JohnHowardReid
A knockabout "comedy" with some too-very-much slapsticky antics from Tony Randall, which are so overdone that he outstays his initial welcome. Fred Clark and Philip Ober have some nice moments and the climax is reasonably entertaining, even if predictable once Debbie shows Tony that receipt which he tosses so casually aside (some bird- dog, he is!). Paul Douglas makes the mildly risqué jokes, Una Merkel stooges and Debbie Reynolds has the title song and a few bars of Cole Porter's "Under My Skin". Aside from some unflattering close-ups, Debbie looks grand. But George Marshall's direction is strictly routine even on just a low yoke-yoke level – as are other credits which waste Cinemascope on what is basically a minor, flat-footed domestic monkeyshine, a sort of very moderate "A" re-visit to a Ma and Pa Kettle "B". It's hard to believe this script was actually based on an H.E. Bates novel!
MartinHafer
If you are the sort of person looking for a realistic film or one with a strong and believable plot, then this film is NOT for you. Nope--you'll hate it. However, for those who like sweet, slightly screwball comedies, then you'll have a nice time watching this slight film.Tony Randall works for the IRS and he investigates a very nice farmer who never realized he needed to file an income tax return. However hard he tries to convince them of the seriousness of his visit, everyone in the family is thrilled to have company. They dote on him and treat him like one of the family,...and have plans on getting him hitched to their daughter, Debbie Reynolds. That's really about all the plot there is. But the film gets high marks for a fun script and decent acting. A really nice little curio from the late 1950s.
bkoganbing
The Mating Game's plot is based entirely on the premise that in the mid 20th century, a family could live on the barter system and hence not come up on anyone's radar including the IRS. It was forced then, but in today's computer world with the increasing use of credit cards, it would be impossible to make.Yet that is what we are to believe about the Larkin clan led by Paul Douglas and Una Merkel and their five kids, oldest being Debbie Reynolds who dusts off her Tammy character for this film. A neighbor, Philip Ober, who is a little tired of the Larkin's Tobacco Road ways, has finally ratted them out to the IRS and Tony Randall's been sent to investigate the situation.The rest of the film is about the Larkin income tax situation and how everything is ultimately resolved in the end. The best scenes in the movie involve Tony Randall getting smashed on some of the Larkin's concocted schnapps.Unfortunately in order to make this work it would have to have been set maybe at the turn of the 20th century. Had they done so, the situations might have been believable. For instance, the Larkins have a television. I'd love to know just what they would have offered in barter every month for the electric bill. Or how did they manage to pay the phone bill.
Ripshin
Disappointing Reynolds comedy, with a miscast Tony Randall as the potentialromantic interest. The whole plot of the parents attempting to "rope in" a beau for daughter Reynolds would have been dated in 1959, and it certainly is cringe-worthy in 2004. However, the incident of having Randall think he hasdrunkenly slept with the young Reynolds does not gel with the rest of the film's innocence. The parent's decision to liquor up Randall in the first place isstrange enough, especially when he starts "comically" running around thehouse in his underwear, with several of Reynold's young siblings present.Reynolds was wrapping up her divorce with Eddie Fisher during the filming of"The Mating Game," and her usual perkiness appears obviously forced in manyscenes.WHY does my posting look like this????????
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