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)
My friend Russell reminded me of this film last night. It's charming, and one of the lesser known comedies of both stars. When actress Anna Kalman (Bergman) meets economist Phillip Adams (Grant) it's love at first sight. They begin a whirlwind romance and everything is rosy until an awful truth is revealed - Phillip is a bachelor. In order to protect himself from matrimonially minded females, he has concocted a fictitious wife from whom he is estranged, but cannot be divorced. Anna cannot bear the thought of having been deceived, so she plots her revenge!
This charming film has elements of both a romance and a screw-ball comedy, though with a polished, sophisticated luster to it. The dialog is snappy and smart and the production values are lush with beautiful sets and costumes to enchant the eye.
Though it's not one of the films that first comes to mind when you think of the two stars, it is still a film that has a place in the public consciousness. It's available on DVD and can be found on YouTube in full, though the uploader has disabled embedding. Click this link to see it: http://youtu.be/fftrNmf21Jo. The clip above features the first meeting of Anna and Phillip and was uploaded by hitchclassic.
Obscurity factor: 4 (known, but not iconic, available on DVD and YouTube)
This film and the book it was based on are very fond memories from my childhood. Claudia Kincaid (Sally Prager) is dissatisfied with her life. She yearns for drama and glamor. So she enlists her brother Jamie (the one who is the best at saving his money) in a scheme to run away. Sally is no ordinary, run of the mill runaway though. She has a plan. She and her brother will become guests of The Metropolitan Museum of Art. While there, between bouts of sleeping in Marie Antoinette's bed and bathing in the reflecting pool in the restaurant they find themselves returning to look at a beautiful statue that was just given to the museum and has a great mystery attached to it. As they become more convinced they know the secret of the statue, it becomes imperative that they track down the reclusive donor, Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler (Bergman).
This story was very empowering to me as a child. It celebrates the ingenuity children have innately and doesn't devolve into a sugary sweet story of frantic parents and wayward, helpless waifs. Look for Richard Mulligan and Madeline Kahn in small roles early on.
Though I could only find a small snippet worth watching online, you can get this film on DVD under it's European title - The Hideaways. Don't be fooled into buying the condensed 30 minute version under the original title, go for the full 105 minute original cut. Above is a delightful scene with Claudia and Jamie exploring the galleries of the museum uploaded to YouTube by phoenixfilmandvideo.
Obscurity factor: 7 (hard to find, a fond memory for children who grew up in the 70's, available on DVD)
This 1964 film is based on a 1956 play by Swiss playwright, Friedrich Dürrenmatt about an impoverished European town that receives a visit from one of it's former citizens who has become the richest woman in the world. She had been shunned by the town at 17 years old after having an affair with one of the men and giving birth to a child out of wedlock. She offers to give the town a million dollars to help them escape the poverty they find themselves in on one condition - they kill the man who fathered her child.
Ingrid Bergman plays the rich woman and Anthony Quinn is the man she had the affair with in this Italian production. It's a very strong brew with lots of intense emotions and broadly played scenes, but it packs a mighty wallop and is worth watching alone for Ms. Bergman's wardrobe, which is spectacular - just look at those glasses! As in many Italian films the dialog is recorded after principal photography is completed, so there's that slightly out of sync quality to the finished product, but it was originally done in English, so it's not dubbed in that sense. This trailer uploaded by Movie Clips Trailer Vault gives you the flavor of the piece.
If this ever comes up on television, be sure and watch or record it. It's really worth seeing for the spectacle and the intense emotions that it brings up. If you're obsessed with seeing it you can sometimes find discs for sale at iOffer.com.
Obscurity factor: 7 (no DVD, no VHS, Infrequently aired on television, well represented on YouTube)
