A Very Special Favor
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A Very Special Favor
Plot
A Very Special Favor stars Rock Hudson as a notorious romeo and Leslie Caron as a prudish psychiatrist. At the urging of Caron's lawyer father Charles Boyer, Hudson begins a seduction campaign. Caron resents this intrusion in her private affairs and builds up a wall of resistance against the ardent Mr. Hudson. Still, the film ends with Hudson and Caron happily married, with plenty of children underfoot and another one on the way. Roundly panned for its alleged smarminess in 1965, A Very Special Favor is offensive today not for its sex talk but for its "pregnant, barefoot, in-the-kitchen" mentality. ~ Hal Erickson, RoviReview
One of the many sex comedies that filled the screen in the 1960s, A Very Special Favor is of note for the presence of Leslie Caron in what would normally be the Doris Day role, and for some gay undertones which can't help but call attention to themselves when the film is viewed nowadays. Many will find Favor's premise -- that a woman not only can't be fulfilled unless she has a man but moreover that she can't be trusted to find the right one on her own -- a bit disturbing, shall we say. When one adds to the mix the fact that a father asks a veritable stranger to seduce his own daughter for her own good, it's easy to see why some would consider Favor too smarmy for its own good. It would help if Favor were riotously funny, but unfortunately it's not really much of a laugh-fest. There are some jokes and some good gags, but not enough to make it stand out. Caron is a help; if she's not a natural for the part, she still brings her special feistiness to the part and adds life. And she works quite well with Rock Hudson, an old hand at this kind of thing, whose performance here is good, if not outstanding. Charles Boyer does what he can with the role of the interfering father, and Larry Storch is amusing in a small part, but it's Nita Talbot that gets the attention among the supporting cast. She steals scenes with her precise timing and can do wonders with a small change in her tone of voice. The gay undertones, more pronounced given later revelations about Hudson, run throughout (especially in Dick Shawn's performance), but fly out into the open when Talbot dresses as a man and pretends to be Hudson's male lover. Things suddenly become much stranger and more surreal than the filmmakers intended -- and Favor for a few minutes is a film of some interest. ~ Craig Butler, RoviCast
- Rock Hudson - Paul Chadwick
- Leslie Caron - Lauren Boullard
- Charles Boyer - Michel Boullard
- Walter Slezak - Etienne, Proprietor
- Dick Shawn - Arnold Plum
Credit
Alexander Golitzen - Art Director, Walter M. Simonds - Art Director, David Robel - Choreography, Michael Gordon - Director, Russell Schoengarth - Editor, Vic Mizzy - Composer (Music Score), Bud Westmore - Makeup, Leo Tover - Cinematographer, Stanley Shapiro - Producer, John P. Austin - Set Designer, John McCarthy - Set Designer, Nate Monaster - Screenwriter, Stanley Shapiro - Screenwriter, Yves Saint Laurent - Costume/Wardrobe| A Very Special Christmas: The 20th Anniversary Video Collection (2007 Film), A Very Special Christmas / Sleeping Beauty (1982 Film) | |
| A Very Special Woman (1979 Film), A Very Unlucky Leprechaun (1998 Film) |
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A Very Special Favor
| A Very Special Favor | |
|---|---|
 Theatrical poster |
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| Directed by | Michael Gordon |
| Produced by | Stanley Shapiro |
| Written by | Stanley Shapiro Nate Monaster |
| Starring | Rock Hudson Leslie Caron Charles Boyer |
| Music by | Vic Mizzy |
| Cinematography | Leo Tover |
| Editing by | Russell F. Schoengarth |
| Distributed by | Universal Pictures |
| Release date(s) | August 14, 1965 |
| Running time | 105 minutes |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
A Very Special Favor is a 1965 romantic comedy film directed by Michael Gordon, and starring Rock Hudson and Leslie Caron.
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Contents
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Plot
Paul Chadwick (Hudson) is a wealthy American oilman who is in a Parisian court, where he is up against the opposing lawyer Michel Boullard (Charles Boyer). Paul wins the case, but only by seducing the judge, who happens to be a woman. Shortly after, Boullard sets out to New York, where he plans on reuniting with his daughter Lauren (Caron), whom he has not seen for over 25 years, since his American wife divorced him for flirting with another woman. On the plane, he meets Paul, to whom he complains about having lost because of his charm, a French quality. Paul apologizes for having hurt his French pride and offers a favor in return.
In New York, Boullard is shocked to find out that Lauren has become an intimidating career woman, working as a psychologist. Despite her engagement to Arnold Plum, a pushover who lives to serve his fiancée, Boullard is convinced that she an old spinster at just 30 years old. Instead of revealing his identity, he decides to help her from a distance. He contacts Paul to have an affair with her, to open up her mind to passion, rather than her career. Paul would be the perfect man for the deed: he is the ultimate womanizer. One woman comes in each day to cook for him, the other is happy to wash his clothes.
Initially, Paul is reluctant to help out Boullard, suspecting that Lauren is less than attractive, but because he notices that Boullard is suspicious of why he really won the case, he decides to help him out. To grow closer to her, he poses as her patient, telling her that he is irresistible to women and that he is too afraid to turn down a woman, because it led to suicide in the past. The relationship between the two is at first strictly professional, until one night they go out to a restaurant, an event with which Lauren tries to prove that he can enjoy a night out without worrying about women flirting with him.
Before the night is over, Lauren passes out from drinking too much champagne, and Paul brings her brack to her hotel and creates a scene, which makes it looks as if they have slept each other. The next morning, Lauren is freaked out, but she later finds out that the setting was staged. At that moment, Boullard reveals his identity to her, and together they come up with a plan to get back at Paul. She comes up with a Spanish lover and tells all about him to Paul, which shatters his ego. He goes out on a drinking spree and uses the help of a switchboard operator (Nita Talbot) - who falls in love with a chauffeur (Larry Storch) in the process - to make Lauren jealous. They succeed, and Paul and Lauren are finally brought together. In the end, they are married, and the parents of several children.
Cast
- Rock Hudson as Paul Chadwick
- Leslie Caron as Dr. Lauren Boullard
- Charles Boyer as Michel Boullard
- Walter Slezak as Etienne
- Dick Shawn as Arnold Plum, Lauren's fiance
- Larry Storch as Larry, the taxi driver
- Nita Talbot as Mickey, the switchboard operator
- Norma Varden as Mother Plum
- George Furth as Pete
Production
During production, Rock Hudson openly complained about "sex comedies" such as A Very Special Favor: "I think the public is weary. The cycle has been pushed about as far as it can go, and I think light comedy is on the wane. The boundaries have been extended almost to the limit, with producers trying to see how dirty it can get. [A Very Special Favor] was filthy. I thought it was filthy when I read the script, and I still think it's filthy."[1]
References
- ^ "Bed Scenes Aren't Fun Says Actor Rock Hudson", Daily Record, March 31, 1965. p. 4
External links
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