That Lucky Touch

A British-West German romantic comedy; A story about an international arms dealer who clashes with a liberated journalist who is on an assignment to expose military malpractice. A film with a 1930s Hollywood convention for romance. Screwball comedies require a good pairing: the female dominates and the male's masculinity is challenged; a humorous battle of the sexes ensues. Roger Moore's is amusing as an urbane, slightly rakish neighbour making overtures to Susannah York's feisty, pacifist feminist. Lee J. Cobb and Shelley Winters are another successful pairing providing amusement, though the depiction of a NATO war games farce was a bit strained as a comedy conceit. In the rom-com convention, the various intertwinings of the main characters should mean a romantic ending. But while it is charming in the first hour with its love-against-the-odds theme, plot gets in the way, and a second-rate farce leads to a stub of an ending with little romantic payoff. Visually, it had flair and style, and the art direction was first-rate, with some attractive locations.