Le gang du dimanche

A famous authoress (Glynis Johns, who barely puts in an appearance), decides to give up writing so her latest is ghosted by a young up-and-comer (Barbara Rhoades) who is kidnapped before she can add the finishing touches. Need I say she witnessed a gangland murder and her life is in jeopardy? All this happens off-screen before the movie starts, and once it gets cranked up pay attention. It moves like lightning.

Enter our heroes. Perhaps because she already had one successful television series under her belt, I assumed Mary Tyler Moore was older than the boyish Robert Wagner, but she's not.

After the weirdest "meet cute" I've seen, they get down to business. (1) rescuing the ghost writer from her kidnappers; (2) getting her to finish her novel; (3) smuggling her out of France alive. Unfortunately, as she's a six-foot redhead she stands out so (3) won't be easy.

Most of the movie is stage-bound, with Wagner masterminding the various ruses and Harvey Korman in near-panic mode. But they get out-of-doors occasionally.

Mainly, this is one of those silly-60s comedies where no children appear. They don't need to. Even the mobsters act like children (the work of the gangster posing as a French artist has to be seen to be believed).

Is it good? That depends on your feelings for Mr. Wagner. He directs everything and the others follow his lead (Korman as if it's doom, MTM as if it's all a great game).