How to Commit Marriage
| How to Commit Marriage | |
|---|---|
| Directed by | Norman Panama |
| Written by | Michael Kanin Ben Starr |
| Produced by | Bill Lawrence |
| Starring | (See article) |
| Cinematography | Charles Lang |
| Edited by | Ronald Sinclair |
| Music by | Joseph J. Lilley |
Production company | Naho Productions |
| Distributed by | Cinerama Releasing Corporation |
Release date |
|
Running time | 95 min |
| Country |  United States |
| Language | English |
How to Commit Marriage is a 1969 comedy film directed by Norman Panama, featuring Bob Hope and Jackie Gleason in their only movie together. The film also stars Jane Wyman as Hope's wife, Tina Louise as record-producer Gleason's love interest, Leslie Nielsen as the straight man, and Irwin Corey as a middle eastern guru named "The Baba Zeba." Also in the cast is young Tim Matheson making his film debut.
This was Jane Wyman's final film appearance.
The rock band The Comfortable Chair appears as a hippie rock group, performing their song "A Child's Garden."
Plot
Nancy, the 19-year-old daughter of Frank and Elaine Benson, wants to marry David, the 20-year-old son of Oliver Poe. What the bride doesn't know is that her parents are about to get a divorce.
Poe, a music promoter, has a hunch something is amiss. He doesn't want the kids to get married, so before the wedding he exposes the Bensons' secret. Nancy and David decide marriage isn't necessary. They will live together instead, travel around the country with a rock band and heed the advice and wisdom of a Hindu mystic called The Baba Zeba.
Frank and Elaine are seeing other people. He is involved with a divorcee, Lois Grey, while she is developing an interest in Phil Fletcher, who also is recently divorced. Poe, meanwhile, continues to see his mistress, LaVerne Baker.
Then one day, Nancy finds out she is pregnant. The Baba Zeba persuades her to put up the baby for adoption. Frank and Elaine conspire behind their daughter's back to adopt their own grandchild.
Complications arise, resulting in Frank trying to bribe the guru and even disguising himself as one of the Baba Zeba's robed followers. By the end, all ends well for everybody, the Bensons getting back together and Poe proposing to LaVerne.
Cast
- Bob Hope as Frank Benson
- Jackie Gleason as Oliver Poe
- Jane Wyman as Elaine Benson
- Leslie Nielsen as Phil Fletcher
- Maureen Arthur as Lois Grey
- Tina Louise as LaVerne Baker
- Tim Matheson as David
- JoAnna Cameron as Nancy
- Irwin Corey as the Baba Zeba
External links
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