Such a frustrating disappointment

I wanted to like it more than I actually did... But much of the humor totally escaped me and I walked out only mildly impressed.

Excellent and certainly provocative... If nothing else, the film is a real conversation starter.

It's simply great fun, a winsome film and an occasionally over-the-top luxury fantasy that never flags.

Kim Novak started out at Columbia with the great noir film Pushover and left 7 years later with The Notorious Landlady as the biggest box office female star in the world. In between there were Picnic, Pal Joey, Bell Book and Candle, Strangers When We Meet, among others and on loan out The Man With The Golden Arm and Vertigo. Kim Novak formed Kimco and produced Boys Night Out at MGM with a then astounding salary of $500,000 plus 20% of the gross of the film. Savvy lady. Kim even designed her own clothes for the film.Kim selected James Garner as her male co star and Tony Randall as the comic foil with an all star cast supporting Novak with Zza Zsa Gabor, Anne Jeffrey's etc. Fun film with lush MGM production values.

JAMES GARNER's handsome presence adds dignity and charm to a sex farce about wannabe playboys TONY RANDALL, HOWARD DUFF and HOWARD MORRIS who want some playtime away from their wives. His natural skill as a light comic actor is sharply in focus for all the scenes where he plays opposite JESSIE ROYCE LANDIS who plays his addle-brained mother.KIM NOVAK is the blonde dish who is doing a sex survey on American men and decides to use these men as her lab subjects. But when the men's wives find out about their hubbies' boys night out, the fur flies leading to an overly energetic scene where all hell breaks loose.Garner and Novak are so appealing in their prime that it's easy to overlook the deficiencies of some situations, none of which are remotely credible. It doesn't help that Novak plays her role in a dreamy, trance-like manner out of sync with comedy roles. She's utterly charming but a bit out of her depth when it comes to the light touch.Howard Duff and Howard Morris do nicely in amusing roles and Jessie Royce Landis seems to be enjoying herself immensely as Garner's overly concerned mother. But the laugh lines seem a bit forced and you can't help wishing the whole project had a brighter script. The wives are well played by Patti Page, Ann Jeffreys and Janet Blair.There's a datedness about the sets and wardrobe that can be a bit distracting at times, but Novak is always a pleasure to look at and her chemistry with Garner is an asset.

Some films ought to be seen in the context of the era in which they were made. It's unfair, in a way, to dismiss a lot of them because they appear to be dated, or because they don't hold our attention because one can't identify with the subject which is being treated. This seems to be the case of "Boys Night Out", a mildly amusing comedy from the early 60s. Directed by Michael Gordon, it shows its age, but still, there are a lot of ingredients that show the viewer how we lived during those less complex times in this country."Boys Night Out" would be impossible to make in the present climate. Where could stars of the stature of Kim Novak, James Garner, Tony Randall, be found to play in it? Salaries alone would make such an enterprise impossible by today's standards, and yet, a little more than forty years ago, this sleek package was put together without much problem, or so it appears.The film offers some rewards to the viewer that stays with it. The idea of four men getting together to rent an apartment and get a dream woman to cater to their fantasies would not be easy to do without including a lot of sex. Little do these men realize they are, in turn, being a case study for the same woman they all desire.Kim Novak, at the height of her beauty, does a wonderful job with her Cathy. James Garner also has wonderful moments, especially playing opposite Jessie Royce Landis, who appears as his mother. Tony Randall, Howard Duff, Oskar Homolka, Zsa Zsa Gabor, Jim Backus, Fred Ward, and the rest of the cast are good in the film."Boys Night Out" is a comedy about male fantasy about the best of two different worlds.

Four buddies (James Garner, Tony Randall, Howard Duff, Howard Morris) have a night out together in town away from the spouses of Randall, Duff, and Morris (Janet Blair, Anne Jeffreys, and Patti Page) and Garner's mother (Jessie Royce Landis) once a week. They notice Garner's boss (Larry Keating) going out with his girl-friend (Garner knows Keating's married). The next day Garner has a talk with Keating and they discuss the difficulties of carrying out his affair. Keating admits it is expensive, but he can afford it by renting an apartment for the girl-friend. Later Garner talks to his friends about the possibility of doing this. Individually none are as well to do as Keating, but together they might share the expense of an apartment. They find an apartment (a furnished one) in a building managed by Jim Bacchus (a brief part, unfortunately), who can give them a good price due to a recent scandal connected to the apartment. They hire Kim Novak as the lady to keep in the apartment, and then set up a schedule for each to see her once a week every week. What they don't know is that Novak is working on a psychological/sociological study on male sex fantasies under her adviser, Oscar Homolka. Although Homolka warns Novak that this set up can lead to trouble, she reassures him, that she will keep things under control.This is the detailed background of this farce, and it probably sounds dated and pretentious by now. Would you believe it is very funny. The script is crisp, not smarmy as it would appear from the opening paragraph above. The three young husbands from suburbia are more concerned with private matters than sex, and Garner is growing angry at the arrangement as he falls harder and harder for Novak. Novak, besides taping and writing her findings is constantly finding her own attraction to Garner hard to fight.In the course of the film 1960s suburbia living is spoofed, from travel in commuter trains to little league games (the scene here is extremely funny). Howard Morris rarely appeared in major rolls in films. His particular crutch is that his wife, Patti Page, insists on both dieting so she can keep the figure he loves. Problem is that Morris is a small, thin man. It is hard to imagine him putting on weight crazily. Instead, he is being fed salads and health food, and he craves steak and potatoes (actually so does Page, which doesn't come out until the end of the film). The whole dieting culture (which is still with us) gets spoofed here because Novak controls Morris by giving him big, mouth watering dinners. Feed him and he is satiated.Randall is his normal know-it-all type. Notice in one of the commuter train sequences how he tries to prevent an argument between Garner and Randall, Morris, and Duff by telling a long winded story to them that is true about two brothers. The way this is handled is wonderful, because you know what was said, and you don't, and you feel better for not knowing.The wives get suspicious and hire a private detective recommended by Landis - Fred Clark. Clark's friendly but efficient gumshoe is another plus in the film. He does get the goods on the guys.Finally, the moral turning point for Garner comes in a scene that I frankly recommend to anyone seeking two first rate pros interacting. James Garner is one of those actors who make everything seem really easy when he performs. One is sure this is very difficult acting, but it looks nice when done. William Powell was that smooth an actor. So was William Bendix. In this film only did Garner and Bendix appear together. Garner is having a drink (actually several) and talking to Bendix the bar tender (Mr. Slattery), and opening up on his feelings about Novak, the apartment, and the arrangement (but he talks of this as regarding an acquaintance of his). Garner is perfectly at ease, but business-like in describing it. Bendix is doing what any bartender does - he is wiping the bar, putting out pretzels, pouring drinks. It is very natural. But Bendix has been listening, and he proceeds to give his opinion. He thinks the "acquaintance" should tell the girl what he thinks and feels about her. Then, with a pause while he watches Garner finish his second drink, Bendix says, "And he should lay off the sauce!" Garner looks at Bendix, and says, "You know something Mr. Slattery?" Bendix looks pleasantly at Garner,who then says, "You know something Mr. Slattery!" The camera pans on the mutually fond gaze between those two smooth pros.The conclusion of the film was wonderful as wives, Landis, husbands, Garner, Homolka, Clark, and Novak confront each other and two neighbors (one trying to convert everyone). It is about three minutes long, but it is really funny. Let us just say that everything works out, but the cross purposes and wires of those three minutes are fantastic.