The Out-of-Towners

Jack Lemmon and Sandy Dennis are perfectly matched as the hapless Kellermans of Twin Oaks, Ohio, in Neil Simon’s outrageous comedy hit. The top candidate for a prestigious promotion at his company’s corporate headquarters in New York City, George (Lemmon), accompanied by his wife Gwen (Dennis), is all set to take a bite out of The Big Apple — only to quickly discover that The Big Apple can bite back! Their dream trip to the big city turns into an ever-escalating nightmare of diverted flights, forfeited reservations, missed trains, sinister strangers, kidnappings, paralyzing strikes, lost luggage … anything that can go wrong does go wrong, and then some!  This is more than just a run of bad luck, it’s an epic struggle, and George is determined to triumph, even if it kills him!   An uproarious dark comedy driven by the nervously frazzled energy of Lemmon and Dennis and Simon’s propulsive, calamitous, what-could-possibly-happen-next? screenplay, The Out-of-Towners, directed by Arthur Hiller (Silver Streak, The In-Laws), is a wild ride into urban insanity. Beware the man in the black cape! (Dir. by Arthur Hiller, 1970, USA, 101 mins., Rated PG)