This story has more twists and turns than a second-rate soap opera.

I didn’t really have many expectations going into the movie (good or bad), but I actually really enjoyed it. I really liked the characters and the banter between them.

One of the worst ways to make a cult movie is to set out to make a cult movie.

It is neither dumb nor smart enough to be fun, and spends way too much time with its boring human characters.

OK, so Henry Levin's "If a Man Answers" has a dated depiction of relations between men and women. But there was a scene early in the movie that informs us of a continuing problem: parents' excessive insistence that their children get married or do whatever. Does the older generation not realize that sometimes the younger one needs to take the time to figure out where it wants to go? There's a reason why large numbers of millennials are still single. Sandra Dee's earlier movie "A Summer Place" also looked at tension between the generations: she and Troy Donahue are in love, but their cold, spiteful, bigoted parents won't hear of it.Like most of Sandra Dee's movies, this one is real eye candy. Enjoyable eye candy, I should say. The movie even goes so far as to mention sex education (much like how "A Summer Place" used the word sex). It's a safe bet that anyone who scorns it would praise it if it starred the overrated Doris Day. Dee - anorexic for much of her young adulthood due to her treatment by the studio execs - finally got the respect that she deserved when the Castro Theater in San Francisco hosted a retrospective of her movies, and she attended as guest of honor.

I can't decide which is more noteworthy about this film – how incredibly sexist it is, how incredibly provincial it is or how its two stars are so clearly inferior versions of other performers.If A Man Answers is a romantic comedy about Chantal Stacy (Sandra Dee), the young daughter of a French mother and Boston father, and her eventual marriage to Eugene Wright (Bobby Darin), a New York City photographer who gives up his bachelor ways for his cute and spunky bride. Chantal starts out as the sort of hot-and-cold girl who dates lots of guys but never lets any of them get past first base. Her parents move to New York City, and even though she's theoretically a grown woman, Chantal tags along. In the city, she meets Eugene and latches onto him as "The One" for her. They're married in short order and the rest of the story focuses on Chantal's efforts to make Eugene into a better husband. First, she follows her mother's advice and literally tries to train Eugene like puppy. Then, following more of her mother's advice, she invents a lover to try and make Eugene jealous. But the comments of her passive-aggressive girlfriend Tina (Stephanie Powers) and the imaginary lover showing up in the flesh at her door send Chantal's plans quite awry.Even for its era, this is a remarkably sexist movie. Not in a "women are stupid and can't do anything themselves" way, but in a "women's entire existence revolves around their men" way. The story proposes that there are only two phases to a woman's life… 1. Land a husband.2. Make him happy.The idea the husband has anything of value to contribute to the marriage or has to take any responsibility for it is never even suggested. Eugene, frankly, acts like a complete ass at times, yet his bad behavior is accepted as perfectly normal for a married man. If you ever want to see what pre-feminist concepts of female empowerment were like, watch If A Man Answers. Both Chantal and her mother are portrayed as the ones who are really in charge of their families, but all their actions are subservient to the needs of their husbands. In a certain sense, they're more like social secretaries than wives. This film is also relentless in promoting marriage as the only appropriate and fulfilling destiny for a woman. The possibility a woman could find anything of value is a life without marriage is not just ignored, it's deliberately undermined.This movie also reminds us how much bigger the world used to be. Chantal having a French mother is treated like the most amazing thing in the world, as though someone from a foreign country marrying an American is something that only happened once a century or so. And Chantal's mother Germaine (Micheline Presle) is portrayed as this wise guru on all things romantic. You know the old movie clichés about all American Indians being more in touch with the land or all Asians being good at karate? That's how this movie treats Germaine, like she's an alien from a more advanced culture who fell in love with one of the Earth natives and uses her sophisticated insight to bring joy and love to her family. She's like a cross between Cupid and Kaine from the TV show Kung Fu.Finally, you can't watch If A Man Answers without noticing that its two lead performers are really knock offs of much bigger movie stars. Sandra Dee is obviously a copy of Doris Day. She's not a cheap copy, but she's definitely bargain priced. Bobby Darin, however, is what you would get if you took Dean Martin, sucked out most of his charm, talent and attractiveness and then shrunk him by about a foot. In fact, when Cesar Romero shows up in the story, he's not only more charming in every way but you can't help but observe that he could pick up Bobby Darin and use him as a toothpick. Darin may have been a very good singer and showman, but he's got no business starring in a motion picture. And while Dee is nice and all that in her own right, if you've ever seen a Doris Day movie you can't help but notice that Dee is a measurably less wonderful imitation.If you can get past its, at times, jaw-dropping sexism and the fact that Bobby Darin is no good at all, If A Man Answers is a fairly pleasant relic from a bygone age. If you liked Doris Day's films, you'll enjoy this as the sincerest form of flattery.

A lot of cute fun with some wonderful moments. Sandra Dee is adorable and Bobby Daren is even better. The actress who plays Dee's mother, Micheline Presle, is the highlight of the film. Just like in Molly Hewitt's contemporary humor book "Men Are Dogs: In the Best Possible Sense!", she advises her daughter that if you think of a man as a completely different species from women (i.e. that they're dogs) then you will understand why they behave very differently from women. But the point of both the movie and the book, it's okay, men and women just aren't the same thing, and it's the little differences that are so funny. And if you haven't seen "Beyond the Sea" check it out. It's the Bobby Darin bio pic that will be in theaters soon.

If you love the lighthearted, romantic comedies of the 1960s, then you'll consider this one of the all time classics. In the same genre as the wonderful Doris Day movies of the same era, this will provide fun, wholesome viewing. A must-have for movie collectors of this time period!