Every avid movie fan has a few films that are their "secret gems" - movies that not everyone knows about but ones you will recommend they see with great enthusiasm...."You really have to see this...you will love it. House Calls is just such a film and the reasons are two- fold...Walter Matthau and Glenda Jackson.This is one of two films the pair made together....the other is a second of my 'secret gems," called Hopscotch and again, it clicks because of the chemistry between the two, coupled with wonderful supporting casts and great dialogue.The tragedy is that there weren't more movies involving these two. It is hard to imagine, on paper, a romantic comedy that matches Matthau and Jackson. Matthau has the looks of a basset hound, but incredible comedic flair. Jackson has played so many roles but romantic comedy doesn't come immediately to mind when her name is mentioned....until people see these films.Like so many here, I can watch either of these movies over and over and still love them both deeply. You really HAVE to see both. You won't be disappointed.

It's a shame House Calls isn't better known. Is it perhaps because the romantic leads are middle-aged, shopworn, and gun-shy, rather than oversexed teen-stars? Could be. If you're over 35, you'll probably get this comedy. If you're over 45, you're really going to get this comedy. If you're 25, wait until you're older to see it.The unlikely pairing of Matthau and Jackson works precisely because it is so unlikely. There's a wonderful line of Matthau's that sums up what is happening between the two of them--"I like old broads because you don't have to explain who Ronald Colman is." (If that's not the exact line, it's close...)The premise of a sub-par hospital run by incompetents rings true. Art Carney's portrayal of a senile head surgeon is absolutely brilliant. It is impossible not to laugh out loud at his delivery. Subplots, if you can call them that, are fun too, like the one with Jackson's teenage son and Matthau. Everything hits just exactly the right tone. Okay, there's the bit where Matthau has to wear women's clothing that's a bit over-the-top and an easy mark. But, still--it's Walter Matthau in drag! It's funny!

A tediously unfunny, thoroughly predictable (complete with the two leads arguing-and-making-up for a "happy ending" in crowded city streets) romantic comedy, which can't be saved even by Matthau's unforced likability. Uninspired script, almost no laughs delivered.

"House Calls" is a wonderful romantic comedy that can best be described as "how they used to make them." It stars Walter Matthau (in one of his best roles) as a recently widowed doctor who goes out on the dating scene again and hits paydirt as he seems to have a different woman every night. He then meets hospital patient Glenda Jackson and soon develops a relationship with her. But it's one that will be severely tested as she informs him she is a one man woman and expects him to be a one woman man.This is a sweet, very funny film also starring Art Carney as the senile hospital administrator and Richard Benjamin as Matthau's friend and fellow doctor. It's a must see for any Matthau fan or any fan of light comedy.You won't be disappointed.