I discovered this delightful film in the late 1980s when I saw it on TV and enjoyed it immensely. Bing Crosby gives a wonderful performance in this film and exudes a warmth much like that in "White Christmas" (1954) and Nicole Maurey does an excellent job as his French teacher/love interest. The duo of Tuesday Weld and Fabian add 1960 star power, and this is a great opportunity to see a young Gavin MacLeod and Yvonne Craig before they became even more famous as TV stars. Patrick Adiarte is also wonderful as Indian student T.J. Padmanabham. The story is well crafted and involving and of course family friendly, perhaps the most family friendly of Blake Edwards' work. The Henry Mancini soundtrack is IMHO one of his best and will stick with you for a long time. (It was available on CD but is currently out of print.) Of course any time you hear a Jimmy Van Heusen/Sammy Cahn song it's a treat, and "The Second Time Around" is one of their best.
As far as highlights, the scene when the gang visits one of Harvey's own Smokehouses will have you both laughing and pining for a time when such restaurants existed. You could see the movie's end stunt coming a mile away, given Harvey's fondness for the key phrase involved, but it's still wonderful.
However, being shot in 2.35:1 CinemaScope, the presentation does suffer from horrific pan and scan when shown on TV; I've no idea why, given the success of the virtual remake Back To School, this film hasn't been released on a widescreen DVD as it deserves; I suspect some type of conflict with the film or music rights that hopefully will be resolved soon.
As far as highlights, the scene when the gang visits one of Harvey's own Smokehouses will have you both laughing and pining for a time when such restaurants existed. You could see the movie's end stunt coming a mile away, given Harvey's fondness for the key phrase involved, but it's still wonderful.
However, being shot in 2.35:1 CinemaScope, the presentation does suffer from horrific pan and scan when shown on TV; I've no idea why, given the success of the virtual remake Back To School, this film hasn't been released on a widescreen DVD as it deserves; I suspect some type of conflict with the film or music rights that hopefully will be resolved soon.