''Not with My Wife, You Don't!'' (stylized as ''Not with MY Wife, You Don't!'') is a 1966 American comedy film starring

Tony Curtis Tony Curtis (born Bernard Schwartz; June 3, 1925September 29, 2010) was an American actor with a career that spanned six decades, achieving the height of his popularity in the 1950s and early 1960s. He acted in more than 100 films, in roles co ...

Virna Lisi Virna Lisa Pieralisi (; 8 November 1936 – 18 December 2014), known as just Virna Lisi, was an Italian actress. Her international film appearances included ''How to Murder Your Wife'' (1965), ''Not with My Wife, You Don't!'' (1966), ''The Secre ...

and

George C. Scott George Campbell Scott (October 18, 1927 – September 22, 1999) was an American actor. He had a celebrated career on both stage and screen. With a gruff demeanor and commanding presence, Scott became known for his portrayal of stern but complex ...

. The film was nominated for a

Golden Globe The Golden Globe Awards are awards presented for excellence in both international film and television. It is an annual award ceremony held since 1944 to honor artists and professionals and their work. The ceremony is normally held every Januar ...

for Best Motion Picture – Musical/Comedy. The plot follows the standard storyline of the long-running "road movies" popularized by

Bob Hope Leslie Townes "Bob" Hope (May 29, 1903 – July 27, 2003) was an American comedian, actor, entertainer and producer with a career that spanned nearly 80 years and achievements in vaudeville, network radio, television, and USO Tours. He appeared ...

Bing Crosby Harry Lillis "Bing" Crosby Jr. (May 3, 1903 – October 14, 1977) was an American singer, comedian, entertainer and actor. The first multimedia star, he was one of the most popular and influential musical artists of the 20th century worldwi ...

and

Dorothy Lamour Dorothy Lamour (born Mary Leta Dorothy Slaton; December 10, 1914 – September 22, 1996) was an American actress and singer. She is best remembered for having appeared in the ''Road to...'' movies, a series of successful comedies starring Bing C ...

, also products of the Norman Panama-Melvin Frank writing team. The opening title sequence and interior sequences with an animated green monster were created by

Saul Bass Saul Bass (; May 8, 1920 – April 25, 1996) was an American graphic designer and Academy Awards, Oscar-winning filmmaker, best known for his design of motion-picture title sequences, film posters, and logo, corporate logos. During his 4 ...

Plot

During the

Korean War The Korean War (25 June 1950 – 27 July 1953) was an armed conflict on the Korean Peninsula fought between North Korea (Democratic People's Republic of Korea; DPRK) and South Korea (Republic of Korea; ROK) and their allies. North Korea was s ...

, Italian nurse Lieutenant Julietta Perodi (Virna Lisi), who has a passion of everything in "twos", falls in love with two

United States Air Force The United States Air Force (USAF) is the Air force, air service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is one of the six United States Armed Forces and one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. Tracing its ori ...

pilots, Col. Tom Ferris (Tony Curtis) and Col. "Tank" Martin (George C. Scott). "Julie" marries Ferris after he convinces her that his friend, "Tank" has been killed in an aircraft crash. She soon discovers that Martin is alive, but remains happily married to Ferris until, Martin, her former love, re-enters their lives 14 years later. London-based Ferris, now a military attache assigned to looking after military "brass", especially General Parker (Carroll O'Connor) has been neglectful of his wife. When Martin uses his influence to have Ferris shipped to

Labrador Labrador () is a geographic and cultural region within the Canadian province of Newfoundland and Labrador. It is the primarily continental portion of the province and constitutes 71% of the province's area but is home to only 6% of its populatio ...

for an Arctic survival course, she is prepared to seek a divorce. In the guise of an Arab potentate, Ferris, steals a V.I.P jet and wings it to Rome (which includes flying the jet through the London

Tower Bridge Tower Bridge is a Listed building#Grade I, Grade I listed combined Bascule bridge, bascule, Suspension bridge, suspension, and, until 1960, Cantilever bridge, cantilever bridge in London, built between 1886 and 1894, designed by Horace Jones ...

along the route) to reconcile with his wife. Martin really wants to keep his single lifestyle, and can't see himself as the "marrying kind." Two years later, with their marriage on firmer grounds, the Ferris family has twin boys while Ferris continues making life easy for military V.I.P.'s, including the newly appointed Brig. Gen. Tank Martin, who is now flying with the United States Air Force Thunderbirds air demonstration team.

Cast

As appearing in screen credits (main roles identified): *

as Colonel Tom Ferris *

as Julie Ferris / Lieutenant Julietta Perodi *

as Colonel "Tank" Martin * Carroll O'Connor as General Parker * Richard Eastham as General Walters * Eddie Ryder as Sergeant Gilroy * George Tyne as Sergeant Dogerty *

Ann Doran Ann Lee Doran (July 28, 1911 – September 19, 2000) was an American character actress, possibly best known as Carol Stark, the mother of James "Jim" Stark (James Dean) in '' Rebel Without a Cause'' (1955). She was an early member of the Scre ...

as Doris Parker * Donna Danton as Nurse Sally Ann * Natalie Core as Lillian Walters * Buck Young as Air Police Colonel * Maurice Dallimore as BBC Commentator North American F-100D Super Sabre USAF

Production

Filmed with the full cooperation of the

, scenes of contemporary

North American F-86 Sabre The North American F-86 Sabre, sometimes called the Sabrejet, is a transonic jet fighter aircraft. Produced by North American Aviation, the Sabre is best known as the United States' first swept-wing fighter that could counter the swept-wing Sov ...

and

North American F-100 Super Sabre The North American F-100 Super Sabre is an American supersonic jet fighter aircraft designed and produced by the aircraft manufacturer North American Aviation. The first of the Century Series of American jet fighters, it was the first United ...

fighters are shot in Technicolor. Principal photography took place in

, Canada, London, Rome and Lazio, Italy, as well as in Washington, District of Columbia. The writing team of Panama and Frank were basically reprising the successful road pictures formula that had worked well with Hope, Crosby and Lamour with Curtis, Scott and Lisi now taking on the similar roles in a "limp service comedy" as Scott's biographer, David Sheward characterized the slight film. Essentially, the road picture had now moved into the air. The team of Peter Barnes and Larry Gelbart were brought in as screenwriters/ "doctors", but the plot line remained sophomoric. Panama resorted to a hodge-podge of effects, ranging from animated cartoons, to clips from foreign films and '' Mighty Joe Young'' with Bob Hope making a cameo appearance, which further accentuated the slapstick nature of the farce. Curtis later commented that he felt that casting had always remained an issue, as he was better suited to playing the "wolf" rather than the more passive character of the besieged husband.

Reception

Considered an amicable comedy typical of the period, critics like Bosley Crowther of ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...

'' gave ''Not with My Wife, You Don't!'' a sympathetic review. "It is, nevertheless, the kind of farce that will someday look like a couple of million dollars in the context of the small screen's regular programing. It has been beautifully photographed in Technicolor and it has a competent cast headed by Tony Curtis, Virna Lisi and George C. Scott. And, on the small screen, its gags and situations may seem almost Shavian." '' Variety'' saw a great deal in the film's lightweight premise, "Zesty scripting, fine performances, solid direction and strong production values sustain hilarity throughout."

Awards

''Not with My Wife, You Don't!'' was nominated for the 1967 Golden Globe in the category of Best Motion Picture – Musical/Comedy.

Paperback novelization

Releasing it slightly in advance of the film (per normal for the era),

Popular Library Popular Library is a New York paperback book company established in 1942 by Leo Margulies and Ned Pines, who at the time were major pulp magazine and newspaper publishers. The company's logo of a pine tree was a tribute to Pines, and another ...

published a novelization of the screenplay, by Evan Lee Heyman, the author of several notable novelizations of the 1960s. Atypically, the book does not credit the source screenplay (allowing one to infer, incorrectly, that the novel came first), but the 1966 copyright is assigned to Warner Bros. Pictures, Inc.

References

;Notes ;Citations ;Bibliography * Curtis, Tony and Peter Golenbock. ''American Prince: A Memoir''. New York: Three Rivers Press, 2009. . * Sheward, David. ''Rage and Glory: The Volatile Life and Career of George C. Scott.'' New York: Applause Books, 2008. .

External links

*
Not With My Wife, You Don’t!
at

Rotten Tomatoes Rotten Tomatoes is an American review aggregator, review-aggregation website for film and television. The company was launched in August 1998 by three undergraduate students at the University of California, Berkeley: Senh Duong, Patrick Y. Lee ...

* {{Norman Panama 1966 comedy films 1966 films American comedy films Cold War films American aviation films 1960s English-language films Films directed by Norman Panama Films produced by Tony Curtis Films with screenplays by Larry Gelbart Films scored by John Williams Warner Bros. films Films set in London Films set in Korea 1960s American films English-language comedy films Reynard Productions films Fernwood Productions films