The Mating Game (1959)

User Rating:

6.9/10   

Director:

George Marshall

Writers:

H.E. Bates (novel)
William Roberts (writer)

Release Date:

October 1959 (Austria)

Genre:

Comedy | Romance

Plot:

Tax-collector Lorenzo Charlton comes to the Larkins' farm to ask why Pop Larkins hasn't paid his back-taxes...

Plot Keywords:

Farm | Tax Collector | Based On Novel

Awards:

3 wins

Cast

Debbie Reynolds	...	Mariette Larkin
Tony Randall	...	Lorenzo Charlton
Paul Douglas	...	Sidney 'Pop' Larkin
Fred Clark	...	Oliver Kelsey
Una Merkel	...	Ma Larkin
Philip Ober	...	Wendell Burnshaw
Philip Coolidge	...	Rev. Osgood
Charles Lane	...	Inspector General Bigelow
Trevor Bardette	...	Chief Guthrie
William Smith	...	Barney
Addison Powell	...	David De Groot
Rickey Murray	...	Lee Larkin
Donald Losby	...	Grant Larkin
Cheryl Bailey	...	Victoria Larkin
Caryl Bailey	...	Susan Larkin

Runtime:

96 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color (Metrocolor)

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

4-Track Stereo (Westrex Recording System)

Certification:

Finland:S | West Germany:6

Company:

Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM)

Quotes:

Sidney 'Pop' Larkin: A gentleman always feels better after a little outing!

Movie Connections:

Version of "The Darling Buds of May" (1991)

Soundtrack:

I've Got You Under My Skin

The Barter Economy

The Mating Game's plot is based entirely on the premise that in the mid 20th century, a family could live on the barter system and hence not come up on anyone's radar including the IRS. It was forced then, but in today's computer world with the increasing use of credit cards, it would be impossible to make.

Yet that is what we are to believe about the Larkin clan led by Paul Douglas and Una Merkel and their five kids, oldest being Debbie Reynolds who dusts off her Tammy character for this film. A neighbor, Philip Ober, who is a little tired of the Larkin's Tobacco Road ways, has finally ratted them out to the IRS and Tony Randall's been sent to investigate the situation.

The rest of the film is about the Larkin income tax situation and how everything is ultimately resolved in the end. The best scenes in the movie involve Tony Randall getting smashed on some of the Larkin's concocted schnapps.

Unfortunately in order to make this work it would have to have been set maybe at the turn of the 20th century. Had they done so, the situations might have been believable. For instance, the Larkins have a television. I'd love to know just what they would have offered in barter every month for the electric bill. Or how did they manage to pay the phone bill.