Fonda is a rich young woman with health problems and a helicopter husband and family. She has these bad lung problems yet the family never tells her to stop her chain-smoking. On her trip to Greece with another couple, she chain-smokes and drinks a lot. ***SPOILER (not that it matters in this film): Is anyone surprised she dies in the end?***Finch is her love interest. He sleepwalks in this role--not his character but the actor. The guy doesn't give crap about this film, and if he doesn't, why should we? Angela Lansbury is the most interesting character in this contrivance and is the only reason for the 1 star. Unfortunately, she bows out of the action too soon, leaving us with nothing to watch.I love me my melodrama, but this isn't the good stuff. Fonda cries about how her mother has convinced her she's "unable to love." That mysterious, elusive condition found only in melodramas could have been put to good thematic use here (as was done also by Fonda in the cheesy-but-fun melodrama The Chapman Report). I guess the subject was too "distasteful" to play up in this "classy" film.If you like seeing Peter Finch do nothing, Jane Fonda smoke, and Angela Lansbury play the ultimate mean girl, this is your film. I'm not watching it again until the MST3K crew reviews it. I wouldn't be surprised if they already have.

If fashion and Mediterranean scenery tend to dazzle you about a movie then you'll likely be all up in the clouds dancing over this one. For the rest of us who desire somewhat more from our hours invested in a movie, In-the-Cool-of-the-Day falls far short of the mark I'm afraid.It's your basic "Two people married to other people fall in love on a romantic European trip, having been put together alone due to circumstances and also the situation in each of their marriages." In Fonda's character's case she's simply not in love with her doting and rather 'doormattish' husband. In Finch's character's case his wife (Landsbury) is a miserable joy-killing shrew of a woman who is playing ever the martyr and guilt-tripping him over a past tragedy in their lives. While Fonda's husband can't make the trip, Finch and Landsbury end up fighting and she walking out, leaving he and Fonda to continue on alone.The back story on Fonda's character is that she has been sickly since early childhood, having had multiple surgeries on her lungs and nearly dying. In any normal family of the time that would mean the only sensible course of action, that being no one smokes near her. But in THIS film the production (writers, director, producer, etc) all thought it was no big deal to just have all involved puffing away like steam engines including Jane's character herself.While the view on smoking was a little different back in '63 than it is today it is still fairly unthinkable that a physician would raise major concern over a trip by car through the mountains due to a little rain yet have no quarrel whatsoever about a girl with serious respiratory ailments smoking like a chimney.As for the ending all I'll say is I found it abrupt, unsurprising, and disappointing, Fonda herself is absolutely gorgeous. The vistas and views of the countryside are spectacular. The acting is decent. The story and plot is where this film falls flat.4/10

I give it a one, just for Jane Fonda's 'hair' (a lot of us are obsessing about it...), which - seems to be what's most interesting in a very dreary, creaky RomDram from '63.I don't know the story of where the title a actually came from, but, the fact that it's 'opposite' (IN THE HEAT OF THE NIGHT) titled film was such a well-received film came out AFTER this (as well as the book that film's based on) is probably one of the more interesting aspects going on in it's making.In her interview with Robert Osborne (PRIVATE SCREENINGS), Angela Lansbury said that it was a 'difficult' project for her, and, while she did her best, she didn't think it was 'that good.'Thus was an early vehicle for the young, gorgeous Fonda. She was still not fully comfortable on camera, and it shows. The film tries to showcase her as the typical 'sexy, young girl,' this time playing married (to the older Arthur Hill), who shares 'common interests' with the also married - to Angela Lansbury - Peter Finch.ICD tries to be too many things, but fails in them all.This was put out at a time in Hollywood before the 'revolutions' of sex, politics would play out in the real world. MGM - desperately trying to find a direction to navigate this tidal change - ends up with a film that might've been 'ahead of it's time' had it come out a few years earlier, but, as the grounds were already trembling, MGM ends up behind-the- times, with a product that - besides the natural beauty of Greece (where this was shot on location) feels very forced and dated.

After reading the reviews on this movie I HAD to chime in on it, because I saw this movie for the first time just a few days ago. Coming from someone is is NOT a Jane Fonda fan, I completely disagree with most reviewers thus far! I found the movie to be VERY watchable, and the storyline to be very romantic and somewhat bittersweet. But most of all, when I first turned the TV on I thought I was watching a much more recent movie by the style of this beautiful young girl. I was amazed to see that it was a 1963 movie, and even more amazed to see that it was Jane Fonda. As I mentioned, I have NEVER been a fan of Jane Fonda, but I never saw her so damned cute as in this movie. The other reviewer must be used to (and prefer) that super puffed-out hair JF that some of us have grown to dislike over the years (the look I cannot stand!). This gorgeous young lady with the "Bob" hairdo AND her clothing were very good-looking (to say the least) and took me by complete surprise. Also, her acting in this was not the typical Jane Fonda, but rather a non-pretentious, more innocent, Audrey Hepburn style of acting. I wish she had remained like this.Also, the "woman" (I wish I could use another word) that Peter Finch was married to was NOT like that as result of the car accident. The car accident (and loss of the child) was a result of HER. It was brought up in a dialog between Peter Finch and an older woman who knew him before he was married, that Sybil was like that from the start. But Peter was sucked into a relationship with her, and she became pregnant as a result. Peter stayed with her, under the HOPE that she would change. But it just became worse, and culminated in the death of their son (because of her badgering him while driving!). Angela Lansbury played the roll so well you can really feel Peter's pain through the TV.And yes. The Greek scenery was beautiful. Makes me want to take a vacation there. I enjoyed this movie a great deal.