Out of Towners, The (1970)

Jack Lemmon and Sandy Dennis are brilliant as the Kellermans, the “out of towners” of the title, who fly from Twin Oaks, Ohio, to New York City for a job interview.

Lemmon is George, an executive who’s hoping to take up the post as Vice President of Sales for his company. Sandy is his nervous young wife.

They discover to their constant distress that the whole of New York seems to have picked the very day on which they arrive in town to go out on strike en masse.

Neil Simon’s script is very clever and more than matched by the acting. It’s actually an episode from his play Plaza Suite, other parts of which were also filmed under that name in the same year.

As a comedy of errors, it almost becomes overbearing. Its tongue-in-cheek tone, however, keeps the comedy afloat.

The final hijack scene was originally cut for American television, killing the punchline completely.

A 1999 remake starred Steve Martin and Goldie Hawn.

George Kellerman
Jack Lemmon
Gwen Kellerman
Sandy Dennis
Lenny, TV man
Sandy Baron
Boston cabbie
Ron Carey
Officer Meyers
Phil Bruns
Murray
Graham Jarvis
Cuban diplomat
Carlos Montalban
Sergeant Kovaleski
Dolph Sweet
Lost-and-found clerk
Billy Dee Williams

Director
Arthur Hiller