A Guide for the Married Man Reviews

This clever sex spoof--well directed by song-and-dance man Kelly--profiles Matthau, a normally contented married man who is guided into infidelity by rake and ne'er-do-well Morse. It's all froth and is best summed up in one of the captions flashed upon the screen, a quote from Oscar Wilde: "The one charm of marriage is that it makes a life of deception absolutely necessary for both parties." Morse encourages Matthau to pursue divorcee Devry and provides anecdotal illustrations of the dos and don'ts when cheating on one's wife. Stevens is oblivious to Matthau's bumbling plans and goes about being the sweet, sexy, perfect wife. Matthau has eyes for Langdon, the married lady next-door. The series of vignettes presented by Morse as examples of proper and improper cheating parade a host of stars in often hilarious incidents. Jack Benny gets rid of one unwanted mistress by telling the lady that business reversals demand he sell off her furs and jewels and the lamps, ashtrays, and other curios in the apartment he has provided for her. Art Carney appears in cameo with Lucille Ball; he is a construction worker who complains so bitterly about her cooking that she tells him to go elsewhere for his vittles. He does, transforming himself into Mr. First Nighter. Others appearing in the seemingly endless string of vignettes include Jayne Mansfield, Sid Caesar, Wally Cox, Hal March, Louis Nye, Carl Reiner, Phil Silvers, Terry-Thomas, Ben Blue, and Joey Bishop. Matthau, after having learned everything he thinks he needs to know about assignations, picks up Devry and takes her to a motel. The maneater quickly strips to revealing underwear, plops on a bed, and motions the nervous Matthau to her. Just then, there is a riotous noise in the courtyard, so he peeks through the window and sees that Morse has been caught in bed with Langdon. Matthau pulls the half-clad Devry outside to his car and speeds to a parking lot, dumps her, and races home, collapsing in relief as a celestial chorus chimes, "There's No Place Like Home." Kelly did a marvelous job of intercutting the vignettes (many of which are produced on a grand scale) with the main story.