Walk Don't Run (1966)

User Rating:

6.5/10   

Director:

Charles Walters

Writers:

Robert Russell (story) &
Frank Ross (story) ...

Release Date:

29 June 1966 (USA)

Genre:

Comedy | Romance

Tagline:

Run, don't walk to see Walk, Don't Run.

Plot:

During the housing shortage of the 1964 Toyko Olympics, two men and a woman share a single apartment and the older man plays Cupid to the other two.

Plot Keywords:

Olympics | Housing Shortage | Embassy | Remake | Tokyo Japan

Cast

Cary Grant	...	Sir William Rutland
Samantha Eggar	...	Christine Easton
Jim Hutton	...	Steve Davis
John Standing	...	Julius D. Haversack
Miiko Taka	...	Aiko Kurawa
Ted Hartley	...	Yuri Andreyovitch
Ben Astar	...	Dimitri
George Takei	...	Police Captain
Teru Shimada	...	Mr. Kurawa
Lois Kiuchi	...	Mrs. Kurawa

Also Known As:

Walk, Don't Run (USA) (promotional title)

Runtime:

114 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English | Japanese

Colour:

Colour (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

Canada:G (Nova Scotia) | Iceland:L | Australia:G | West Germany:12 | Finland:S | Sweden:Btl | UK:U | USA:Approved

Filming Locations:

Hotel Okura, Toranomon, Tokyo, Japan

Company:

Columbia Pictures Corporation

Trivia:

Cary Grant's last film.

Goofs:

Continuity: When Rutland leaves Haversacks office the Japanese flag is on his left (and Union Jack on his right) in the next shot it is on his right (and Union Jack on his left).

Quotes:

Aiko Kurawa: [Referring to bedlam at police headquarters] You say all you have to do is place an advertisement on the bulletin board?
Christine Easton: Uh-huh.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in "Night Court: Walk, Don't Wheel (#2.22)" (1985)

Soundtrack:

Charade

Near Classic; Breezy and Very Amusing; Cary Grant's Last Comedy

This film was probably launched as a "Cary Grant" vehicle, a remake of "The More the Merrier", but I suggest it is a major comedy for several other reasons. As William Rutland, peer and genial businessman and busybody, Grant is mature and good; but involving him in the housing shortage in Tokyo during the 1964 Olympics was a stroke of near-genius. Adding in the old storyline about a girl planning to marry for money and introducing the right man for her instead, in the persons of Samantha Egggar and Jim Hutton, was better, with Grant acting as matchmaker. But making Hutton a member of the US Olympic team and keeping his event a secret, adding in a comedic Russian spy, the smallness of their shared apartment which Grant sublets to Hutton after wangling his own way in, plus visiting a Japanese household of friend Miiko Taka with Eggar and fiancée John Standing, he of the "tall forehead" and boring personality, was I claim pure gold comedically speaking. Charles Walters directed this satirical comedy in breezy style, with story by Robert Russell and Frank Ross from Sol Saks' and Grason Kanin's inspired story. The cast included besides the principals George Takei as a Tokyo police officer, Ben Astar as Dimitri the bumbling Russian spy, skilled actor Teru Shimada as Taka's father, Lois Kiuchi as her mother, Ted Hartley as Yuri, Hutton's Russian fellow athlete-friend, and hundreds of others in bit parts and small roles. The very genial music for the film by Quincy Jones was low-key and delightful; Henry Mancini supplied songs also; the cinematography by Harry Stradling Sr. was lovely from start to finish; and the production designs by Joseph C. Wright were varied and serviceable through. Outstanding scenes in the narrative include I suggest the way in which Sir William's trousers keep disappearing, the attempt by Grant in underwear to enter the Olympic walking event to obtain a signature on a document from Hutton, the party where Grant suggest to a lady Russian shot putter that she put her derrière somewhere else than in his dinner, the trip to see Eggar's friends (the Kurawa family) and the police station scene, among others. This is a sometimes slick and always amusing and I find frequently very-involving story filled with characters that seem unusually real. It may have begun as a Cary Grant vehicle; but I find Hutton is brilliant, and it became despite a bit of over- lengthy presentation a classic as a romance, a comedy concerning overcrowding and a presentation of very memorable characters whose general theme is how one need to deal with life by means of honesty rather than by taking the seemingly easiest path. A favorite of many, many filmgoers, myself included.