Boys' Night Out (1962)

 

Blacklisted writer Michael Gordon returned to Hollywood to direct such harmless diversions as this one about four bored middle-class commuters who dream of leaving their humdrum existences and revisiting their idea of a dream bachelor pad, replete with wet bar, long sofa, fantastic view, and what may be the most voluptuous idea of a mistress the Hollywood of the sixties had to offer--a sociology student doing her thesis on the sex life of the suburban male played by Kim Novak. This movie would be a drag without her. She takes her place among the best American movie sex symbol acts of that time: Gina Lollobrigida in "Come September"; Tuesday Weld in "Soldier in the Rain"; Sue Lyon in "Lolita"; Virna Lisi in "How to Murder Your Wife." It was a good year for Novak--1962. Richard Quine ("Operation Mad Ball") directed her opposite Jack Lemmon in what I think is her funniest and most mysterious performance as "The Notorious Landlady." Her best moments on screen have always been the ones where she played smart women, and Cathy and Carlyle Hardwicke are two of the smartest she's ever played.