The Facts of Life

1960 "EXPOSED!"
The Facts of Life
6.3| 1h43m| NR| en| More Info
Released: 14 November 1960 Released
Producted By: HLP
Country: United States of America
Budget: 0
Revenue: 0
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Synopsis

Middle-class suburbanites Larry and Kitty grow bored with their lives and respective marriages. Although each always found the other's manner grating, they fall in love when thrown together--without their spouses--on vacation. On returning home they try to break things off, only to grow closer. A holiday together will finally settle whether they should end their marriages.

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kenjha Circumstances put two middle-aged people married to others into a romantic situation and an affair blossoms. The script by veteran writer Panama has some laughs, but this is not an all-out comedy. It has sentimental moments, and the comedy and the drama are integrated fairly well. This is one of four films teaming Hope and Ball and they work well together. When it comes to the dramatic scenes, however, it is difficult to buy Hope as a romantic leading man. He has all the sex appeal of a cucumber. Ball, on the other hand, shows herself to be a capable dramatic actress, giving a touching performance as a woman looking to spice up her life a bit.
Isaac5855 One of their later screen teamings, THE FACTS OF LIFE was a 1960 comedy, rather adult for its time, where Bob and Lucy play two friends, married to others, who usually participate in a group vacation together and through some freak circumstances , end up on the vacation alone this year and grow so close they actually drift into an affair and consider leaving their spouses. I have to admit that this movie was surprising to me when I first saw it a few months ago, so I'm sure it raised a few eyebrows in the 1960's...infidelity was most likely a bold subject for a movie comedy and I doubt if it was something Bob or Lucy had done prior to this. but for this day and age, this was a very adult movie comedy that probably didn't do the business it deserved in 1960 because of its "contorversial" storyline. Though it would hardly be considered controversial today, this film was probably quite the departure for its stars and as a curio of cinema history, it is definitely worth a look.
David (Handlinghandel) In some ways, this is like an "I Love Lucy" show with cursing, lots of drinking, and centering on adultery. Ball and Hope work well together.The plot begins inauspiciously: We see Hope doing a comedy gig as MC at a local event. We hear Ball's thoughts about how crass and unfunny he is. (And he -- this character, not Hope himself -- is.) Because of circumstances that throw them together, however, they are very soon sexually and romantically involved with each other.If one can get past this, which I could, the movie is sophisticated (well, for its time) and often funny. It was probably a courageous move for both of them to step into such a risqué plot.The supporting cast is good. Ruth Hussey plays Hope's wife. As always, she is good. But seeing her is sad: Though she looks fine, her voice had aged badly. Irene Dunne's did too. Though I am crazy about Dunne, her last couple movies are painful for this reason. Hussey sounds like an elderly woman, which she really was not. Ball's voice had gone the opposite direction: She speaks almost in the basso profondo of her later television series.If this turns up, give it a try. It's surpassingly good.
LarryBrownHouston This movie surprised me. I really enjoyed it. Lucy is stunning as a glamor star. She gets the soft focus and lighting, the glamor hair and makeup, but the showstopper is the glamor wardrobe. I've never seen her look more beautiful.I did not know that Lucy had made it so far in her movie career as to be able to star as a glamor girl, opposite Bob Hope yet. Another notch on the resume of this fascinating woman.My wife and I had just been discussing Lucy's talents as a straight actress and by coincidence this movie came on the next day. I had the opinion that Lucy was best in comedy and was not quite right in a straight role. This movie proved me wrong on that! She is convincing and when she kissed Bob I really believed it.Bob is also great. His comedy style here is more subtle than usual, playing funny bits off in a straight style without the usual hamming. The bit with the hankie made me belly laugh.The subject matter of this movie is similar to other movies of the early 60s as the sexual revolution was just starting...all clean and above board on the surface, yet doing their best to titillate us with sexual situations and innuendo. As I said in my review of Bob's "I'll Take Sweden," I find this juvenile and boring. There's no shock value left by now, so it falls flat. However, this movie tackles more serious subjects than simply titillating sex, namely the subjects of infidelity, marriage, and marital boredom. That is more interesting and even in 2005 I found the subject matter moving and thought-provoking.The script is tight and witty, with good dialog. The plot is also more or less water tight with plausible motivations.Good stuff....worth watching.