House Calls (1978)

No Description Available.
Genre: Feature Film-Comedy
Rating: NR
Release Date: 31-MAY-2005
Media Type: DVD Product Description

House calls for whoopee

"House Calls" is a delightful romantic comedy that focuses on prevalent social issues. Walter Matthau and Glenda Jackson have a wonderful chemistry together. Art Carney plays to caricature the bumbling bureacrat and surgeon who is director of an unsuccesful hospital. Richard Benjamin, so popular in 1978 when the film was released, was charming as Matthau's foil.

Jackson and Matthau first meet when Jackson is a patient of an ancient medical practice administered by Carney's character. Matthau, a top surgeon and recent widower beset by younger social climbers seeking his attentions, rectifies the old treatment with a simple medical procedure.

They next meet as debaters on a television program. After all the chirpies, he is intrigued by a woman who is closer to his age and can think. How they get together is a hilarious scene and a natural development of a relationship, instead of his usual flowers, dinner, overnight roll in the sack, home the next morning.

The title refers, of course, to the house calls he makes to his younger dates, not in any way related to doctor visits. This film is enjoyable with a definite nod toward compatibility and marriage. According to my brother, "It's a pretty good movie," expressed with approval. Of course, I agree.

4.5 stars (Art Carney was annoying.)

August 14, 2008

DVD20080223-2

Another enjoyable comedy. I think that Genda Jackson and Walter Mathou are a very good comedy team; they work well together. This is another movie that is rarely seen on any of the movie channels which is unfortnate. They seem intent on showing the junk that's cheap instead of that which is good entertainment. February 23, 2008

A mature romantic comedy

It may have marked the beginning of his `loveable' phase, but Walter Matthau is still on top form in House Calls, which sees him well paired with Glenda Jackson in a mature romantic comedy that has aged remarkably well. Funny lines abound alongside a couple of good comic setpieces (such as the unlikely couple trying to find out if the old Hays Code film censorship rule from the 1930s about having one foot on either side of the bed really does make sex impossible, a scene that feels like Julius J. Epstein's revenge on the censors), but what really makes it work is that character is never sacrificed for a quick laugh. What's more, these two people really do seem to belong together, and they exude comfort in their scenes together that's the very definition of screen chemistry. Sadly the DVD has been partially rescored (somehow Matthau and Jackson speedwalking in slow motion seems a lot less funny with a Henry Mancini underscore than the original Something in the Way She Moves Me) but otherwise is well worth the bargain price. February 9, 2008

House Calls

This a really great movie; a classic Glenda Jackson & Walter Matthau! It is a fabulously funny romantic comedy. House Calls November 29, 2007

Entertaining Romantic Comedy That Inspired A Short-Lived TV Sitcom

The 1978 film "House Calls", directed by Howard Zieff (who also directed the 1980 comedy "Private Benjamin"), is an romantic entertaining comedy focused around the lives of several doctors working in a fictitious hospital in California. The main character, Dr. Charley Nichols, who was played by the wonderful actor Walter Matthau (1920-2000), is a recent widower who begins to have a series of short romantic interludes with a number of women until he happens across a woman in the hospital that has a minor jaw fracture and is being treated by the hospital's aging & increasingly senile chief-of-staff, Dr. Amos Willoughby (Art Carney, 1918-2003, who is often remembered for playing the character "Ralph" in the mid-1950's sitcom "The Honeymooners"). The woman, Ann Atkinson (Glenda Jackson), quickly agrees to allow Dr. Nichols to treat her instead of Dr. Willoughby. Later, Ann & Dr. Nichols are each invited to a medical debate on a PBS talk show and eventually end up dating each other; but, can Dr. Nichols give up running around with other women? Throw into this the death of a prominent patient at the hospital, whose grieving widow (Candice Azzara) is threatening to sue the hospital if the hospital accepts a donation from her dead husband's estate, as well as Dr. Willoughby desperately wanting to keep his position as chief-of-staff and you have the recipe for a very entertaining film.

With a funny plot and engaging characters, "House Calls" deserves a rating of 4 out of 5 stars. Though not nominated for any major awards, it inspired the creation of a television sitcom of the same name that ran for three seasons between 1979 to 1982 with Wayne Rogers taking on Walter Matthau's role from the film. Other memorable characters from the film include Dr. Norman Solomon (Richard Benjamin) and Irwin Owett (Dick O'Neill, 1928-1998).
October 21, 2007

More reviews at Amazon.com ...