A Touch of Class (1973)

It's tame in hindsight, but A Touch of Class brought much-needed prestige to the romantic-comedy trend of the early and mid 1970s. Glenda Jackson won an Oscar® for her performance as a savvy London divorcée who falls in love with married insurance agent George Segal, and the film surprised critics by earning a Best Picture nomination as well. Chemistry's the key, with Jackson and Segal equally adept at bickering and making up (and she even has a gay male friend, long before that became a genre cliché). What begins as a routine affair--complicated by a wide spectrum of lightly comedic pitfalls--ends with mutual love and the dilemma it creates. Writer-director Melvin Frank keeps the dialogue briskly intelligent, and while he can't match Neil Simon word for word, Touch mines the same romantic territory that was perfected in Simon's later hit The Goodbye Girl. Consider them a fine double bill, with A Touch of Class ranking a respectable second. --Jeff Shannon Amazon.com essential video

My favorite Glenda Jackson film

This is one of my favorite romantic comedies, for several reasons: good writing, fine acting, London in the early 70's, and Glenda Jackson. It evokes a time which was memorable for those of us who were born and raised during the turbulent 60's. After a decade of such angst, society seemed to regain a bit of self-deprecating humor with the dawn of the 70's. It is precisely that brand of humor that I find appealing in this film. The dialogue is sharp, sophisticated, and has the great good fortune to be delivered by two fine actors; Glenda Jackson being especially deft, tossing out acidly witty, intelligent retorts with withering English stoicism. She is clearly the "class" in the film.

Yes, it is "dated" -- the clothes, the coifs, phrases such as, "He's my male secretary", the rather pointed portrayal of a gay man -- but for those who like to wallow in nostalgia every once in a while, those things are positives rather than negatives. I highly recommend this movie to fans of Glenda Jackson, London, and witty dialogue.

November 14, 2007

Still Holds Up

George Seagal and Glenda Jackson are wonderful in this comedy about extramarital affairs. You also get to see a very young Paul Sorvino. May 7, 2007

Should've Been on the AFI's list of "Top 100 Romantic Films"

I saw this movie when it first came out in the 70's and have seen it many times on and off for years.

The movie is funny, but what makes it work is the two stars. George Segal (who never looked better) is in fine comedic form, and he and Glenda Jackson complement each other perfectly. She was especially singled out for critical acclaim -- some people compared her to Katharine Hepburn in Hepburn's comedic roles.

The movie also affords a look at London in the early 70's.

Because the actors work so well together, I would've liked a different (happier) ending for the movie. Still, after thirty years, "A Touch of Class" remains very watchable and poignant -- largely because of the two stars. November 10, 2002

creepy and disturbing

I did not like this movie. I know that times have changed and it would be revisionist to hold this movie to millennium standards of sexual conduct and infidelity. Nonetheless, I found it very disturbing: his lack of concern for his wife and children, how the wife was unsympathetic and one dimensional, and how absolutely de rigueur it was in the sixties for married men to have "a bit on the side." And what about her kids? apart from the first scene we never see them again; she instead seems to spend all her time cooking and keeping house for a married man. I'm not a prude, really, but this film left a bad taste in my mouth. July 15, 2002

One of the funniest, sexiest, smartest movies I've ever seen

...and I'm not easy to please. It's strange when you realize just how sexy George Segal was. But the movie is wonderfully written, sharp, smart and incredibly funny. I saw another reviewer liked The Goodbye Girl better. I prefered this...Sharper, more biting, less sentimental. That doesn't mean it's heartless or even cynical, just that it's lacking in syrup. George Segal and Glenda Jackson have the all the chemistry and the comedic chops (and then some) needed to make this movie work. This movie made me laugh a lot, was sexy enough to warm any cold night and smart enough to make me feel like the people who made it figured I had at least a high school education. How come comedic movies this smart don't get made by the major studios anymore? April 30, 2002

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