Main Cast: Tony Curtis, Dean Martin, Janet Leigh, James Whitmore, John McIntire
Release Year: 1960
Country: US
Run Time: 115 minutes
Plot
A screwball comedy that turns into political farce, this film was something of a throwback even in 1960. Real-life husband and wife Tony Curtis and Janet Leigh star as David and Ann Wilson. David is a university professor who is kissing one of his students when Ann walks in on them. She demands a divorce. David turns to his old friend, a television writer, Michael Haney (Dean Martin), who cooks up a cover story. They convince Ann that David is working undercover for the FBI, and that the kiss was part of a sting. The gullible Ann believes the story. Later, when she sees David and Michael in a restaurant with two women, she suspects that the women are spies, and passes David his empty gun. This touches off a disturbance that is filmed by TV news crews. Some real Russian spies think that David really is an FBI agent, and the spies grab the Wilsons and Haney, take them to a secret chamber beneath the Empire State Building, and give them truth serum. From there, the film continues to twist and turn in wildly wacky ways. ~ Michael Betzold, All Movie Guide
Review
Who Was That Lady? is an incredibly silly but rather amiable farce. Its biggest drawback is its premise -- or, rather, the fact that its premise came along a couple of decades too late. In 1940, a film could easily have been built around such a ridiculous idea, and it would have seemed natural; Hollywood was still young enough to "believe" in such material. By 1960, times had changed, and this kind of story had to seem artificial to the filmmakers -- even if they thought it was funny and had genuine affection for it, which certainly seems to be the case with writer Norman Krasna and director George Sidney. And so there's an air of "we know this is just the silliest thing" that permeates the piece. It doesn't ruin the film -- not by a long shot -- but it does keep all those involved somewhat removed from it. Even with all this, however, Lady is empty, mindless fun, and the three leads pack it with significant star power. And there are some marvelous supporting turns from James Whitmore and Barbara Nichols to add to the fun, as well as some zippy camerawork from old reliable Harry Stradling. If Who Was That Lady? is nothing more than a trifle, it's certainly a pleasant one. ~ Craig Butler, All Movie Guide
Norman Krasna's play, Who Was That Lady I Saw You With?, opened on Broadway at the Martin Beck Theatre on March 3, 1958 in a production directed by Alex Segal and designed by Rouben Ter-Arutunian. It ran for 208 performances.
The production company, Ansark-Sidney, combines the names of producer Krasna (spelt backwards) and director Sidney.
The film was nominated for two Golden Globe Awards, for Best Comedy and Best Actor in a Comedy (Dean Martin).
Plot summary
David Wilson is a university professor who is kissing one of his students when his wife Ann walks in on them. She demands a divorce. David turns to his old friend, television writer Michael Haney, who cooks up a cover story. They convince Ann that David is working undercover for the FBI, and that the kiss was part of a sting. The gullible Ann believes the story. Later, when she sees David and Michael in a restaurant with two women, she suspects that the women are spies, and passes David his gun, which accidentally goes off.
This touches off a disturbance that is filmed by TV news crews. Some real Russian spies think that David is an FBI agent, and the spies grab the Wilsons and Haney, take them to a secret chamber beneath the Empire State Building, and give them truth serum. From there, the film continues to twist and turn in wildly wacky ways.
