A sex comedy in which the laughs allegedly derive from the fact that nobody gets any. Four-character, two-set play about an unmarried New York City architect who becomes inexplicably smitten with a brightly-dotty would-be actress whom he meets at the top of the Empire State Building; he takes her back to his place for a drink (not a seduction!), where they run into the playboy-father of the architect's ex-fiancée. Producer-director Otto Preminger, working from F. Hugh Herbert's adaptation of his Broadway success (which Preminger presented on the stage), obviously had faith in this material, but it's far too flimsy to work up a head of comedic steam. William Holden gives the scenario more charm and panache than it deserves, while David Niven (as Holden's potential father-in-law?) is miscast. Oscar-nominated Maggie McNamara portrays the insipidly-named Patty O'Neill--an inquisitive Irish gal from Brooklyn who knows the facts of life--as if she were auditioning for the 'kooky neighbor' spot on "Guiding Light". *1/2 from ****
Review of The Moon Is Blue
