sbasu-47-608737 The basic story is already covered above and I won't repeat- how a fishing equipment salesman and top expert and top-selling author on fishing, who has never fished in his life and even hates anything fishy, is made to enter a competition. But where is the motive? Especially of Abigail? She from time-zero is bent on separating the hero from his fiancée and even go as far as to seduce him. Why? They are not old acquaintances, and in fact have met for the first time, and under not to pleasant circumstances, and that goes both the ways. And why Easy Mueller, her friend and boss is equally helpful, in breaking Roger's engagement and making it with Abigail? She had been in fact almost helping Abigail to visit Roger's cabin at midnight obviously to seduce him ("I don't know when I will be back"). Nowhere in the movie I could get even an iota of a hint. Abigail could have fallen in love at a later stage, but her attempt at seducing him started from the very beginning. The persons instrumental in the nomination of Roger were these two girls, not his boss, who had been fed the idea by them. I would have assumed it was for publicity, but in that case they won't have dared to go ahead, once they knew the facts. It simply doesn't make sense. A comedy should have a story too, it can't be an airy- tale with 3 out of 3 chance catches and no tale.

nimstic This movie is one of the finest comic films in my opinion and not surprisingly made by the super genius, Howard Hawks. The story is about Roger Willoughby who is a famous fishing expert having written a book about it, but ironically never fished in his life. The movie centres around a fishing competition where Roger has to participate thanks to his eccentric boss (the great John McGiver) who got convinced by Abigail Page (Paula Prentiss), PR exec at a rest house where the fishing competition takes place. What happens afterwards are a series of funny incidents, all sure to make you feel cheerful & rolling in laughter. Some comic scenes are very clever and very funny (I can't seem to find such funny movies these days), especially scenes of Roger trying to actually fish and those involving Mr. Phipps (Roger's client who learned fishing from him but never wanted to pay for $1,5 for it). Totally enjoyed the beautiful story and the lovable characters. I fell in love with Paula Prentiss, she's such a marvellous beauty... and so funny too. Her character exudes naiveté at the same time subtle evil vibes throughout. I can't even begin to compare her with some of the female comic actors in the business today. Rock Hudson is a perfect fit to the 'phoney' Roger and does a neat job till the end. Other characters Hawks builds are equally hilarious... I have a huge, long playlist and little time for movies, but I know for sure I am going to watch this movie again & again when I really want to cheer up. Love it! if you enjoy clever humour, with a light heart of course, this movie will certainly make you happy too. Go for it!

Robert J. Maxwell Here, as so often elsewhere, Hawks pits the egghead against the people of nature. Rock Hudson is a salesman at high-end sports retail Abercrombie and Fitch, which is the L. L. Bean of millionaires. Hudson is a famous fisherman. He's written a best selling book on just how to do it. The problem is that he's never been fishing in his life; the book, and the advice he gives to customers, is just gossip picked up from various sources. In other words, Hudson is a fraud, only no one knows about it, not even his boss, Mr. Cadwalader. (Hawks has a feeling for the proper names: Peabody is an elite name in Boston, while Cadwalader, like Rittenhouse, is an elite name from Philadelphia.At any rate, Cadwalader sends Hudson to join a fishing tournament at a remote lake, expecting him to win fame for Abercrombie and Fitch. He's accompanied by two of the corporation's public relations people, Paula Prentiss (nee Ragusa in San Antonio) and Maria Perschy (from Austria). They discover Hudson's secret, that he's an ignoramus when it comes to praxis, and decide to help him. He and Prentiss fall in love and all is resolved.It's one of Hawks' most relaxed comedies and it's not entirely successful. The dopey musical score doesn't help. Many of the jokes are iterative -- repetitious or borrowed from Hawks' earlier work. There's even a direct quote from "Bringing Up Baby" (1936): "The love impulse in man frequently expresses itself in terms of conflict." The jokes tend to be flat. An Indian guide with his arms folded across his chest grunts out answers to tourists' questions until money comes up, then he relaxes into smooth, modern American speech. Boy, is that old.Yet, if the movie isn't a success, it's not a failure either. There are some very funny moments. Even some of the borrowed jokes are still funny. And both Paula Prentiss and Maria Perschy are -- umm, how can I put this delicately and without sounding sexist? -- babalicious? Prentiss falls easily into the pattern of the Hawks woman. She has the proper ditzy quality, turning all of Rock Hudson's grumbled objections into nonsense. Perschy can't quite get with Hawks' demands. There are times when Hudson is quite good as the humiliated and incompetent male, although he is no Cary Grant, who would have walked successfully through the part with his eyes closed.Hawks was an odd character, superficially dull, laconic, slow moving. But he was thoroughly heterosexual and seduced as many of his leading ladies as he could, according to his biographer. The invitation was phrased something like, "Would you like to spend a weekend at the ranch?" Sometimes he was aced out by his male actors -- John Ireland got to Joanne Dru in "Red River" and Bogart co-opted Lauren Bacall in their first movie together. When that happened, the actor didn't work with Hawks again.The director preferred to make one of two types of movies: those about solidarity among a team of male professionals (eg., "Air Force"), and productions like this one, exposing inexperienced eggheads for the poseurs and impractical idealists that they are (eg., "The Thing From Another World"). This belongs in the second category.

bkoganbing In one of the funniest screwball comedies of the pre-World War II studio era, William Powell has a celebrated experience with a fish while he pretended to be a fishing expert. It was the highlight of Libeled Lady and I'm sure Howard Hawks thought that we could get a whole comedy out of that situation. In Man's Favorite Sport he succeeds admirably. If the film had been done 20 years earlier, Cary Grant would definitely have been in the lead. The part of Roger Willoughby, who wrote a book on fishing based on hearsay from the various customers he's dealt with at Abercrombie&Fitch, would have been ideal for Cary Grant as it has just the kind of physical comedy that Grant was so adept at.However Rock Hudson steps into the role admirably and for once he's the pursued and not the pursuer. Pursuing Hudson every step of the way is the kookie Paula Prentiss who seemed to study at the Carol Burnett school of zaniness for this part. On a bit of advice from public relations expert Prentiss, Hudson's boss at Abercrombie&Fitch, John McGiver, has him enter a fishing tournament. When Hudson confesses he's never fished and hates the slimy things, Prentiss decides to help fake it through.There are a lot of really great laughs in this film, but the best scene is Hudson trying out this inflatable suit for those who are fishing and fall in the water. He does and the results are hilarious.Don't miss this film if it is ever broadcast.