The Out of Towners

1970
G
1h 41m

IMDb RATING

7.0/10

9.6K

YOUR RATING

Jack Lemmon and Sandy Dennis in The Out of Towners (1970)

Play trailer1:32

1 Video

65 Photos

Farce Comedy

Ohio sales executive George Kellerman accepts a higher position within the company and travels to New York City with his wife Gwen for his job interview. But things start badly and only grow... Read allOhio sales executive George Kellerman accepts a higher position within the company and travels to New York City with his wife Gwen for his job interview. But things start badly and only grow worse in Neil Simon's dark urban comedy.Ohio sales executive George Kellerman accepts a higher position within the company and travels to New York City with his wife Gwen for his job interview. But things start badly and only grow worse in Neil Simon's dark urban comedy.

See production info at IMDbPro

IMDb RATING

7.0/10

9.6K

YOUR RATING

See production info at IMDbPro

Awards
- 1 win & 3 nominations total

Videos1

Trailer 1:32

Official Trailer

Photos65

+ 59

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Storyline

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Did you know

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Trivia
Jack Lemmon was almost killed in the manhole explosion scene. The blast was much stronger than anticipated, and instead of only lifting the manhole cover a few inches up and away from the hole, it threw it several feet into the air. A few seconds later, it falls hard in the ground, very close to Jack Lemmon's head. The actor was then hit in his left leg when the cover bounced, and although startled and in pain, he stayed in character. That shot was used in the final film.

Goofs
Two characters on foot would not be able outrun an officer on horseback.

Quotes
Gwen Kellerman: [after hearing George had been offered the Vice-President position] What did you say, George?
George Kellerman: What did I say? What do you think I said?
Gwen Kellerman: I don't know, George. I was hoping you would say no. I was hoping you would say that you and your wife don't really belong in New York. That you wanted to live the rest of your life in Ohio. That you never wanted to see a big city again as long as you live. That you didn't want to live here or in, uh, Chicago, or San Francisco, or New Orleans or Paris or any other place where people have to live on top of each other, and they don't have enough room to walk or to breathe or to smile at each other. That you don't want to step on garbage in the streets, or be attacked by dogs or have to give away watches in the middle of your sleep to men in black capes. That you were through traveling on trains that had no place to sit & no food to eat. And you didn't want to fly in airplanes that have no place to land, and no luggage for you when you land there. That you wish you never came here, and the only thing in the world you really wanted was to pick up your wife and carry her to the airport and fly home... and live happily ever after. That's what I was hoping you would say, George.
George Kellerman: That's funny... that's what I told him, word for word.

Alternate versions
There are two different available versions of this film. One which is shown on television (American Movie Classics), features music in certain spots of the movie, and the title song is the theme used in the night driving scenes in the picture. The other version, on home video, features slighly different songs through the picture and a title song which is used at the end in all versions.

Connections
Featured in America at the Movies (1976)

User reviews113

Review

Featured review

7/10

Exponential Murphy

Now that I'm retired I do a bit of traveling now and I make itineraries that I like to stick to. What happens to Jack Lemmon and Sandy Dennis is every traveler's nightmare in between all the laughs.

Starting with the circling around the airport, I remember once circling an hour and a half at Newark Airport because flights were backed up and that's after an hour delay from Rochester. That was 20 years ago and I haven't had anything like that happen to me recently. It can be incredibly nerve wracking and I well sympathize with what was happening.

That would normally be enough. But Mr.&Mrs. Kellerman go exponential Murphy on this trip. Everything that can go wrong does, every single solitary thing from lost luggage to canceled hotel reservations to spending a night on the ground at Central Park and plenty more besides. All this on a nice dreamed of vacation in New York for this middle America Ohio couple who are combining business and pleasure as Lemmon is also in town for a job interview.

Jack Lemmon is a perfect fit for his American everyman character and Sandy Dennis provides an interesting brand of quirkiness as the wife. Although there are some talented players in the cast including a rising Billy Dee Williams in the role of a ticket agent, they're fairly one dimensional as the film for about 90% of the time focuses on Lemmon and Dennis and their travails in the Big Apple.

Do they get out of all their woes. Well I can say is, think about that musical number that Bing Crosby and Olga San Juan did in Blue Skies.