Cheap Cactus Flower (DVD) (Walter Matthau, Ingrid Bergman, Goldie Hawn) (Gene Saks) Price

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Customer Reviews of Cactus Flower

Cactus Flower has laughing power
The 1969 movie version of Abe Burrows' hit Broadway play "Cactus Flower" although a bit dated still has the ability to make me laugh. The stand out here is an impressive movie debut by Goldie Hawn (in the role of Toni - originated by Brenda Vaccaro on stage). Her cupie doll looks and sing songy voice give her character just the right naivete needed to pull off this role. Ingrid Bergman as Nurse Stephanie (played on stage by Lauren Bacall) is hilarious in a bit where she mocks the latest dance of the period by creating a new dance called..The Dentist! Walter Matthau holds his own as the philandering dentist who leads Toni into believing he's a married man with kids in order to avoid a more "serious" relationship with her. All-in-all a worthy movie version of a great but long-forgotten play.

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Delightful comedy with excellent cast!
This classic comedy of mix-ups and mistakes is sure to please. Walter Matthau is the "dirty married bachelor", dentist Julian who lies to his girlfriend, Toni (Goldie Hawn)by pretending that he is married. When he discovers that she tried to kill himself for him, he invents a little more so that he can get a "divorce" from his "wife" and marry Toni. But since Toni won't be a "house-wrecker", he also has to come up with a wife! Ingrid Bergman as Julian's stiff Swedish nurse is excellent as she comes to his aid. As can be expected, the situation gets stickier and stickier as the movie gets funnier! Anyone who enjoys mix-up situation comedies will love this movie. Other suggestions are "Housesitter" (Steve Martin and Goldie Hawn) and "9 to 5" (Jane Fonda, Lily Tomlin, and Dolly Parton). Happy watching!

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Frothy romantic comedy
Peace and love, but not quite this much. Romantic comedy "Cactus Flower" is flirty, frothy and very amusing (not to mention it's nice to see a gal in her fifties shown as being attractive by the movie industry). It's predictable and lacking in twists, but it's entertaining by itself.

Bachelor dentist Julian Winston (Walter Matthau) met the ditzy but sweet Toni (Goldie Hawn) a year ago, but to avoid the looming threat of commitment, he claimed he was married with three kids. But Toni tries to commit suicide -- a faulty attempt botched by her attractive playwright neighbor Igor (Rick Lenz). When Julian learns of it, he decides to marry her, and pretends that he's getting a divorce from the wife he doesn't have. Small problem: Toni wants to meet her personally.

Julian tries to convince his straightlaced nurse Stephanie (Ingrid Bergman) to pretend to be his wife. At first she says no way, but then agrees (partly because she is secretly in love with him... of course). Except then Toni thinks that Stephanie is still in love with Julian, and that his kids will be traumatized by the divorce. So then Julian tries to recruit a fake boyfriend for his fake wife, to give an excuse for the fake divorce... and the web of nonexistant lovers starts to spread.

This film is a fun film, not a great film; it's froth, and pretends to be no more. In fact, I guessed the outcome of the movie (give or take a cactus and mink stole) within the first ten minutes. But getting there is half the fun. It's cute to see the little web of lies getting worse and worse, right down to the womanizing pal Harvey telling his idiot girlfriend that he's an agent for the CIA.

The trappings of "Cactus Flower" are a bit dated now -- the dancing, the store of vinyl records, the clothing, the hippie putting flowers on people's windshields. Fortunately, the script has aged pretty well if you know what "square" means. The cluelessness of Hawn's character starts to grate on the nerves (surely NO ONE can be this dim), but it has some funny dialogue.

Ingrid Bergman usually got stuck in dramatic, often melancholy roles, but here she gets to bust loose with plenty of acid-tongued barbs, the "dentist" dance, not to mention a funny, sexy dance with Igor and a mink stole. Matthau does an excellent job as the increasingly uptight, habitual liar Julian, whom we like despite his jerkishness. Hawn is merely okay; she spends a little too much time biting her lip and looking fawnish, and Lenz is extremely funny, charming and quite underrated.

The witty repartee and amusingly predictable plotline make this a fun watch, if you're in the mood for something light and bizarrely romantic. Cute and entertaining.