Al Lewis and Willy Clark are two elderly comedians who were once a popular vaudeville comedy act known as "Lewis and Clark" and also called the Sunshine Boys. After 47 years together, they parted ways 11 years ago on unfriendly terms and have not spoken since. The break-up was partly due to Al's intent to retire and Willy's desire to continue performing. Willy's nephew Ben, a talent agent, tries to find work for Willy, which proves difficult because of Willy's senility and blustery temperament.
When one of the major networks decides to air a program on the history of comedy and wants the Sunshine Boys to reunite for the show, Ben tries to secure the duo's cooperation one last time. Ben attempts to manage the individual quirks of two old men in their twilight years, including omitting the abuse and insults that both used when discussing the other with him, and diplomatically portraying both as eager to do the "Doctor Sketch" for an ABC special to give the appearance of harmony.
An attempt to rehearse the "Doctor Sketch" at Willy's apartment starts with the two grudgingly getting reacquainted, but goes only as far as Al entering the doctor's (Willy's) office before Willy decides to change the scripted, long-established "Come in" to "Enter!". This results in a loud shouting argument and Al's stormy departure.
Ben has to patch up and salvage the situation despite Al's daughter objecting to her father being bothered any further about the special, and he manages to get them into the ABC studio. In the dressing room, they do not speak to each other as persons, as they did in the final year of doing their sketches together. Unpleasantness arises when Willy carelessly dumps makeup jars on Al in the dressing room, followed by Willy's usual trouble with doors.
After Phyllis Diller finishes her scene and Steve Allen speaks his introduction, the "Doctor Sketch" begins. It flows smoothly until Willy becomes irately inconsolable about Al's "spitting" during the enunciation of Ts, as well as poking him in the chest. Despite Ben and the studio staff trying to restore order, Willy storms off the set, shouting accusations and decades of old bitterness. Al also leaves (finding it impossible to work with the man). In the stairwell, Willy's ongoing temper tantrum results in a serious heart attack.
Willy recovers, first in the hospital, then at home with a private nurse, with whom he bickers and chides. Ben visits, insisting on Willy's retirement, offering his own home or a NJ actor's retirement home for his convalescence. Serendipitously, Al is moving into the same NJ actor's home because his daughter is having a second baby and will need his room. The two men reconcile in Willy's apartment, chatting about mutual theater friends in Variety magazine.
Woody Allen originally was asked to direct, but he was more interested in playing the role of Lewis and declined the offer. Twenty years later, he was cast as Lewis in the 1996 television adaptation.[1]
Casting
Initially, Bob Hope and Bing Crosby were proposed for the leads, but Simon was opposed to the idea, as he felt the roles required Jewishcomedians.[2] Several actors were considered, and Phil Silvers filmed a screen test. Eventually, the roles were given to real-life vaudevillian veterans Red Skelton and Jack Benny.
Skelton declined after realizing that his income was higher when performing his stand-up comedy than what he was offered for the film; he was replaced by the younger Matthau.[2] Benny was forced to withdraw after being diagnosed with the pancreatic cancer that would soon end his life, and he recommended his friend and fellow real-life vaudevillian veteran Burns, who had not been in a feature film since 1939, for the role.[3] Burns's Academy Award-winning performance revived his career and redefined his popular image as an active, older comedy star.
Six weeks before filming started, Burns had triple bypass surgery.[4]
Reception
Box office
The Sunshine Boys was a moderate financial success for MGM but fell short of box-office projections. Frank Rosenfelt, president of MGM, said, "I liked it. I thought it was funny. I thought the playing was great. But it didn't work with the public."[5]
Critical
On the review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, 71% of 38 critics' reviews are positive, with an average rating of 7/10. The website's consensus reads: "Thanks to the sparkling chemistry between its stars and Herbert Ross' gentle direction, this sweetly ambling comedy ranks among Neil Simon's finest screen adaptations."[6]
Vincent Canby of The New York Times wrote that with Matthau "at the top of his most antisocial form" and Burns "giving a keenly funny, brilliant straight performance and with Mr. Simon delivering some of his best one-liners, the movie is extremely easy to take. It's only afterward you realize that two complex characters, as well as a unique personal and professional relationship, have been used up—wasted—in the interests of comedy no more substantial than the insults that Willy and Al throw at each other."[7]
Arthur D. Murphy of Variety called it "an extremely sensitive and lovable film version of Neil Simon's play, with Walter Matthau and George Burns outstanding in their starring roles as a pair of long-hostile vaudeville partners".[8]
Gene Siskel of the Chicago Tribune gave the film two stars out of four, and wrote that it "simply provides more of the insult comedy sweeping television. It's a prune-faced 'Odd Couple' without that play's affection for its characters and its characters' affection for each other."[9]
Kevin Thomas of the Los Angeles Times called it "one of the year's funniest yet most poignant pictures", adding that "Simon not only wrings much laughter from Lewis and Clark's predicament but also brings us very close to tears".[10]
Gary Arnold of The Washington Post called the film "more amusing than one might have expected, probably because Walter Matthau makes a surprisingly funny and plausible old coot".[11]
Pauline Kael of The New Yorker wrote, "I'm a very easy laugher, and I didn't laugh once at The Sunshine Boys. The only part of the movie I enjoyed was the footage during the titles—clips of vaudeville headliners from early short subjects and Hollywood Revue of 1929."[12]
