Good Neighbor Sam

Infobox Film | name =Good Neighbor Sam
caption =VHS cover
director = David Swift
producer = David Swift
writer = Jack Finney (novel)
starring =Jack Lemmon
Romy Schneider
Dorothy Provine
Mike Connors
cinematography = Burnett Guffey
music = Frank De Vol
editing =
distributor = Columbia Pictures
released = July 22, 1964 U.S. release
runtime = 130 min.
language = English
budget =
imdb_id = 0058153

"Good Neighbor Sam" is a 1964 comedy film co-written and directed by David Swift and starring Jack Lemmon. It was based on the novel by Jack Finney. Other writers included James Fritzell and Everett Greenbaum.

Plot

Lemmon plays Sam Bissel, a hard-working family man, who is in advertising, with kids and a loving beautiful wife, Min (Dorothy Provine). Two simultaneous happenings occur to spark insanity in Sam's life and the people around him:

*1. An extremely important and very old-fashioned client (Edward G. Robinson) of his company is considering taking his business elsewhere after it seems there are no "family men" working at Sam's company. The boss, Mr. Burke (Edward Andrews), is told by Sam's neighbor and friend Earl (Robert Q. Lewis) that Sam is just the man he is looking for. The client, Simon Nurdlinger, is delighted by Sam and agrees to do business with him and the company. Sam feels his career is now on the way up and he goes home to his wife, with champagne, to celebrate. There, he meets her friend, Janet (Romy Schneider) and they all have dinner together to celebrate his promotion and Janet moving in next door.

*2. Min's best friend Janet Lagerlof, a beautiful French woman, recently divorced her husband Howard (Mike Connors) and is happier than ever. She is moving in next door to the Bissels and has also come into a large inheritance from her uncle, which she later finds out, along with Sam and Min, is 15 million dollars. She is informed that there is a requirement in her uncle's will, which says that the only way the money will go to her is if she is still married to Howard. They inform her that in this state, divorce is not final until a year from when the papers are signed and Janet got divorced only 6 months ago. Therefore, simply hiding the marital separation from her cousins Irene (Anne Seymour) and Jack (Charles Lane), who are the benefactors of the clause, will do the trick and get her the money.

Soon after Janet is informed about her uncle's will, her cousins show up. Sam, who was helping Janet move in, must pretend to be Janet's husband Howard. They are fairly convincing and the cousins leave the house, but wait in their car across the street, still suspicious. To make it look good, Janet offers to drive Sam to work. They explain everything to Min and go along. With 15 million dollars at stake, Irene and Jack won't quit and follow them. To make it look convincing, Sam and Janet kiss before he exits the car to go to work. Watching them, however, are Sam's boss and his new client, Mr. Nurdlinger. Not wanting Nurdlinger to think of him as a non-family man, Sam must pretend to him too that Janet is his beloved wife. From there mayhem ensues when the cousins hire a PI (Louis Nye), Janet's husband (Mike Connors) comes back into the picture and jealousy and lust erupts, with good neighbor Sam stuck right in the middle.

Cast

*Jack Lemmon — Sam Bissel
*Romy Schneider — Janet Lagerlof
*Dorothy Provine — Minerva Bissel
*Mike Connors — Howard Ebbets (as Michael Connors)
*Edward Andrews — Mr. Burke
*Louis Nye — Reinhold Shiffner, detective
*Robert Q. Lewis — Earl, neighbor
*Edward G. Robinson — Simon Nurdlinger
*Anne Seymour — Irene Krump
*Charles Lane — Jack Bailey
*Barbara Bouchet — Receptionist

Trivia

*This was the last film that Jack Lemmon did for Columbia Pictures. He had been a Columbia player throughout the 1950s. The studio was the first to sign Lemmon up when he was first starting out as an actor in 1953.

External links

*imdb title|id=0058153|title=Good Neighbor Sam