The Cactus Flower (1969)

Just caught this movie on Turner Classic Movies. I'd never heard of it before I saw it was on. In fact, I started watching it somewhere in the middle. That was plenty, because this rom-com was pretty by-the-book. What was interesting about it, though, was that it was made more for the stars, not the audiences. Those stars were Walter Matthau and Ingrid Bergman.

Walter Matthau plays a middle-aged dentist, Dr. Julian Winston, looking for love. One day, he meets a young record store clerk, Toni Simmons (played by Goldie Hawn, during the prime of "Laugh In"), and gives her his usual story of how he's married and doesn't want to divorce his wife because of the kids. The only problem is that the good doctor doesn't have any kids or even a wife and it's all just an act. After deciding he wants to actually marry Toni, she wants to meet his wife before going through with everything. Julian's in a bind to find a wife and fast. He turns to his nurse, Miss Dickinson (Ingrid Bergman), and she agrees to play along as his wife. The plan falls apart, Miss Dickinson becomes jealous, and Julian realizes the futility of marrying a woman half his age. Of course we don't need to know what happens the next time Julian sees Miss Dickinson after coming to his senses or how much longer the movie lasts beyond that moment. It's a given.

The reason I felt like going to the trouble of composing a review is because, at that point, I knew I liked this movie. It's not a favorite and I wouldn't buy it, but it made me appreciate two great actors that I've almost nearly neglected. In the final scene, when they get together, it was magical. I.A.L. Diamond's script really shone through and created a wonderful exchange that is rarely seen these days. It was made better because these two actors actually knew what to do with dialogue like this and pulled it off like the couple of mature adults they were. The words were snappy, fresh, and natural. They were the exact things you'd expect to hear from those two. Back in the 60's, this was probably an average love scene. Compared to today, it's a masterpiece.

As for the rest of the movie, I could see why it's not more popular. It was very pedestrian and dull. Goldie Hawn's never really interested me, so I was pretty excited when Toni was done with the story. What bothered me the most was the way the movie tried to fit in with the times. Gene Saks (I'm assuming) seemed to have no grasp of what was going on in the country at the time or how to portray believable 20somethings. What we get, as a result, were a couple of airheaded, boring characters that, thankfully, serve their purpose and get the hell outta the movie. Another area that seemed to annoyingly reflect the times was the score, which was full of instrumental selections from the Top 40 of 1969, arranged by Quincy Jones. Rather than having a lush, mature score to fit the lead characters by someone like Henry Mancini, we get muzak. Bona fide muzak. For me, this kept the movie from being totally enjoyable. After the IAL Diamond script, Matthau and Bergman, it's like the rest of the movie was sloppily thrown together. So apparently they had their problems in the 60's too.