''Don't Just Stand There!'' is a 1968 American

comedy film A comedy film is a category of film which emphasizes humor. These films are designed to make the audience laugh through amusement. Films in this style traditionally have a happy ending (black comedy being an exception). Comedy is one of the ol ...

directed by Ron Winston and written by Charles Williams. It is based on the 1966 novel ''The Wrong Venus'' by Charles Williams. The film stars

Robert Wagner Robert John Wagner Jr. (born February 10, 1930) is an American actor of stage, screen, and television. He is known for starring in the television shows '' It Takes a Thief'' (1968–1970), ''Switch'' (1975–1978), and ''Hart to Hart'' (1979– ...

Mary Tyler Moore Mary Tyler Moore (December 29, 1936 – January 25, 2017) was an American actress, producer, and social advocate. She is best known for her roles on ''The Dick Van Dyke Show'' (1961–1966) and ''The Mary Tyler Moore Show'' (1970–1977), which ...

Glynis Johns Glynis Margaret Payne Johns (born 5 October 1923) is a South African-born British former actress, dancer, musician and singer. Recognised as a film and Broadway icon, Johns has a career spanning eight decades, in which she appeared in more than ...

Harvey Korman Harvey Herschel Korman (February 15, 1927May 29, 2008) was an American actor and comedian who performed in television and film productions. His big break was being a featured performer on CBS' ''The Danny Kaye Show'', but he is best remembered f ...

Barbara Rhoades Barbara Rhoades (born March 23, 1946) is an American actress, known primarily for her comedy and mystery roles, especially as lady bandit Penelope "Bad Penny" Cushings in '' The Shakiest Gun in the West'' (1968). She had a recurring role on ''Soa ...

and Vincent Beck. The film was released on May 1, 1968, by

Universal Pictures Universal Pictures (legally Universal City Studios LLC, also known as Universal Studios, or simply Universal; common metonym: Uni, and formerly named Universal Film Manufacturing Company and Universal-International Pictures Inc.) is an Ameri ...

Plot

A famous author, Sabine Manning, has yet to finish her latest sex-themed novel and is on a European cruise with Merriman Dudley, her manager and lover. Her exasperated publisher Martine Randall, in an exchange of favors, asks adventurer Lawrence Colby to pursue her. Colby discovers that Kendall Flanagan, mistaken for Sabine, has been kidnapped. Kendall's

karate (; ; Okinawan language, Okinawan pronunciation: ) is a martial arts, martial art developed in the Ryukyu Kingdom. It developed from the Okinawan martial arts, indigenous Ryukyuan martial arts (called , "hand"; ''tii'' in Okinawan) under the ...

skills help her escape when Colby comes to her rescue. Colby learns that Sabine no longer wants to write about sex, so he urges her to finish the completed novel under a pseudonym. Kendall complicates matters by becoming involved in another gangster's crime, but Colby is ultimately able to get everything settled.

Cast

as Lawrence Colby *

as Martine Randall *

as Sabine Manning *

as Merriman Dudley *

as Kendall Flanagan *Vincent Beck as Painter *

Joseph V. Perry Joseph V. Perry (February 13, 1931 – February 23, 2000) was an American actor possibly best known for his role as Nemo in ''Everybody Loves Raymond''. Early years Perry began acting in his youth, winning the Glenn Ford Award at Santa Monica ...

as Jean-Jacques *

Stuart Margolin Stuart Margolin (January 31, 1940 – December 12, 2022) was an American film, theater, and television actor and director who won two Emmy Awards for playing Evelyn "Angel" Martin on the 1970s television series ''The Rockford Files''. In 1973, h ...

as Remy *

Émile Genest Émile Genest (July 27, 1921 – March 19, 2003) was a Canadian actor. Career Born in Quebec City, Quebec, as a young man Genest served with the Royal Canadian Navy during World War II. At war's end, he worked for a time in radio in his hometown ...

as Henri *David Mauro as Jules *

Penny Santon Pierina Burlando (September 2, 1916 – May 12, 1999) was an American film, stage and television actress. She was known for playing the role of Mama Rosa Novelli in the American crime drama television series ''Matt Houston''. Santon died in May ...

as Renée *

Joseph Bernard Joseph Bernard (1866, Vienne, Isère – 1931) was a modern classical French sculptor, featured on the frontispiece of Elie Faure's 1927 survey of modern art, "Spirit of Forms". Bernard was trained at the École des Beaux-Arts in the atelier o ...

as Police Inspector

References

External links

* * 1968 films 1968 comedy films American comedy films Films based on American novels Films set in France Universal Pictures films 1960s English-language films Films directed by Ron Winston 1960s American films {{1960s-comedy-film-stub