This was Cary Grant's last movie, and he hasn't lost his touch for comedy. In "Walk, Don't Run," Grant has a different role than his usual. He is a matchmaker. While that's befitting for his age, at 62 the fit- lean Grant still can do some of the physical things he did in the past. And, he still gets laughs. Here he climbs the trellis on the outside of a building to get back into an apartment. Not just once, but twice. Then, he sheds his clothing to join the Olympic 50-kilometer race walkers. And he keeps up at a good pace with many younger men, hardly winded after a few minutes of this.
This film has a mixture of antics such as these, some witty dialog in places, and street scenes in Tokyo that were filmed during the 1964 Summer Olympics – the first ever held in Asia.
Grant plays an English industrialist, Sir. William Rutland. He has arrived in Tokyo two days early – ahead of his hotel reservations and the city is crowded for the Olympics. At the British embassy, he sees a notice on a bulletin board. Christine Easton (played by Samantha Eggar) is willing to share her flat with someone during the Olympics. After "Bill" (he has dropped the "Sir" from his name) finagles his way into the apartment, for half the rent of 9,600 yen per week (about $11 then), he makes his business calls with a long-time Japanese company head. He then runs into an American Olympian who is more interested in architecture. But, he too is early and doesn't have his Olympic lodging yet. So, Bill invites Steve Davis (played by Jim Hutton) to share his half of a half flat.
Bill concludes his business early, but is now interested in playing matchmaker for Christine and Steve. Especially, since Christine is engaged to a pompous, snobbish second protocol assistant to a secretary at the British Embassy. Bill had a run in with him when he went to the embassy to see about help with housing. John Standing plays Julius Haversack superbly. Bill enjoys getting him out of the way. So, the rest of the film is about Bill maneuvering Julius out of the way so that Steve and Christine can get to know each other.
This is an entertaining film with plenty of humor from the leads, especially Cary Grant. It's a film the whole family should enjoy. It has some snippets from the 1964 Olympics, and scenes that show the busy, narrow and crowded streets in Tokyo. Modern Tokyo has elevated expressways for vehicles that cross the city. The city streets in places are two to three stories below.
Viewers shouldn't get the idea from this film about how most people live in Tokyo. Christine's apartment is very large indeed. Foreign officials and embassy staffs could afford to have such accommodations. But, where the three people in this film fit snugly together for a couple of nights, the vast number of young, working people in Tokyo were living in much smaller quarters. Three and four people would share three-room units half the size of Christine's in this film. When I last visited Tokyo in 2001, the modern city had many high-rise apartment buildings with these multi-person closet-sized apartments.
This film has a mixture of antics such as these, some witty dialog in places, and street scenes in Tokyo that were filmed during the 1964 Summer Olympics – the first ever held in Asia.
Grant plays an English industrialist, Sir. William Rutland. He has arrived in Tokyo two days early – ahead of his hotel reservations and the city is crowded for the Olympics. At the British embassy, he sees a notice on a bulletin board. Christine Easton (played by Samantha Eggar) is willing to share her flat with someone during the Olympics. After "Bill" (he has dropped the "Sir" from his name) finagles his way into the apartment, for half the rent of 9,600 yen per week (about $11 then), he makes his business calls with a long-time Japanese company head. He then runs into an American Olympian who is more interested in architecture. But, he too is early and doesn't have his Olympic lodging yet. So, Bill invites Steve Davis (played by Jim Hutton) to share his half of a half flat.
Bill concludes his business early, but is now interested in playing matchmaker for Christine and Steve. Especially, since Christine is engaged to a pompous, snobbish second protocol assistant to a secretary at the British Embassy. Bill had a run in with him when he went to the embassy to see about help with housing. John Standing plays Julius Haversack superbly. Bill enjoys getting him out of the way. So, the rest of the film is about Bill maneuvering Julius out of the way so that Steve and Christine can get to know each other.
This is an entertaining film with plenty of humor from the leads, especially Cary Grant. It's a film the whole family should enjoy. It has some snippets from the 1964 Olympics, and scenes that show the busy, narrow and crowded streets in Tokyo. Modern Tokyo has elevated expressways for vehicles that cross the city. The city streets in places are two to three stories below.
Viewers shouldn't get the idea from this film about how most people live in Tokyo. Christine's apartment is very large indeed. Foreign officials and embassy staffs could afford to have such accommodations. But, where the three people in this film fit snugly together for a couple of nights, the vast number of young, working people in Tokyo were living in much smaller quarters. Three and four people would share three-room units half the size of Christine's in this film. When I last visited Tokyo in 2001, the modern city had many high-rise apartment buildings with these multi-person closet-sized apartments.