Wonderful character development!

People are voting emotionally.

The film never slows down or bores, plunging from one harrowing sequence to the next.

It's simply great fun, a winsome film and an occasionally over-the-top luxury fantasy that never flags.

The focus of the movie is on investment adviser Paul Manning (Walther Matthau) and his lawyer friend Ed Stander (Robert Morse). Both are married to attractive women: Paul with the dutiful blonde Ruth (Inger Stevens) and Ed with the brunette Harriet (Claire Kelly). Both have one child; Paul has a little girl and Ed has a boy. Every morning Paul leave his home for work at the same time as his alluring neighbor Irma Johnson (Sue Ane Langdon), she of the tight miniskirt and pillbox hat. When he drives along Wilshire Boulevard in LA and glances at the pedestrians, all Paul sees are nubile attractive women, especially Angelique Prettyjohn in a yellow miniskirt. Suburban swinger Ed "coaches" semi-hesitant Paul in how cheating on his wife will actually "improve" his marriage. Surely, she would thank him if she only knew, but of course she should not know! And why do men cheat? Well, according to the movie there are three reasons: (1) latent insecurity, (2) variety, and (3) because she's available. Libertine Ed's story-telling of the dos and don'ts is illustrated by various uproarious vignettes and cameos starring some of the more famous actors of the time, like Art Carney, Phil Silvers, Joey Bishop, Jack Benny, Lucille Ball, Polly Bergen, and others. For instance, in the "Deny, Deny, Deny" segment, Joey Bishop is caught with a gal by his wife but denies everything as he calmly dresses and makes the bed. Finally sitting on his easy chair with his newspaper, he says, "What are you talking about?" His flustered wife can only respond, "What would you like for dinner?" The Art Carney-Lucille Ball scene is also funny. Carney starts an argument and walks out to his mistress. After a tryst, he calls his wife Lucille back to apologize, and she accepts. Later, when Paul ogles a pretty lady with child, Ed says nix. Stay with a single girl, he advises, because if you tangle with a married person double jeopardy is an issue. Her husband may get suspicious and cause problems; so one has to be concerned about both spouses instead of just the wife. There are other scenes of note that work quite well.Not politically correct by today's standards, this Gene Kelly directed film cannot be made today for obvious reasons. Though risqué, it succeeds in its imagination and is easy to watch. By the way, that Sue Ane Langdon is something else, isn't she? When Paul and Ed observe her walking ahead they call her out and tell her that they recognized her. "From behind?" she jests! The title tune is well-sung by the Turtles, a popular rock group of the time. The noteworthy aspect of this film is that the women remain so darn sexy with their clothes on!

To be completely fair, we can't really judge this film by our 21st Century standards. This is a story of how a Married Man can cheat on his wife and get away with it. So, right there, the very premise of this movie is out of date.Gene Kelly, who was dancing less and less on screen by the mid 1960s, had the opportunity to step behind the camera a handful of times and helm some films. This is arguably his worst effort.And yet, the picture isn't without its charms. Walter Matthau is endlessly watchable even when he has very little to work with, and he's doing the most he can to make this worthwhile. It's a difficult circumstance because we're meant to believe that his character is married to Inger Stevens, and yet wants to stray just to get some strange. I guess if you'll buy that, you'll swallow the premise whole.Also you have Robert Morse, straight from his effort in the Broadway smash turned Hollywood musical, "How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying," who continues to instruct in the ways of attaining his goal. This time, it's extra marital hanky-panky he's after and he knows, like a book, exactly how to avoid the pitfalls and pratfalls of a bad situation, so he can enjoy some of the other women in his life without letting wifey know about it.The best part of the project are the "instructionals" offered to illustrate every situation Morse tells Matthau about, featuring cameos by the likes of Lucille Ball, Jack Benny, Sid Caesar, Terry-Thomas, Jayne Mansfield, Phil Silvers, Louis Nye, and the one most people who view the film favor, Joey Bishop. Really, if this movie were just a series of these vignettes, it probably would have been that much better!But we're stuck with these two unhappy hubbys who are determined to gain a conquest, much like the mountain climber "...Because it's there!" That part of the story is tedious, repetitive and, much like their attempts to score their mistresses, ultimately unsatisfying. A Guide for the Married Man is most effective as a time capsule, a Hollywood spin on the mindset of the people in the suburbs in the mid 1960s, and what they did to break the boredom of that surreality, or at least what they imagined might break it. I don't know how many men actually were wannabe lotharios, and if you believe this film it's basically all of them! But it is supposed to be a comedy (albeit with only a few mild chuckles, unfortunately), so keep a grain of salt handy, along with the fast forward button on your remote.

Let me start off by giving credit where it's due: Gene Kelly and company put a lot of lovely female pulchritude in this one. Not a skinny babe in the bunch. That's a big plus for us dirty old men.However, the script itself is not only misogynistic -- every female character is treated as an object, not a person -- but mostly unfunny. Part of the problem is miscasting. The two male roles should've been reversed: Matthau as the cynical smoothie, and Morse as the naif. Neither actor here is showcased to his best advantage.The cameos are pretty lame too, with comedy greats like Lucille Ball and Jack Benny largely wasted. The best one has Carl Reiner, who's funny as always in a mainly physical comedy role, but the ending of the sketch is weak.The dumbest aspect of the whole enterprise is the central notion of Matthau wanting to cheat on his incredibly gorgeous, hot-to-trot wife, played by knockout Inger Stevens. After an eyeful of her I spent the whole rest of the movie muttering to myself about what an idiot he was.As a time capsule of the 'Swinging Sixties' this might provide some nostalgic amusement. But there are much better sex comedies from the period. Check out Jack Lemmon in HOW TO MURDER YOUR WIFE.

Walter Matthau pretty much carries this on his back for two hours while getting "how to score" advice from his buddy, Robert Morse. It's fairly cheezy stuff, but the women are beautiful, especially Inger Stevens as Walter's hot wife. No one looks better in a bikini that Inger (so soon before her fateful end).This kind of movie could never be made nowadays (it's no PC at all). Jackie Russell is gorgeous, and Jayne Mansfield has a hilarious with the great Terry Thomas, looking for a bra. Joey Bishop is actually funny for once and Phil Silvers and Jack Benny do their usual schmaltzy act. I still give this a 6!