A New Kind of Love

Plot

A man falls for an exotic "bad girl," unaware he's already met the nice girl lurking beneath the surface, in this romantic comedy. Samantha Blake (Joanne Woodward) works for a large department store in New York City as a sort of industrial spy; while ostensively a buyer, Blake's greatest responsibility is to find out what the hot new fashions are going to be, so her store can have cut-price knockoffs on the racks once they hit the boutiques. Samantha is flying to Paris with her co-workers Leena (Thelma Ritter) and Joe (George Tobias) when she meets Steve Sherman (Paul Newman), a no-nonsense reporter who has been assigned to cover the unveiling of the new designer lines. Samantha and Steve don't exactly hit it off, and after arriving in Paris, a depressed Samantha makes her way to a beauty salon after a few cocktails too many. Decked out in a new wig and dressed to the nines, Samantha bumps into Steve, who is convinced she's one of the city of lights' glamorous high-priced call girls. Samantha plays along, and Steve writes a story about her which proves to be a hit with his readers, but as she finds herself falling for Steve, she isn't sure how to tell him that she's really the mousy woman he met on his flight to Paris. A New Kind Of Love also features cameo appearances from Maurice Chevalier and Frank Sinatra, the latter of whom sings the title song. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi

Review

Considering the star power that it packs and the fact that it's a romantic comedy set in Paris, one would expect A New Kind of Love to be a much better film than it is. Sadly, this Love is anything but new, and what could have been a charming and funny little piece of fluff is instead tired and sometimes exasperating. It's helped along by its cast and its fashions, but New ends up being at best moderately entertaining. Chief blame lies with Melville Shavelson, who wrote, directed and produced the film. His production is fine; if there's not enough actual on-location filming in Paris, there's still plenty of haute couture on display and the general physical production is polished. But the story is trite and decidedly dated in its male-female attitudes, the dialogue is inconsistent in its wit, the would-be satire lacks bite and there are far too few surprises along the way. His direction is perhaps a bit better, but terribly uneven, and he makes the already-questionable fantasy sequences fall flat on their faces. New does feature the talents of Paul Newman and Joanne Woodward, and their sheer charisma adds a lot to the film. But neither is at his/her best here, with Newman in particular a bit awkward at times. The supporting cast, however, doesn't disappoint, with Thelma Ritter, as usual, taking top honors in the kind of role she could play with her eyes shut. ~ Craig Butler, Rovi

Cast

• Paul Newman - Steve Sherman
• Joanne Woodward - Samantha "Sam" Blake
• Thelma Ritter - Lena O'Connor
• Eva Gabor - Felicianne Courbeau
• George Tobias - Joseph Bergner

Maurice Chevalier - Himself; Marvin Kaplan - Harry Gorman; Robert Clary - Albert Sardou; Jan Moriarty - Suzanne; Valerie Varda - Mrs. Chalmers; Joan Staley - Stewardess; Army Archerd - Onlooker; Danielle Aubry; Audrey Betz; Eugene Borden; Albert Carrier - Gendarme; Peter Canon; Sue Casey; Ralf Harolde - French Waiter; Christian Kay - Model with Pearls; Ted Mapes - Floor Walker; Alphonse Martell; Laurie Mitchell - Parisienne Poule; Francis Ravel; Annie Ross; Vernon Scott - Himself; Robert Simon - Bertram Chalmers; Lomax Study - Hansom Cab Driver; Audrey Swanson; Trude Wyler - Midinette; Celeste Yarnall; Francine York; James A. Starr; George Bruggeman; George Nardelli - Waiter; Mabel Smaney; Allyson Daniell - Lingerie Model; Pat Jones; Emily LaRue; Paul Micale - Shopper; June Smaney

Credit

Arthur Lonergan - Art Director, Hal Pereira - Art Director, Christian Dior - Costume Designer, Edith Head - Costume Designer, Yves Saint Laurent - Costume Designer, Pierre Cardin - Costume Designer, Lanvin-Castille - Costume Designer, Melville Shavelson - Director, Frank Bracht - Editor, Leith Stevens - Composer (Music Score), Erroll Garner - Composer (Music Score), Sammy Fain - Songwriter, Leo Robin - Songwriter, Pierre Norman Connor - Songwriter, Richard A. Whiting - Songwriter, Wally Westmore - Makeup, Daniel L. Fapp - Cinematographer, Melville Shavelson - Producer, Sam Comer - Set Designer, James W. Payne - Set Designer, Melville Shavelson - Screenwriter, Lorenz Hart - Featured Music, Irving Kahal - Featured Music

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