The Facts of Life (1960)

User Rating:

6.5/10   

Director:

Melvin Frank

Writers:

Melvin Frank (written by)
Norman Panama (written by)

Release Date:

14 November 1960 (USA)

Genre:

Drama | Romance | Comedy

Plot:

Two romantic couples are each married to different people! They really DO love each other. At the beginning Kitty thinks Larry is un-funny...

Plot Keywords:

Marriage | Fishing | Vacation | Tarmac | Telephone Box

Awards:

Won Oscar. Another 3 wins & 8 nominations

Cast

Bob Hope	...	Larry Gilbert
Lucille Ball	...	Kitty Weaver
Ruth Hussey	...	Mary Gilbert
Don DeFore	...	Jack Weaver
Louis Nye	...	Hamilton Busbee
Philip Ober	...	Doc Mason (as Phillip Ober)
Marianne Stewart	...	Connie Mason
Peter Leeds	...	Thompson, the Dry Cleaner
Hollis Irving	...	Myrtle Busbee
William Lanteau	...	Airline Clerk
Robert F. Simon	...	Motel Clerk
Louise Beavers	...	Gussie (as Louise Beaver)
Mike Mazurki	...	First Husband in Motel Room

Runtime:

103 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Black and White

Sound Mix:

Mono (Glen Glenn Sound)

Certification:

USA:Approved (PCA #19746) | Finland:K-16

Filming Locations:

Acapulco, Guerrero, Mexico

Company:

HLP

Trivia:

Third of four feature films that Bob Hope and Lucille Ball made together.

Goofs:

Continuity: When Kitty and Larry are eating in a restaurant in Pasadena, a waitress comes to their table. A few weeks later when they are at a restaurant in Monterey, the same waitress in the same uniform is their server.

Quotes:

Kitty Weaver: [after Larry criticizes her for buying a rabbit instead of a chicken at the grocery store] IT WAS LYING DOWN!

Soundtrack:

The Facts of Life

Bob and Lucy score in a very adult comedy for the 60's...

One of their later screen teamings, THE FACTS OF LIFE was a 1960 comedy, rather adult for its time, where Bob and Lucy play two friends, married to others, who usually participate in a group vacation together and through some freak circumstances , end up on the vacation alone this year and grow so close they actually drift into an affair and consider leaving their spouses. I have to admit that this movie was surprising to me when I first saw it a few months ago, so I'm sure it raised a few eyebrows in the 1960's...infidelity was most likely a bold subject for a movie comedy and I doubt if it was something Bob or Lucy had done prior to this. but for this day and age, this was a very adult movie comedy that probably didn't do the business it deserved in 1960 because of its "contorversial" storyline. Though it would hardly be considered controversial today, this film was probably quite the departure for its stars and as a curio of cinema history, it is definitely worth a look.