Told to Frank Tarloff; 1967 novel; by Frank Tarloff
Produced by	Frank McCarthy
Starring	Walter Matthau; Robert Morse; Inger Stevens; Sue Ane Langdon; Claire Kelly; Elaine Devry
Cinematography	Joseph MacDonald
Edited by	Dorothy Spencer
Music by	John Williams
Distributed by	20th Century-Fox
Release date	May 25, 1967;
Running time	89 minutes
Country	United States
Language	English
Budget	$3.3 million
Box office	$5 million (US/ Canada)

A Guide for the Married Man is a 1967 American bedroom-farce comedy film directed by Gene Kelly and starring Walter Matthau, Robert Morse and Inger Stevens.^[3]^[4]^[5] It features many cameos, including those by Lucille Ball, Jack Benny, Terry-Thomas, Jayne Mansfield, Sid Caesar, Carl Reiner, Joey Bishop, Art Carney and Wally Cox.^[3] The title song, performed by the Turtles, is composed by John Williams, with lyrics by Leslie Bricusse.

Plot

Paul Manning discovers that his dear friend and neighbor, Ed Stander, has been cheating on his wife. When Paul asks him about it, Ed talks about men who have successfully committed adultery. With each new story, Paul cannot help noticing the attractive blonde, Irma Johnson, who lives nearby.

Paul comes close to cheating on his wife Ruth, but he does not commit adultery. When in a motel room with a woman who is a wealthy divorced client, Paul hears shouting outside, and when he looks out the window, he sees photographers taking pictures of Ed in bed with Irma. Paul takes the opportunity to flee the scene and go home to his wife.

Cast

Walter Matthau as Paul Manning
Inger Stevens as Ruth Manning
Sue Ane Langdon^[6] as Irma Johnson
Robert Morse as Ed Stander
Elaine Devry as Jocelyn
Jackie Joseph as Janet Brophy
Aline Towne as Mousey Man's Wife
Claire Kelly as Harriet Stander
Eve Brent as Joe X's Blowsy Blonde
Marvin Brody as Taxi Driver
Jackie Russell as Miss Harris, Manning's Secretary
Majel Barrett as Mrs. Fred V.
Linda Harrison as Miss Stardust
Chanin Hale as Miss Crenshaw
Joy Harmon as Party Girl in Bar (uncredited)

Cameo appearances

Lucille Ball as Mrs. Joe X
Jack Benny as Ollie "Sweet Lips"
Polly Bergen as Clara Brown
Joey Bishop as Charlie
Ben Blue as Shoeless
Sid Caesar as Man at Romanoff's
Art Carney as Joe X
Wally Cox as Man Married 14 Years
Ann Morgan Guilbert as Charlie's Wife
Jeffrey Hunter as Mountain Climber
Marty Ingels as Meat Eater
Sam Jaffe as Shrink
Jayne Mansfield as Girl with Harold
Hal March as Man Who Loses Coat
Louis Nye as Irving, House Buyer
Carl Reiner as Rance G.
Michael Romanoff as Romanoff's maître d'hôtel
Jason Wingreen as Harry 'Big Fella' Johnson
Phil Silvers as Realtor
Terry-Thomas as Harold "Tiger"
Delores Wells as Girl with Wally Cox
Heather Young as Girl with Megaphone

Release

According to Fox records, A Guide for the Married Man needed to earn $5,900,000 in rentals to break even, and it returned $7,355,000, resulting in a profit.^[7]

Reception

In a contemporary review for The New York Times, critic Bosley Crowther called A Guide for the Married Man "the broadest and funniest farce to come out of Hollywood since the Russians came last year", and wrote:

What is thoroughly disarming and delightful about this mischievous film is the impudent candor of it and its freedom from the leer. Mr. Matthau approaches infidelity with the ingenuousness of a clumsy bull moose, and Mr. Morse assists his intentions with all the wickedness of an imp. The felicities of girl-watching—and there are many of them through the film—are treated with absolute frankness as innocent enjoyment. And Mr. Kelly has directed with speed and persistent wit. "A Guide for the Married Man'' is in the spirit of some of those wonderful old Robert Benchley shorts.^[8]

Variety wrote, "Walter Matthau plays a married innocent, eager to stray under the tutelage of friend and neighbor Robert Morse. But this long-married hubby is so retarded in his Immorality (it takes him 12 years to get the seven-year-itch) that, between his natural reluctance and mentor Morse's suggestions (interlarded with warnings against hastiness), he needs the entire film to have his mind made up."^[9]

Critic Roger Ebert of the Chicago Sun-Times wrote, "There are a lot of funny people in this movie, but they are not very funny people in this movie, Gertrude Stein might have said. The Casino Royale syndrome has struck again in A Guide for the Married Man, and we are forced to sit and watch as dozens of big-name stars jostle each other for their moment before the cameras."^[10]

Pauline Kael of The New Yorker called A Guide for the Married Man "a series of dumb skits", and felt that the famous names in the cast are all wasted: "[W]hat they do is no more memorable than the plugs for brand-name products that are scattered throughout."^[11]