Wonderful Movie

Excellent but underrated film

An old-fashioned movie made with new-fashioned finesse.

The movie's neither hopeful in contrived ways, nor hopeless in different contrived ways. Somehow it manages to be wonderful

Glenda Jackson's second Oscar-winning picture, A TOUCH OF CLASS is a UK production, but directed by American writer-director Melvin Frank (fairly to say, it has to be his most accomplished work), an urban relationship caricature precisely broaches a modernised (feminist) view on an extramarital affair between an American married man Steve Blackburn (Segal) and a British divorcée Vickie Allessio (Jackson).Steve is a successful business man, living in London with his wife Gloria (Neil) and two children, he is handsome, virile, a jock of baseball and golf, so after several chance meetings with the alluring but independent Vickie, all he wants is to woo her for a "quickie" during his lunch break. But Vickie is not a bimbo, although she jovially accepts Steve's invitation and doesn't mind a depressurising rumpy pumpy with a man she finds attractive, she demands to do it under better surroundings, with "a touch of class". Intrigued, Steve arranges a trip to Málaga with her, to consummate their affair.A chain of mishaps will occur even before their tryst, from Steve's desperate attempt to persuade his wife from joining him for the so-called "business trip", to the encounter with his friend Walter (Sorvino) in the airport, it is sheer magic how Frank and his co-writer Jack Rose can extract humour and laughter out of other people's misfortunes without ever over-stuffing the gags (a negative example can be observed from Arthur Hiller's Neil Simon-penned THE OUT-Of- TOWNERS, 1970) and run them smoothly with conviction and élan.It is so true, a short trip is the best way to know about each other, Steve and Vickie clash vigorously, a tug-of-war of bedroom quarrel-fest chiding each other's stereotyped characters, a.k.a. the libido-driven American man against the uppity British woman, Segal and Jackson spark off engagingly in their two-handers, eventually a woman's abrasive sagacity prevails over a man's immature grumble (that's why Jackson is the mature one, since most of her points are right on the nose), which plausibly abides by the corny but enigmatic allure of the antithesis and creates an amazing aura of sexual magnetism, thus paves the way for the next step - their consensual arrangement of renting a flat together.Back to London, the affair continues, Steve squeezes time from dog-walking, or sneaks out in the middle of a Beethoven concert and return, to conduct the carnal knowledge in their secret flat. Soon or later, as we expect, a "casual" relationship is slowly but inevitably consumed by the weary day-to-day dissatisfaction and in a cerebral move, after admitting that she is behaving like a wife, Vickie has the boldness to end it (although the movie considerably let Steve initiate the motive), after all her emotional baggage is the lighter one, whereas Steve is bogged down in his dither, and finds the courage to let it go, thanks to her, eventually.Ingenious, brisk and without a whiff of patronising either sex, A TOUCH OF CLASS is a top-shelf comedy where Segal and Jackson are at the top of their games. Also, as a footnote it reminds us to why David Lean's BRIEF ENCOUNTER (1945) is a must-see for everyone!

The plot summary listed on this website for this movie does the movie a great discredit. This is a charming comedy of mores that couldn't get made today because of our changing ideas of what is and is not "moral." The script sparkles with great lines and the emotional life of the film is complex. In today's world of "black and white morality" this movie will be misunderstood. It's not about philandering or cheating. It's about unexpected love and the complications of that. Today's audience won't get it, but for the generation for whom this film was made, it still touches the heart. The great music score features two terrific Sammy Cahn/George Barrie songs. One of my favorites to watch again and again.

I saw this movie in 1976 and loved it. It was the first time I saw a movie where a woman had an affair with a married man that made me sympathize with the woman. At the same time I also felt sorry for the man, but not as much because he lied to her about his marriage making her think he wasn't happy with his wife and that their marriage was a sham. I've tried several times to rent this movie but have not been able to find it. I've tried all the main rental places such as Hastings, Hollywood Video and several smaller mom and pop type video rental places, but all to no avail The movie is good because it shows all the pitfalls of getting involved with someone who is married and yet has a tenderness about it that makes you understand why it happens. It is good for young girls to see because they can see how a man can take advantage of a gullible young woman by saying the right things. At the same time, it is interesting that the lead female role play by Glenda Jackson is anything but gullible in every other way. She is a strong woman with a strong personality who speaks up for herself but falls into the all too often belief that her love can make all the difference and that their love is so unique and wonderful that it cannot possibly fail and that he will leave his wife for her because he cannot live without her. Unfortunately, real life is not like fantasy and the practical takes over when the sun rises on the often cold reality of the pain and financial strain that breaking off a relationship can bring. Also, this man like many others didn't want to leave his marriage he just wanted to have an affair to fill whatever voids were there real or imagined. Still, I liked this movie and have often thought about it over the years. For me this is the true test of how effectively a story touches me.

The main interest of the film is the presence of two wonderful actors, Glenda Jackson and George Segal. They support the movie from the beginning with very good acted dialogues and a lot of humor. "A touch of class" works very well for the first part -the way the two meet in London and their funny holiday in Spain-. After that the film becomes less interesting, many scenes become quite boring. It seems that director Melvin Frank put all his energy in showing how this two people learn to accept and to love each other... Even if the movie doesn't end in a conventional way, it begins to lack speed in the second half.It's a pity, because it could have been a classic.