This is a great madcap movie of the mid-60s with a film score by Quincy Jones and that music that was so typical of the period. It is Cary Grant's very last movie, and it took me about 10 minutes to realize that it was really a remake of the 1943 George Steven's movie, The More the Merrier (1943). Rarely--maybe never--have I ever said that the remake of a movie was better than the original. However, here is where I will plant the exception to my own long-standing rule. While The More the Merrier (1943) was a great movie, for me, Walk Don't Run (1966) is much better. Why? Because I clearly remember the Zeitgeist of the 60s.If you take the overcrowded city of Washington, D.C. in 1943 and replace it with the overcrowded city of Tokyo during the 1964 Olympics, it changes the setting and the time and place. Then replace: Charles Cobrun with Cary Grant, Jean Arthur with Samantha Eggar, Joel McCrea with Jim Hutton, and, black and white for color, you start to see the movie develop in a sort of familiar way. However, the 1966 movie is more cleaver for me since I was born in the early 40s, and clearly remember the "times" of the mid 60s. The 60s were a period of cold war alliances and a modern Japan emerging and blending with the West. AND spies--spy movies were everywhere, TV, movies, songs, everywhere. This spy motif all started with the first James Bond movie and only grew and grew to comedies, etc. So, if there were Russians with Americans in Japan's Olympics there had to be some mention of spies--if only in jest. But, the best part of this madcap comedy, for me, was Cary Grant spoofing his OWN movie career---from madcap movies to romantic movies. It really helps you understand this movie if you have seen all the Cary Grant movies: --When he is in the bathroom he is singing An Affair to Remember --From time to time he hums the theme from Charade. --There are probably other references to his movies in this in this movie, but one has to pick them up as the movie progresses. Beyond all that, this is just a funny movie. Watch it if you like mid-60s madcap comedies. Watch it if you the like the romantic comedies of Cary Grant. Or, just watch it if you like good humor which would have been topical to the time at which it was made. Here, Cary Grant, while playing matchmaker to Samantha Eggar (English) and Jim Hutton (American), goes out of the movies with a bang rather than a whimper. I still find it almost impossible that Grant NEVER won an Best Acting Oscar somewhere... P.S. If you don't understand where the movie got its name, wait and watch what event Jim Hutton competed in during the 1964 Tokyo Olympics.

Cary Grant's last film is an enjoyable, albeit entirely unnecessary, remake of the classic The More The Merrier. That film starred Joel McCrea, Jean Arthur, and Charles Coburn. Grant play the Coburn role as an older man who tries to play matchmaker to a younger couple he is sharing an apartment with. The couple here are Jim Hutton and Samantha Eggar. Poor substitutes for screen legends McCrea and Arthur but both are likable. The original took place during WW2 so it used the wartime housing shortage as part of the plot. This moves things to Tokyo during the Summer Olympics in order to keep the plot intact of Grant not being able to find a room anywhere else. On the whole, it's an amusing movie but probably much less so if you've seen the original. This is pretty much a scene-for-scene remake with few changes. Grant's a rough fit for the role as it is intended but he does give it his best, using his charm and wonderful screen persona to great effect. He's certainly the best thing about the film and, at all times, my attentions were on him rather than his co-stars. Obviously I would recommend you see the classic 1943 film over this. But, if you have seen that, there's no harm in giving this one a try to see a different cast approach the same story. As far as last films of great stars goes, this could be worse. Just look at some of Grant's contemporaries and you'll see some truly sad ways to end a career. Cary wisely knew to get out while the getting was good. That's a lesson a lot of stars could still learn today.

So, having seen a lot of mixed reviews of this film, I went into it with fairly low expectations. But I wanted to see Cary Grant's last film, even as a curiosity. But I actually found I liked it a great deal!OK, let's be clear: this is no "Philadelphia Story" or "His Girl Friday". There are definitely comic scenes that just don't work. But there are also plenty that do; I laughed out loud several times during the film. I'm still chuckling right now, remembering one of my favorite bits: Cary giving up his seat on the bus.One thing I particularly liked about the film was Grant's character. He's not *trying* to be the suave romantic lead anymore, and he's totally comfortable with that. He's clearly happily married, to the point of having four grown children. He goes through the movie almost deliberately showing his age, struggling to see without his glasses or unable to keep up with all the standing and sitting for toasts. It's almost like it's a shared joke between him and the audience, as if he's winking at us and saying "Yeah, I know, I'm not the young stud anymore. ;-)" But whatever he's lost with age, he's gained in wisdom, a particular kind of wisdom that resonates with me: the wisdom of realizing that's what's most important in life is to have fun. He treats life as an adventure. Note the way that he chooses to stay in the apartment, even when his lavish hotel suite is ready for him. His climbing all over the building. His stripping down and running in the race. His total and instant distaste for the stuffy, no-fun English diplomat. This is *my* kind of character! Reminiscent of someone you might find in "You Can't Take It With You", or even the early Marx Brothers.OK, the sad truth is, Cary is really what makes the movie; without him, it's all pretty slim. The rest of the cast is nothing to write home about. Still, on the whole the writing was pretty good. Some witty lines, and the plot was well constructed. While this is essentially a remake of "The More The Merrier", it really uses only the bare skeleton of that film, and does its own, fresh take on it. Frankly, I consider this "Walk Don't Run" to be superior to "The More The Merrier" (which I found started off excellently but bogged down very badly in the second half), and I don't care one whit that I seem to be the only person who thinks so. Though I will admit that the anal-retentive morning schedule thing was handled better in the earlier film.So, all in all, I think it was a very fitting swan song for Mr. Grant. Not an ideal film, but an ideal character for him to go out playing.

There are only so many things you can do to punch up a story. One of them is of interest to me, a sort of "watcher" inside the story. And that's what we have here. The deal is that Grant's character watches first the girl, then the couple. There's a couple of kids that watch, a sort of running joke. Passersby watch. There's a Russian watcher who provides some plot devices because he is so bad at it.Salted in are recorders and a crowd watching the proposal in the midst of a sporting event.Pah, even with all that, none of it is done effectively and the movie as a whole sinks.The designated cutie here is someone chosen only because of her long red hair and small nose. Ted's Evaluation -- 1 of 3: You can find something better to do with this part of your life.