Thad McCloud (Fred MacMurray) is leery of being the First Gentleman. His wife Leslie McCloud (Polly Bergen) has been elected President of the United States. More than anything, he doesn't want to be the First Lady. Beside her political rivals and communists, Leslie has to deal with Central American dictator Raphael Valdez Jr. (Eli Wallach), their kids, and Thad's ex Doris Reid Weaver (Arlene Dahl).
This is an one-joke movie. Basically, he is struggling against doing nothing and being First Lady. For a progressive subject matter, the humor here is old fashion. The writers have made the wife a man and the husband a woman. I can't stand that the husband is so needy which comes off as whiney. MacMurray struggles to play dumb. Let's start with the bedrooms. There's no rule that they can't switch rooms, but also they have separate bedrooms? It makes no sense especially they have a sex scene. It's the most PG of sex scenes, but it's there. Next, I cringed at the First Lady office section. He seems to have no agency of his own. They've made him into the awkwardness of being a wife, but it doesn't make sense. I am really frustrated with him. For this to be anything interesting, it falls on the pairing of Eli Wallach and Fred MacMurray. I couldn't get a hold of this odd couple. There should be a desperate need for Thad to ingratiate himself onto the dictator. That's where the fun could come from. That's the last potential for a good comedy. His ex is just another example of his cluelessness. Finally, there is the disappointing ending and the oldness is complete. I don't think the movie wants a woman President. There is a general dated awkwardness to this movie. If I remake this, I would turn the Thad Valdez combo into a fun road trip. The wife President would be desperately trying to find the runaway duo.
