Powerful

This is a tender, generous movie that likes its characters and presents them as real people, full of flaws and strengths.

The film makes a home in your brain and the only cure is to see it again.

It is a whirlwind of delight --- attractive actors, stunning couture, spectacular sets and outrageous parties.

Billed as a comedy, "The Gazebo" stars Glenn Ford as Elliott Nash, an overwrought writer who is no fun to be around, but for some reason his wife, Nell (played by Debbie Reynolds) is constantly smiling and affectionate, as if she is reacting to someone else.Elliott is the victim of a blackmailer. Eventually, he decides the only way out is to kill the blackmailer. But Elliott is very inept at crime. What follows is hilarity, or at least it is supposed to be.I actually think Glenn Ford did a good job of acting, but he was miscast. While watching, I kept thinking that if Dick Van Dyke or--better yet--Jack Lemmon had played his role, it would have actually been funny.Debbie Reynolds' role is minimal. Too bad, because her light-hearted presence saves the film to some degree. She sings one song, but mostly her talents are wasted.I found this film painful to watch and tedious, despite the talents involved.

It's a good movie and I was surprised at several points but I wouldn't have been if I'd read the reviews so please be more considerate of others who still want the same experience you had when you first saw it.I was impressed by the intelligence of this movie. What mystery writer doesn't think how he or she would handle things in real life? The physical comedy was excellent. I knew Reynolds was that good but Ford was a revelation. The costars were wonderful and always engaging when they were on screen. Because we later saw so many of them on TV shows this movie has a rather made-for-TV air about it, if those were this high in quality. And dragging in Hitchcock was terrific. What more could a mystery writer ask for in his own murder plot? Not the best movie I've ever seen but a lot of fun. How would YOU get rid of a body? :)

Unfortunately I'm in the minority when it comes to "The Gazebo," a 1959 comedy starring Glenn Ford and Debbie Reynolds and directed by George Marshall. As I correctly guessed, this film is based on a play. The premise is that a TV writer (Ford) is being blackmailed over "art" photos of his now Broadway-star wife (Reynolds) and is growing desperate as the financial demands of the blackmailer grow bigger. He lures the man to his house, kills him, and buries him at the site of the couple's new gazebo. Problems ensue, such as rain.I'm a big fan of Glenn Ford's, and I thought he and Debbie Reynolds made a wonderful couple. At the time the film was made, I think both were at the height of their popularity -- Ford was the #1 box office star in 1958, and Debbie graced the cover of every fan magazine. Then there was all the Eddie-Liz stuff. I mostly thought that Ford was too heavy-handed with the comedy and that he was too forced. I would have liked to have seen an actor with a true comic flare do the role like Jack Lemmon.For me, a misfire. Loved Herman the pigeon, though.

Someone ought to show this movie to Jim Carrey: it deserves a remake. In fact, there was a remake in France, played by Louis DE Funes. This remarkable comedy, a black comedy, has only an error: Glen Ford was a great actor, but the character needs a bit of madness, and Ford played so polite, so friendly. Also with Debbie Reynolds, although that her character is minor. An actor so remarkable in comedy as Carrey could do a great performance and a magnificent comedy based of the original play of this film. recently showed in a local TV, in is yet so amusing, so funny and almost cracy as in its time. But deserves best luck. George Marshall, a discreet director, made in this comedy one of his best pictures. Many people has forgotten The Gazebo, and thinks that is a romantic comedy. It is not: it is a black comedy.