Man's Favorite Sport?
by Howard Hawks
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DVD Cover Information
Actor: Charlene Holt, John McGiver, Maria Perschy, Paula Prentiss, Rock HudsonDirector: Howard Hawks
Brand: Universal Studios
Cinematographer: Russell Harlan
Producer: Howard Hawks
Editor: Stuart Gilmore
Producer: Paul Helmick
Writer: John Fenton Murray
Writer: Pat Frank
Writer: Steve McNeil
DVD: Region Code 1
Audio: English (Unknown), Dolby Digital 2.0 Stereo; Spanish (Subtitled); French (Subtitled); English (Original Language), Dolby Digital 2.0 Stereo
Format: Closed-captioned, Color, Dolby, DVD, NTSC, Subtitled, Widescreen
Picture Format: 1.85:1
Running Time: 120 minutes
DVD Release Date: 2003-07-01
Audience Rating: NR (Not Rated)
Studio: Universal Studios
Movie Reviews of Man's Favorite Sport?
Movie Review: Confucius say: The favorite sport of man...is girls!
Summary: 5 Stars
Long after his heyday, legendary director Howard Hawks underwent a career resurgence in the early 60's with his box office hits RIO BRAVO (1959) and HATARI! (1962). MAN'S FAVORITE SPORT?, released in 1964, was Hawks's next offering and didn't perform as well in the movie theater. It was the fourth-to-last film he would direct and was intended to be a starring vehicle for Cary Grant, who eventually turned down the role. So in stepped the capable Rock Hudson, who may not be Cary Grant but still was flying high on his two recent successful pairings with Doris Day (PILLOW TALK and LOVER COME BACK).
Here's the plot: MAN'S FAVORITE SPORT? involves sporting goods salesman Roger Willoughby (Rock Hudson) who, based on the popular fishing book he'd written and being hailed as an authority on angling, is invited by Abby Page (Paula Prentiss), the public relations director of the Lake Wakapoogie resort, to participate in its 36th Annual Fishing Tournament, which commences in a week's time. But, unbeknownst to everyone, Roger had never before fished in his life! Nevertheless, with an adamant Ms. Page insisting that he compete or lose his cushy job, Roger has no choice but to learn how to be an outdoorsman in three days, with the dubious assistance of Abby...Um, Roger better bring his book.
This very funny film is a fond callback to the screwball comedies of yore, which really isn't that big of a stretch for Howard Hawks as he himself was responsible for several of the best screwballs ever crafted (TWENTIETH CENTURY, BRINGING UP BABY, HIS GIRL FRIDAY, and BALL OF FIRE). Come to think of it, this film's basic premise is borrowed straight from a William Powell subplot in LIBELED LADY, while Hawks recycles a hilarious sequence from his own BRINGING UP BABY. No, MAN'S FAVORITE SPORT? may not be classic Hawks, but it sparkles enough in its generosity in side-splitting humor and in its breezy Rated G sexcapades. Yes, Roger does manage to nab some fish but certainly not thru any traditional angling means. A bear even figures into two of the comedic sequences, one sequence kinda lame but the other, very funny. But, for all its outdoorsy trappings, this flick is still very decidedly a sophisticated and appealing exercise in bawdiness, rife with visual titillations and innuendos. The fact that Henry Mancini smoothly provides the scoring merely adds to the playful suggestiveness...
While the Gods of the Funny didn't see fit to bestow upon Mr. Hudson Cary Grant's gift for sublimely nuanced expressions and gestures, he does compensate here with several moments of inspired physical comedy. Hudson does attempt to channel Grant at his most befuddled and somewhat succeeds. All in all, Rock Hudson's performance is to be commended. I haven't seen a lot of Paula Prentiss, but she is deliriously good here as she follows Hawks' established pattern for his leading ladies. As Abby Page, she's pushy, ditzy, and winsomely oblivious, the 1960s reincarnation of Katherine Hepburn's Susan Vance. And, oh my, those legs...
Two other lovely women are spotlighted in their splendid scantiness: the good-natured Maria Perschy as Abby's teutonic pal Easy and Charlene Holt as Roger's fiancee Tex. Norman Alden provides a few worn chuckles as John Screaming Eagle, the resort's scheming American Indian with a hidden heart of gold.
At just around 2 hours long, the movie moves at a brisk pace. This film may not showcase Howard Hawks at his all-time best, but it's not exactly a spoonful of doodoo, either. At 68 years old, he definitely still had mastery of his craft. Hudson and Prentiss provide some diverting give and take. I particularly enjoy Prentiss's offbeat delivery of her lines as well as her uninhibited laughter. Now, you may not learn much about the outdoors from this flick (that ten-eleven-then-nine-o'clock casting routine just doesn't work for me), but you'll have fun snickering at Roger Willoughby as he miserably stews in his own haplessness, with the cheerful Abby each time seemingly laying the groundwork for his next mishap. And, if you're a guy, you get to ogle at some gorgeous women in their nighties. So what's not to like here?
Summary of Man's Favorite Sport?
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