A Touch of Class (1973)

Self-important, over-dramatic, uninspired.

A Disappointing Continuation

I was totally surprised at how great this film.You could feel your paranoia rise as the film went on and as you gradually learned the details of the real situation.

Each character in this movie — down to the smallest one — is an individual rather than a type, prone to spontaneous changes of mood and sometimes amusing outbursts of pettiness or ill humor.

The "Love Affair" has been a constant in movies since their beginning and will probably continue to be so as long as cinema is around and society is the way it is with men and women. So comes "A Touch of Class", directed by Melvin Frank, which feels completely like a frolic. It manages to successfully depict a cheating relationship with a homespun, almost as if it were normal, feel. The dialog is a mix of cheekiness and older generation frankness. Not having seen many '73 movies, Glenda Jackson is the stand-out performance and apparently received an Academy Award for her work, which seems too high a praise - but the performance is still good to be sure. Filming locations were on locales, and Paul Sorvino looks a bunch younger than most of the movies I've seen him and his full of spirit and even sage. Segal runs his mouth like typical New Yorker. Definitely worth a watch for the performances, sometimes the dialog, and peek back into the 70s yester-decade.

It's hard to imagine how this film got such a strong reception on its first release. Viewed several decades later, it's trite, formulaic, frustrating, and downright dumb.The strongest redeeming factor is Glenda Jackson: sharp as always, and fun to watch even in this mess. (Unfortunately, her talents are offset by the smirking anti-charismatic presence of George Segal.) Another plus: the lovely locations, especially in London, which make the film at first seem like one of those effervescent European sex comedies... rather than the cliché-ridden Hollywood farce that it is. On top of everything else, the plot is basically a needless reworking of Melvin Frank's far better 1960 film, The Facts of Life. The older film must have been far more adventuresome in its time. It's also blessed with the wonderful pairing of Bob Hope and Lucille Ball. And it actually manages to be about something.A Touch of Class is pretty much the bottom of the barrel for Melvin Frank fans. My advice: check out The Facts of Life, or The Court Jester, and give this creaky curio a miss.

I saw this movie when I was twenty-three years old. Paul Sorvino's line or question never really made any sense to me. He asked Steve (George Segal) if he loved her (Vicky, Glenda Jackson) enough to give her up. What kind of a nonsensical question is that? Vicky had nothing to lose with Steve choosing her. She would only lose if he DIDN'T choose her. So what does she get when Steve blows her off? Exactly what she already had. Suppose however that Sorvino had asked Vicky that question. THEN it would have made sense. Because Vicky would have been making a choice between having NOTHING or having Steve at the price of destroying a happy marriage. Vicky would have actually SACRIFICED something, her own "happiness" for Steve. But Steve wouldn't have the same sacrifice presented to him. His choice was simply, THIS woman, whom you love, or THAT woman, whom you also love. BFD! 2 years later, I found myself in such a situation (from the Vicky perspective), in circumstances so unique, I might as well have been in another galaxy. And I made the wrong choice. I destroyed a relationship and as for myself, I wound up with nothing anyway.

Glenda Jackson won the Academy Award for her performance here, and whilst not brilliant, she plays her character very well and she has good chemistry with George Segal. The dialogue is at times sharp and witty, yet the film's screenplay is not all that great because the content is stretched a little thin to bear the stretch of feature length. Also, the supporting characters are mostly silly stereotypes that hang around the set but add little to the story. Some of the jokes are also repetitive and predictable. However, it is an interesting enough film to watch, despite the premise being unoriginal, because of the two lead characters being well-mannered, refined types - quite different to the average couple in this type of film.