Tockinit not horrible nor great

Mjeteconer Just perfect...

Dirtylogy It's funny, it's tense, it features two great performances from two actors and the director expertly creates a web of odd tension where you actually don't know what is happening for the majority of the run time.

Derrick Gibbons An old-fashioned movie made with new-fashioned finesse.

bkoganbing The separate talents of James Garner and Dick Van Dyke should have guaranteed a better film than The Art Of Love. Still the considerable legion of fans both those guys have should be pleased. Not to mention that Angie Dickinson and Elke Sommer are along for the girl watchers.The guys are roommates in a Paris flat Garner an aspiring writer and Van Dyke an aspiring painter, neither of whom has made their mark. But in Van Dyke's case as is pointed out painters only become legends after their demise.Which while both are in a drunken stupor gives Garner a brilliant idea, especially when Van Dyke jumps into the Seine. He sells whatever he can find for a bundle and then when Van Dyke shows up they keep the fiction going. After that romantic complications set in and other kinds of complications set in as the gag goes way too far.I really expected better. Garner's charming conman gets a bit hard to take. Van Dyke's gift for physical comedy and pantomime are served better in The Act Of Love. Ethel Merman has a part as a brothel madam and she's about as French as Anna May Wong. And what were a husband and wife pair of Jewish Delicatessen owners Irving Jacobson and Naomi Stevens doing here. More suggestive of Flatbush than the Left Bank.Not the best work for any of the quartet of stars.

preppy-3 A struggling American painter in Paris (Dick Van Dyke) fakes his death so his paintings will sell. His buddy (James Garner) helps him along. However Van Dyke's girlfriend (Angie Dickinson) believes he's dead and falls for Garner. Then there's Elke Sommer (who's great) as an innocent down on her luck girl and Ethel Merman as a madam (in a wholesome PG sort of way).Frantic and somewhat amusing comedy. It moves at a fast clip and has a great cast. The main problem is that it just isn't that funny. Dickinson fainting at everything gets old real quick and Garner is a real jerk. However I kept watching and the fast pace kept me interested. This was not a hit when it came out and is kind of difficult to see now. Look for it on TCM.

DKosty123 Norman Jewison is a top director with many credits. This is one of his least known films. Carl Reiner wrote the script and has a role in the film. James Garner and Dick Van Dyke are together in one of the rare times they would be. Garner's Cherokee Productions is involved here in this Universal Film. Elke Summer, Angie Dickinson, and Ethel Merman are all here. Even Roger C. Carmel is here just a year before he would do Star Trek and The Mother's In Law. Yet, this movie was destined to bomb with a large B. It is hard to understand why until you watch it. The plot is a bit of a stretch, and the ending goes beyond the pale. I love looking at this cast, but it is so difficult to understand why there is so much slap stick here and so little verbal comedy. Maybe Carl Reiner was writing too many other scripts for this one to get the dialog it needed. The opening credits, Animation from Freleng (Pink Panther) is cute. I just think that for one time too much talent got together and produced something that just did not click for audiences. The slap stick of the arrival just in time to save Garner from the guillotine at the end of the movie is a stretch here.At least the movie is short, and fans of this great cast should enjoy the short run. It is funny, but the dark comedy which dominates this one is done much better than this in other films. I do envy Garner making out with Angie Dickinson, and Van Dyke getting to know a really hot Elke Summer. Ethel Merman gets the only musical number. The dead artist theme is actually proved here, too much slap stick comedy is dead, in 1965. It could have been so much better.

pepes I would have to totally agree with some of the other comments, that this is one of the funniest movies that I have ever seen. James Garner, Dick Van Dyke, Elke Sommers, Ethel Merman and others make this movie so hilariously hysterical. Yes it is not an Oscar winning plot, but the story still is so funny that I am hard pressed not to include this in my list of top ten 'Funnist Movies to see' only problem is that unless you find it on the TV as an old movie you cannot see it at all. Which leads me into my question to you 'Imdb'and The Hollywood Moguls how can we solve this horrible oversight. Yes I can play it again in my mind but to watch and hear again especially the hysterical old lady who is cackling "Guillotine! Ha Ha! Guillotine!" would be so awesome, on DVD with lots of bloopers would be a dream come true. Please do not fail us. PLEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEASE, (an E for each year of this oversight, let's hope you don't want FFFFFFFFFFFFF's)