Dr. Julian Winston (Matthau) is having an extramarital affair with Toni Simmons (Hawn). This would be more shocking if he was actually married. In truth, he only tells girls he's married to avoid commitment. When he changes his mind and decides to ask Toni to marry him, she agrees on one condition - she can meet the first wife. Enter Stephanie Dickinson (Bergman), Dr. Winston's nurse. He convinces her to play the part of his wife for the purposes of the meeting. This is complicated by the fact that Stephanie is actually secretly in love with Julian.
This charming film was a big hit in 1969, winning Goldie Hawn a Best Supporting Actress Oscar and going on to be one of the biggest box office grossers of the year. It's since been somewhat forgotten, though there is still a fan base that remembers and appreciates it out there. Look for Jack Weston as a snyde patient of Dr. Winston's.
You can find this film on DVD and it's available to rent on YouTube. Above is the original trailer for it, uploaded to YouTube by ClassicMovieTrailers.
Obscurity factor: 3 (on DVD and YouTube, dimly remembered by the general public)
Walter and Elinore Hathaway (Weston and Cass) are proud parents of three little ones. The fact that the little ones just happen to be chimps doesn't seem to dent their parental pride. Walter is a real estate agent and Elinore is the chimp's booking agent. Candy, Charlie and Enoch (the chips) regularly perform on television. Each episode revolved around the antics of the chimps and the situations the Hathaways put them in. This series has been called the worst ever aired on television, and there's some truth in that. It's difficult to watch. Production was no picnic either. Jack Weston was nearly bitten by one of the chimps and spent the rest of the series at a considerable distance from them. It's fun to see Peggy Cass, who, aside from the film If It's Tuesday, This Must Be Belgium, didn't find her way into film or TV near enough.
The episode above is TV or Not TV uploaded to YouTube by dentelTV. Needless to say, the series has never made it to DVD.
Obscurity factor: 8 (not on DVD, mostly forgotten, only remembered as the worst of TV)
Today is pride day here in New York, and the last day of gay themed films here on the blog. I thought we'd go out with a bang. Gaetano Proclo (Weston) is running from his maniac mobster brother-in-law (Jerry Stiller) who wants to kill him. He ends up at The Ritz, a gay bath house, and in his naivete doesn't realize where he is. He starts to meet some of the other patrons and it begins to dawn on him. His first impulse is to just lock himself in his room and get some sleep, but it's too late for that. He has a chubby chaser (Paul B. Price) after him and the hilariously bad performer, Googie Gomez (Rita Moreno) from the basement nightclub thinks he's a big Broadway producer. On top of that, Michael Brick (an adorable Treat Williams) the detective his brother-in-law has hired has tracked him down and is searching the club for him - shirtless. The only person that can help is outrageous bathhouse queen Chris (F. Murray Abraham).
This film was based on a successful Broadway play by Terrance McNally Shot in London on a shoestring, it's become something of a gay classic and is extremely funny. Look for Kay Ballard as Jack Weston's wife.
The Ritz is recently available on DVD, and thank God, because it's a really funny film. The trailer is above, uploaded to YouTube by OurManInHavana.
Obscurity factor: 2 (recently revived on Broadway, known well in the theater & gay communities, on DVD, somewhat unknown by the general public)
