tavm
Okay, before I review this movie, I have to complain about some of the pixelating messiness of some of the scenes. While I managed to rewind some scenes I had to skip because of this, I still wish I could have seen the whole movie proper. Even without those technical problems, I don't think I was too enamored of the story with Sandra Dee as a daughter of a French mother and a Boston-bred father having to get married soon so she can give up her gallivantin' ways. Then after she moves to New York, she meets Bobby Darin as a model photographer who wants her in his pictures. She'll only agree to them if he marries her. He does but doesn't want her in them anymore! The rest of the picture has Dee trying to get her husband to pay more attention to her instead of new model-and former friend-Stephanie Powers by using a dog manual to treat him like a pet and then using a "made up" former lover of her mom to get Darin jealous. The performances, from Sandra and Bobby-who's quite hilarious in the beginning-to Powers, John Lund and Micheline Presle as the parents, and Cesar Romero as the guy portraying Dee's "paramour" aren't bad but the whole thing just fell apart after the marriage. I think I would've preferred to see the real-life married couple at the time try to balance their careers with him trying to please both Dee and Powers in whatever demands they give him. As it is, I think I'd only recommend If a Man Answers if you want to see Dee and Darin on-screen together. P.S. The animation at the beginning was probably the best part of the picture. P.P.S. I've now seen the whole movie after wiping the back of the disc. While a little better and I'm upping my rating from 3 to 4, some of my material objections still stand.
bizatchgirl
It has been long in coming but the movie is now out on DVD. I had found it before on VHS on ebay but it was going for $15 +. It looks like it's about $12 on DVD! I was lucky enough to have this recommended by a friend and watched her copy. I have looked through movie stores and even had one of the video rental stores order something with a similar title that turned out to be a B horror flick. Luckily they just put it on the shelf and didn't make me buy it. I can't wait to get the DVD and watch it again. I'm sure I've forgotten just how funny it is since I haven't seen it in about 8 years. They just don't make movies like this anymore. Sweet, wholesome fun.
sharlyfarley
Okay, so Dee ain't Day, and Darin is hardly Hudson. There's a couple of surprises in this movie. In fact, there's a delicious exception to the rule: a woman in her forties who is wise, glamorous and a successful wife and mother. Micheline Presle plays Dee's mother, and she's the one who advises her daughter to treat her husband like a dog. "Husbands often leave home; pets never do. There must be a reason." And, "Most husbands are not given the affection and consideration of the average dog." She smiles knowingly, and Dee begins to follow instructions: "Never lose your temper with your puppy...Praise him lavishly when he does something right...Make living with you so much fun he never wants to go anywhere else..." And it works. Food for thought.
Giac-3
If you can catch this classic on TMC or AMC, do so because unfortunately it is not available on video. It is a smart, witty story.
AD
