Cactus Flower (1969)
Review by HTQ4
Film:
DVD:

Written by I.A.L. Diamond, based on the play by Pierre Barrilet, Jean-Pierre Grédy, and Abe Burrows
Directed by Gene Saks
Starring Walter Matthau, Ingrid Bergman, Goldie Hawn, Jack Weston, Rick Lenz, and Vito Scotti

Anamorphic: Yes

My Advice: Rent it

Toni Simmons (Hawn) has decided to kill herself because her boyfriend, Dr. Julian Winston, D.D.S. (Matthau) has stood her up on their one year anniversary date. Her suicide plans are foiled by her neighbor, Igor Sullivan (Lenz), but her suicide letter has already been dropped in the mailbox. When Winston finds out about her suicide attempt, he vows to marry her. There's only one problem: she already thinks he's married. She won't marry him until his "divorce" is final, but that's not all. She also becomes obsessed with meeting the current Mrs. Dr. Julian Winston, D.D.S. Thinking fast, Winston enlists the services of his secretary, Stephanie Dickinson (Bergman), but his little white lie quickly gets out of control.

This script is full of the dry wit that Matthau was known for, which means that, his presence alone makes it a very funny movie. The three principal cast members have an amazing chemistry that only makes the movie stronger. This is Hawn's debut feature film performance and it won her an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress. Bergman plays the perfect straight...er...woman to both of their quirky characters. Seriously, with this cast, this movie had no choice but to be funny.

As for the DVD presentation...well, I guess we should be thankful that it is preserved in DVD format, but other than that, there are no special features on this DVD. I know we didn't have the DVD format back in 1982 when Bergman passed away, but just think what it would have been like to have a commentary track with Matthau, Bergman and Hawn? DVD production companies should really think about getting some of the aging Hollywood stars and have them all do commentary tracks for their classic movies before we lose them all forever. At this point, grab Hawn and let's at least get her stuff down on record.

This movie should not be missed, but until they can find some other material to put on a DVD, it stays at the rental store.