User reviews

From a time in which movies were much more innocent, 'How Sweet It Is' is one of many comedies from the sixties that had to rely on script, timing, and facial expression instead of today's toilet humor to make audiences laugh. Not the funniest of the lot, but far from the worst.

James Garner and Debbie Reynolds are a married couple accompanying their teenage son as chaperones on a trip to Europe. Aboard the ocean liner, they are constantly trying to rekindle their romance by interludes in various cubbyholes of the ship. It's worth watching just to see the look of disgust on Paul Lynde's face and hear him sneer "Animals!" when he discovers them hiding in a lifeboat. Misunderstandings, jealousy, a rogue Frenchman, and a close encounter with divorce are in store before their European trip is over.

James Garner displays a knack for comedy, which he will later refine in his "Support Your Local Sheriff/Gunfighter" movies.

Good, clean fun if anyone is interested in that sort of thing nowadays. Kind of like a Rock Hudson/Doris Day movie. (Those were great, too!)

In his recent memoir James Garner said he hated this film. But he and Debbie Reynolds were enough professional to keep How Sweet It Is at least tolerably amusing for their fans. A nice supporting cast certainly helps in that cause.

Garner is a professional photographer whose job keeps him globe-trotting and both wife Reynolds and son Donald Losby get to trot the globe with him when his boss prevails on him to be the photographer on his daughter's European tour with her student group. Losby goes along as his assistant to spend time with Hilary Thompson who is the boss's daughter whom he's going out with. Reynolds makes it three, but even that doesn't quite work out as they are assigned bachelor quarters with the chaperons and not a married suite on the boat. Now that was a bit too much to swallow.

Even worse Reynolds gets taken by conman Terry-Thomas for a $1000.00 dollars when he rents her a house on the Riviera which is just slightly already owned by French lawyer Maurice Ronet. Debbie gets Ronet's hormones into overdrive especially seeing her in a bikini. Looking real good for the mother of a teenage son.

Garner also has tour guide Mary Michael interested in him. And Losby who Thompson takes for granted perks up when blond bombshell Alexandra Hay shows him some interest and some body.

But as good as this cast is and it also includes Paul Lynde as an officious purser on the ship it's all rehashed and recycled stuff from other and better films.

Action photographer Grif Henderson (James Garner) is not so concerned about his hippie son Davey but his wife Jenny (Debbie Reynolds) is a different story. Davey wants to go to Europe with his girlfriend Bootsie Wax but Jenny rejects it out of hand. Grif gets an assignment following Bootsie and a bunch of school girls in Europe making it a trip for the whole family. Jenny makes her travel arrangements with a con man which sets her up on an outrageous adventure.

This is writing partners Jerry Belson and Garry Marshall. For any Happy Days fans, there is a tiny little Erin Moran in a Garry Marshall movie. I don't really understand why the couple would split up on an European trip. Grif may be fine to send Davey alone on a trip but he would be a fool to send away his wife. The premise needs something more to explain itself. I actually had a bit of fun with these comedic acting veterans like the lifeboat scene. The whole thing is twisted into a contrived sitcom premise which is understandable for a couple of sitcom writers. The split story telling stalls out the pacing for those sections. The movie seems intent on separating the couple for as long as possible. As for the kids, there is a large drop off in skill level and their part of the movie suffers. I was expecting more for the cat-house although it does get in some good slapstick. In the end, the marital conflict isn't fun when it could have been. I like some of Debbie Reynolds' work but the movie is always a little awkward.

I give this 6 based solely on the fact that it had Reynolds, Garner, & Scotti in it. It was hokey & saccharine 47 years ago, & it's 4.7 times that now. As the saying goes, "Man, I was there then." The thing was written as though it was 1958, not '68. Compare "Boys' Night Out" (also with Garner), done 6 years earlier, & with a similar plot -- vastly superior.

A lot of the humor is weak & sadly forced. The pseudo-psychedelic artwork & intro don't help much, either. I understand & sympathize with those (presumably also of my generation) who like it, but objectively speaking, this just doesn't go higher than about halfway up the scale. :\

Debbie Reynolds and James Garner star as a couple that L-O-V-E each other passionately but maybe don't trust each other as much as they say they do. Both get propositioned while in Europe and jealousy takes hold. What follows is hilarity and sexual tension that oozes off the screen. Bonus points if you can spot the cameo by Penny Marshall!

The advent of tv in the 1950s and 60s caused a steep decline in movie ticket sales. The Hollywood studios didn't like that, of course, but it convinced them, out of desperation, to make movies that did things Americans couldn't see on tv, and that was often liberating. We got spectacular color, because tv was still b&w. We got exotic locales shot in wide-screen format - the most famous example was Around the World in Eighty Days - because tvs had small screens and focused on live programming from the States.

And we got sex. Lots of sex. Because, of course, there was no talk of sex on tv then.

Keep that in mind when you watch this sex comedy - because that's what it is - played very well by James Garner and a very attractive Debbie Reynolds, who doesn't look like she could have been the mother of a horny adolescent but in fact was. (She still doesn't look her age.)

The plot is very obvious. Garner, a Hemingway-like photographer of big game who is always talking about "being a man", is sent to photograph a high school girls tour of Paris. His wife, Reynolds, gets to go along, as does their son, who is in love with one of the girls. (That story, thankfully, gets almost no screentime. This is not a movie about teenagers for teenagers.) Garner gets hit on repeatedly by the attractive tour guide, but clearly is not interested. Reynolds becomes the object of interest of the very handsome owner of the very luxurious villa in the south of France that she thinks, mistakenly, she has rented for herself and Garner when he finishes his assignment in Paris. Romantic complications ensue.

This isn't much of a travelogue, unlike An American in Paris, or Gentlemen Prefer Blondes, or Gigi. We see little of either Paris or southern France, not even as reproduced on the back lot of a Hollywood studio. (This was not a major studio production. They probably didn't have the budget for that.) The scene inside the Louvre where Garner shoots the students standing next to - yes, right next to - the Mona Lisa may have been fantasy even then. (I don't recall being able to get that close when I was there three years later in 1971.)

What I liked about this movie - and I liked it a lot - was the comedy between Garner and Reynolds. It's adult comedy. This is a middle-aged couple who are clearly still very much in love, and very active sexually. (Contrast that with Ozzie and Harriet or Father Knows Best or Leave it to Beaver and you'll understand what made that so different from the tv of that era. Contrast that also with modern Hollywood movies in which, other than Harrison Ford, middle-aged people are no longer shown as having any sex drive, or are made fun of if they do.) Their attempts to have sex are constantly thwarted, however, both on the ship across the Atlantic and once they get to France, so much of the comedy, as in a classic French farce, results from the obstacles that keep them apart from what we are sure would be a great time in bed. And from the misunderstandings when each finds out about the other's pursuer.

I suppose some people might have quibbles with this or that. Paul Lynde plays his usual catty effeminate character, but it is made clear that he is interested in women after all. (It was 1968, after all, and not 1982, when Garner would appear in Victor/Victoria, which dealt with homosexuality in a relatively compassionate way.) Garner and Reynolds' characters are constantly on fire sexually, but never seem tempted by the attractive people who keep hitting on them while they are separated from each other. But even that is presented without moralistic overtones.

One of the best things about this movie is the opening, which I can't describe here without spoiling it for you. Suffice it to say that it is the perfect start to a bedroom farce, with a surprise at the end that I certainly didn't see coming but that showed right off the bat this was a movie we would need to stay sharp to enjoy.

Which I did.

"Swinging" comedy has family from the suburbs getting duped by a low-rent travel agent into taking a cut-rate European vacation. James Garner and Debbie Reynolds would seem to be an ideal screen match, but this leaden script never gives their union a chance (and both are saddled with deadening lines like, "Stop fiddling with your necklace and act like a man!"). Garry Marshall and crack comedy writer Jerry Belson adapted the screenplay from Muriel Resnick's book "The Girl in the Turquoise Bikini", and veteran comedy director Jerry Paris helmed the proceedings, but the results are bathetic; comic support from old pros Paul Lynde, Marcel Dalio, Terry-Thomas and Vitto Scotti doesn't help much. These are not the "Happy Days", although there are fun bits by Erin Moran and Penny Marshall. *1/2 from ****

Another Americans in Europe film with James Garner as a NY photographer who accompanies his students to France. His wife Debbie Reynolds overhears his discussing the upcoming trip, and we get the "nobody's going to Europe" line. I also know that line from the montage of old film clips shown at the beginning of some old film dvds before the film begins.

Garner, Reynolds (reluctantly), and their son David then set off to France by ship. Garner and Reynolds make their feelings known to us (audience) that they're not happy about not having their own room and bed to share and find other little places on the ship to act out their desires. This is something that was more hidden in films during the Hays code years.

When in France, Reynolds goes off without her hubby and stumbles onto the mansion of Phillip Maspere who is completely smitten by her and totally advances himself onto her at a pool party. Reynolds won't accept his advances since she's married. Garner starts getting temptations himself over a pretty girl chaperone while Reynolds is still off on her own. But Garner misses his wife, and he's not too concerned about playing by the rules to go find her. He drives a stolen school bus to go out searching. During the film, we also get a scene with Reynolds in jail with a bunch of prostitutes, a Mona Lisa scene, son David partying wild with many others, and the sorta well known "animals!" line. This all helps make the film more exciting. Not a great classic, by my opinion, but interesting enough.

American family goes for a romp in pareee ! Grif (jame garner) gets a work assignment in europe, so he thinks it'll be a lark to bring the family. Jenny (debbie reynolds) and son dave. Filmed during the flower power revolution. So there are groovy neon opening credits. And even a protest .... against gym class. And wearing a peace sign around his neck, which dad doesn't approve of either. It's a caper, similar to a chevy chase Vacation movie. Thank goodness paul lynde is in here for some comedy... he's the purser on the ship they take overseas. (why are they not flying ??) keep an eye out for terry thomas (from mad mad world...) it's pretty good. Low key fun. Lots of silliness... the usual gags where the son keeps dropping stuff, and when the wife gets bamboozled trying to rent a house, it all turns out okay. Except that she will have to spend time alone with a strange guy, which could be awkward if hubby finds out. Directed by jerry paris, the next door neighbor on the dick van dyke show. He went on to direct TONS of television shows. Did you notice that jerry's "wife" millie, also from D. V. D. Show is also in here? And an eight year old erin moran (joanie, on happy days!) Story from the book girl in the turquoise bikini by muriel resnik.

This movie tries to be funny – that is, the makers tried to make it a roaring comedy, but it fails. Even with a notable cast of some big names, "How Sweet It Is" falls flat fairly fast. Except for a couple of short scenes, the attempts at humor seem forced and heavy. The screenplay piles one situation on top of another to build the humor, but that just makes it tire the more quickly.

The premise was OK but not terribly original by 1968. The film wasn't made by a big name studio or company, and the writers seemed to give up on original humor. So, they try to drum up laughs with sexploitation. That doesn't work either. It just makes the movie seem that much dumber, without real comedy. The actors are OK but not exceptional. James Garner is Grif Henderson, Debbie Reynolds is his wife, Jenny. Terry-Thomas and Paul Lynde have small roles, but even they are wasted.

This movie was based on a novel by Muriel Resnik, "The Girl in the Turquoise Bikini." One hopes that the book was much better than the film. Another reviewer noted that James Garner later said that he hated this movie. One can see why. This one isn't worth the price to rent or buy, even on the cheap.

This movie has always been a favourite of mine for as long as I can remember. I had not seen it on TV for a while, so I decided to buy the video. It was well worth purchasing this movie because I watch it on a regular basis, like once every 6 to 8 months. Everything from the opening credits with the mannequins & psychedelic background, to the storyline and the variety of characters make this a fun movie to watch. My fave part of this movie is the part when Griff & his son take pictures of the girls trying to smile like the Mona Lisa. This is classic '60s movie making at it's finest! If you like movies from the late '60s like "Yours, Mine & Ours" & "The Impossible Years", then you will really appreciate the humour and storyline of this classic '60s romance/comedy.

James Garner is a globe-trotting photographer for a slick magazine who's rarely home for wife Debbie Reynolds or son Donald Losby. When Losby says he wants to go on a summer tour for Europe, Garner agrees, but Miss Reynolds objects, with the result that all three go: Garner on a working assignment covering the tour with Losby as his assistant, and Miss Reynolds in a rented house on the Riviera; through he usual misunderstandings, with its owner, Maurice Ronet, in residence and trying to seduce her.

There's a lot of talent on display, including Dalio, Vito Scotti, and Elena Verdugo, but much of it is wasted for a series of sitcom plots; director Jerry Paris and writer-producers Garry Marshall and Jerry Belson seem most comfortable with small sets, even though their movie budget allows them to populate the sequences realistically. DP Lucien Ballard only gets to shoot one interesting sequence, and that's a montage of still images of girls posing by the Mona Lisa and trying to replicate her style.

Although the movie has some bright moments, and lots of pretty girls, it suffers from the late 1960s problem of a declining movie audience and a desperate attempt to appeal to the kids with a faux-groovy music score grafted onto one of those early 1960s plots about middle-aged, suburban lust. Everyone is so darned nice, it strains for some real conflict, and the montage points out how visually barren the rest of the movie is.

For the most part this is your standard 60's romance/comedy romp. However there are a few moments which (unless your wrapped pretty tight) will set you laughing. They involve Vito Scotti who played Nazorine the baker in the Godfather films. He has a small part as a cook onboard a cruise liner and even though his scene is small it's highly memorable.

This comedy has a cast that includes some actors I like, including Debbie Reynolds amd James Garner in the starring roles. But this film is from the 1960s school of screwball comedy that is mostly just silliness, where a screen filled with general mayhem is supposed to be funny, like a food fight or a massive pillow fight. And so the script is sadly lacking in both humor and substance.

In the 60s, much was made of the generation gap, so there are scenes of some very "square" kids engaging in "groovy" activities, like listening to sitar music and contemplating psychedelia. Another common theme was tension between the sexes, so superficial conflicts are often injected into storylines, and an annoying but common theme is women manipulating men.

This film has little to recommend it. Reynolds and Garner did other work that was so much better.

Watch for Penny Marshall in a very small role.

I had many laughs watching this film, however I had a valid reason for that. A great part of the shooting took place on board the cruise-ship s.s. Statendam of the Holland-America Lines. Actually I was a steward on this ship in real life but I also played a very tiny role in this movie. The only thing I had to do was running down the stairs with a life-vest on. It was really a thrill to observe world famous actors like Debby Reynolds and James Garner that close. Shooting took place in 1967 while cruising between Los Angeles and Acapulco(Mexico)I earned US$ 80,- for my (very small)part.I since then followed the career of James Garner, especially the TV-series like the mini-series "Space"(Michener) and Space Cowboys (2000) and the series of Jim Rockford, the P.I.starting in the seventies.

Debbie Reynolds again creates a role of mother, wife, lover, and beautiful, whimsical, comedienne. She is fully at ease, and completely believable in this late sixties, slightly risque, sexy role.

Typical "Americans in a foreign country" storyline, made BETTER by the talents of the lead actors. It would be impossible to resist this movie if you were a fan of any of these wonderful actors! James Garner is always a treat in any role, be it comedy or drama, and Debbie Reynolds is typically wonderful in her role as the neglected wife. Add the phenomenal talent of supporting actors such as Terry-Thomas and Paul Lynde and you have instant comedic magic. I would love to find this movie available on DVD to add to my collection. There are no movies being made today that are any funnier than this, and it's a shame so many of these old comedies are so difficult to find on DVD.

For the most part this is your standard 60's romance/comedy romp. However there are a few moments which (unless your wrapped pretty tight) will set you laughing. They involve Vito Scotti who played Nazorine the baker in the Godfather films. He has a small part as a cook onboard a cruise liner and even though his scene is small it's highly memorable.