For Love or Money: When Kirk and Mitzi Played Rock and Doris

Mitzi Gaynor and Kirk Douglas.

Made in 1963, For Love or Money is one of those mildly suggestive 1960s romps made famous by the classic comedy team of Rock Hudson and Doris Day. It even features two veterans of the Rock-Doris films: Thelma Ritter and Gig Young. Indeed, the only major difference is that For Love or Money stars Kirk Douglas and Mitzi Gaynor.

Kirk plays Deke Gentry, an attorney hired by wealthy Chloe Brasher (Thelma Ritter) to smooth over the financial difficulties that have arisen between her and her three grown daughters. Deke can also pocket an extra $100,000 if he can match up each daughter with Mom's selected suitor. Considering that Deke spends more than he earns, the extra cash sounds mighty good.

Julie Newmar as Bonnie.

The daughters are an eclectic trio consisting of: Bonnie, a fitness guru (Julie Newmar); Jan, a hippie art enthusiast (Leslie Parrish); and Kate, a motivational researcher (Mitzi Gaynor). Though it requires some elaborate planning, Deke pairs off Bonnie with an IRS agent (Dick Sargent) and Jan with a childhood friend (William Windom) who rehabilitates convicts through art. However, his plans to match up Kate with his wealthy best friend Sonny (Gig Young) keep going awry. In fact, Kate begins to suspect that Sonny is a figment of Deke's imagination.

For Love or Money is an amusing comedy that lacks the sharp wit behind genre classics such as Pillow Talk (1959) or Lover Come Back (1961). Still, it's a better movie than some of the later individual efforts by Rock (e.g., A Very Special Favor) and Doris (e.g., Do Not Disturb). It could have used more of Thema Ritter and, at 108 minutes, it's easily ten minutes too long and lumbers to the expected finish.

Mitzi in a stunning orange Jean
Louis gown with a white coat.

The film's greatest strength is its two stars. Amazingly, Mitzi Gaynor only made seventeen feature films, preferring to concentrate on television specials and her nightclub act (I saw her perform live in a 1990 touring production of Anything Goes). She comes across as a natural comedienne in For Love or Money and generates plenty of sex appeal in some stunning Jean Louis outfits. This would turn out to be her final film appearance.

As for Kirk Douglas, it's easy to forget his versatility as an actor. During his career, he starred in action films (The Vikings), Westerns (Man Without a Star), hard-hitting dramas (The Detective Story), political thrillers (Seven Days in May), and mysteries (The List of Adrian Messenger). So, it should come as no surprise that he seems completely at home in a romantic comedy. Indeed, Douglas often exhibited a playful side even in his serious roles. So, perhaps, it's surprising that he didn't make more straight comedies during his lengthy career.

For Love or Money is one of eight movies featured on the modestly-priced DVD set Kirk Douglas: The Centennial Collection. Some of the others include Spartacus, Lonely Are the Brave, Man Without a Star, and The List of Adrian Messenger.

The Friday Night Late Movie: Robert Culp as a Modern-Day Sherlock Holmes in "Spectre"

Gene Roddenberry produced and co-wrote this 1977 made-for-TV supernatural thriller that borrows liberally from Dark Intruder (1965) and The Devil Rides Out (1968). Robert Culp plays William Sebastian, a criminologist with a unique medical condition—part of his heart is missing as a result of an occult encounter. Sebastian summons old friend (and alcoholic) Dr. "Ham" Hamilton (Gig Young) to accompany him to an English country estate on a case of possible demonic possession.

Before they even reach their destination, they encounter a beautiful woman who turns out to be an evil succucbus (fortunately, Sebastian knows how to destroy her with a holy book). But things really get strange when they arrive at the estate of Sir Geoffrey Coyn (James Villiers) and his sister Anitra (Ann Bell). Our intrepid heroes have to deal with a mysterious murder, a human-like beast with a hairy hand, exploding dinner glasses, and a creepy ceremony in a cave. Is Sir Geoffrey really possessed as his sister claims? Or is there a more fiendish plot afoot?

 
As made-for-TV movies go, this is a stylish affair that takes advantage of its atmospheric British locations (it's almost as if Hammer Films had made a movie for the small screen). Culp and Young are good as a modern-day Holmes and Watson…though with issues. In some of Culp's films, his intensity bordered on being overpowering, but he's very much in control here. Young doesn't have a lot to do, but the supporting cast of veteran British actors--including John Hurt and Gordon Jackson (from Upstairs, Downstairs)--is in fine form. Roddenberry's wife Majel Barrett (Nurse Chapel on the original Star Trek) has fun as Sebastian's witchy housekeeper.
 
Spectre was a pilot for a TV series that, sadly, never materialized. It's too bad that Sebastian's "hip" clothes and groovy pad date the movie, but that's really just a minor distraction in an otherwise engaging supernatural picture. It was released theatrically in Britain with some additional footage.
 
Young, who was a real-life alcoholic, died shortly after filming Spectre.

(If you're a Robert Culp fan, click here to read a review of his best Outer Limits episode.)