House Calls

I may be stretching it a bit to rate this film six stars. And it gets that rating mostly for the fine performance of Art Carney as Dr.

Walter Matthau stars as a surgeon who is enjoying his new-found role as most desirable bachelor around. His pal, Richard Benjamin (his wonderful droll self) points out what a cliche' this is, but Matthau doesn't care.

I remember seeing this 1978 comedy at one of the bargain matinees I took in when I was looking for a study break from my college courses. Walter Matthau and Glenda Jackson do some effective Tracy-Hepburn-style thrusting-and-parrying in this featherweight romp directed by the reliable Howard Zieff (he did "Private Benjamin") about a newly widowed doctor's aggressive re-entry into the dating game.

Late one night on Tom Snyder's "Tomorrow" Show, I watched Tom ask his guest Henry Morgan what he considered to be 'perfect.' Morgan responded, "Anything with Glenda Jackson.

Every avid movie fan has a few films that are their "secret gems" - movies that not everyone knows about but ones you will recommend they see with great enthusiasm...."You really have to see this...

HOUSE CALLS was an amusing 1978 comedy about a widowed doctor (Walter Matthau) who now wants to play the field but can't help but be drawn to a patient of his (Glenda Jackson) who refuses to be just another notch on his bedpost. Matthau likes the woman but does not really want to make the commitment that she insists upon so he agrees to date her exclusively for two weeks and then make a decision as to whether or not he wants to commit; however, other complications make it difficult for Matthau to make a decision when the two weeks are up, even though he is clearly in love with the woman.

Walter Matthau is best remembered for the long series of comedies he did with his equal comedy partner Jack Lemmon from THE FORTUNE COOKIE to THE ODD COUPLE II. But people tend to forget that in the late 1970s he appeared with another partner in two films - a female partner.

In 1978 Walter Matthau, Glenda Jackson, Art Carney, and Richard Benjamin appeared in a comedy about the medical profession in a big city hospital called HOUSE CALLS. It was a good comedy, and would lead to one of the film partnerships of Matthau's career - his two film partnership with Jackson.