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The Facts of Life

Play trailer Poster for The Facts of Life 1960 1h 43m Comedy Drama Play Trailer Watchlist
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Tomatometer 2 Reviews 59% Popcornmeter 500+ Ratings
The Gilberts, Larry (Bob Hope) and Mary (Ruth Hussey), and the Weavers, Jack (Don DeFore) and Kitty (Lucille Ball), are neighbors and close friends -- even though Larry and Kitty always grate on each other's nerves. When the friends' annual vacation arrives, Larry and Kitty are the only ones at the hotel, as their spouses can't make it. Stuck together for the trip, Larry and Kitty, surprisingly, fall in love. The two must now contemplate whether starting over is worth it at middle age.
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The Facts of Life

Critics Reviews

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Dwight MacDonald Esquire Magazine 07/23/2019
Mr. Hope and Miss Ball have become hardened in the mold of situation-comedy, skilled at gags and double-takes, but no longer able to simulate real people. Go to Full Review
Dennis Schwartz Dennis Schwartz Movie Reviews 11/18/2009
B-
A mild satire on an adulterous affair between bored suburbanites. Go to Full Review
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Audience Reviews

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Kerri H Jul 3 It's good but not great. Bob Hope and Lucille Ball are both hilarious... usually. In my opinion, the dialougue was just too "jokey." One sets them up and the other delivers the punch line. It came off as hokey and stale. When they're not telling jokes, it's a pretty good story. See more steve d 07/20/2020 Cute but completely forgettable. See more 08/03/2019 Although I grew up with Bob Hope, he is not funny here or anywhere. His "humor" grows worse and worse with age. Lucy is not funny or capable of acting, outside of her interactions with Desi Arnaz and Vivian Vance. This movie is another dud, something Lucy became famous for after the wild popularity of the 1950s. See more 08/03/2019 Very funny and so true See more 01/10/2015 Oddly semi-serious Bob Hope and Lucille Ball comedy. Bob and Lucille are both trapped in separate loveless marriages but have a fling in Acapulco when they find themselves there without their spouses. Most of the film takes place after they return home and find themselves seeing each other at bridge parties and other social situations and the two then decide to continue seeing each other secretly. Bob is still filled with snapping one line zingers, but the drama lays our fairly seriously, though the film has (SPOILER ALERT!) a very disappointing and dated ending where the two "come to their senses" and decide it's better for their families to stay in a loveless marriage. Overall, it's an interesting change of pace for Hope and the drama plays out fairly well despite his out of place zingers. Saul Bass provided one of his usual cool title sequences. See more 11/23/2014 ***Due to the recent RT changes that have basically ruined my past reviews, I am mostly only giving a rating rather than a full review.*** See more Read all reviews
The Facts of Life

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Movie Info

Synopsis The Gilberts, Larry (Bob Hope) and Mary (Ruth Hussey), and the Weavers, Jack (Don DeFore) and Kitty (Lucille Ball), are neighbors and close friends -- even though Larry and Kitty always grate on each other's nerves. When the friends' annual vacation arrives, Larry and Kitty are the only ones at the hotel, as their spouses can't make it. Stuck together for the trip, Larry and Kitty, surprisingly, fall in love. The two must now contemplate whether starting over is worth it at middle age.
Director
Melvin Frank
Producer
Norman Panama
Screenwriter
Melvin Frank, Norman Panama
Distributor
United Artists
Production Co
HLP
Genre
Comedy, Drama
Original Language
English
Release Date (Theaters)
Nov 14, 1960, Wide
Release Date (Streaming)
Sep 16, 2008
Runtime
1h 43m
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