The Out of Towners 1970

     George and Gwen Kellerman live in the quiet town of Twin Oaks, Ohio.  They have a nice home, two children and a dog.  George and Gwen are flying to New York so George can interview for a new job in the City.  He works for a plastics company and he wants to be the company’s Vice-President of Sales.  The Kellerman’s take a flight that will have them landing in New York at 8PM the evening before the interview.  They are having dinner at 8:30PM at the Four Seasons and they are staying at the Waldorf-Astoria Hotel.  They don’t eat on the plane because they don’t want to spoil their meal but the plane is in a queue for landing.  When it’s their turn to land, the landing strip is fogged in.  The plane is diverted to Boston but they learn they can take a train to New York.  Another complication is that their luggage didn’t show up in Boston.  The timing is short but they try to make it to the train.  There are strikes in the city with the sanitation companies, the bus companies and taxicab drivers.  When they get to the train, it’s overcrowded and there are only peanut butter sandwiches on white bread, green olives and crackers in the dining car?  There aren’t any beverages to go with these items either?  Things just keep going from bad to worse and their only hope is that George can make it to the interview on time?

     This can start to grate on your nerves because it seems like viewing is living with this couple.  Experiencing their constant complaining and their many problems as your own?  They get opportunities but George doesn’t take them, he wants to sue for what he didn’t get?  3* (This movie is OK)

101 min, Comedy directed by Arthur Hiller with Jack Lemmon, Sandy Dennis, Sandy Baron, Anne Meara, Robert Nichols, Ann Prentiss, Ron Carey, Philip Bruns, Graham Jarvis, Carlos Montalban, Robert King, Johnny Brown, Dolph Sweet, Thalmus Rasulala, Jon Korkes.

Note:  Imdb 7.1 out of 10, 54% critic 68% audience on Rotten Tomatoes, Amazon 4.6* out of 5* with 487 reviews, TCM average user rating 3.9* out of 5*.

Special Note:  Filmed in Long Island, Manhattan, New York; East Boston and Boston Massachusetts.  There is another film with the same title from 1999 with Steve Martin and Goldie Hawn.  Many of the incidents with city services shown in this film were happening in real life during this time period.  Originally, the material was to be written as a play but Neil Simon realized he wanted to portray the different locations.  The story line is similar to the play and movie The Prisoner of Second Avenue of 1975 starring Jack Lemmon in the film version.  The screenplay won the Writers Guild of America award for Best Comedy Written Directly for the Screen for Simon.  Lemon and Dennis were nominated for Golden Globe awards in the comedy acting categories.