Released in 1980 and featuring two leading men at the peak of their powers – with Roger Moore being the current James Bond and Gene Wilder arguably still in the prime of his career – this little-known film somehow ended up flopping heavily at the box office before vanishing without a trace.
‘Sunday Lovers’ was co-produced internationally, and is best described as an anthology of four separate romantic comedies, with the episodes set in various locations: – England, Paris, Los Angeles and Rome. Because the film was structured this way, Roger Moore and Gene Wilder did not share any screen time together – which may have impacted negatively upon the movie; perhaps not helped by a slightly misleading poster.
Overall, the film was savaged by critics, with a couple of the episodes in particular coming under heavy fire. With this in mind, the best way to explore ‘Sunday Lovers’ would be to separate it into the four different stories, beginning with the opening chapter starring Roger Moore.
‘An Englishman’s Home’ features Moore as a chauffeur named Harry, who would assume the role of his aristocrat employer whenever he was out of town as a pretense to seduce young and impressionable air hostesses. Actually, impersonating his employer would be a more accurate description. Aided by his work colleague Parker – a complicit butler played by Denholm Elliott – Harry convinces an American stewardess named Donna back to ‘his’ castle for a little romance, only for the weekend to be thrown into disarray by an unexpected visitor.
Thanks to Roger Moore’s performance as Roger Moore, this story – despite its lecherous premise – can be easily passed off as lightweight and harmless – and is easily the best of the four episodes.
The film then moves on to the second story – ‘The French Method’ starring Italian actor Lino Ventura as a Parisian businessman who agrees to hook up his secretary with an American client in order to close an important deal.
Honestly, the misogynistic themes throughout this episode were too heavy – even for me – with an all-too-willing young woman adding to the overall discomfort. Despite the performances being solid and the story ending with the main character redeeming himself, the distinct lack of humour here – in contrast to the previous chapter – leaves it well short of a pass mark.
The third story is titled ‘Skippy’ and was written and directed by Gene Wilder, who also plays the titular character – a mentally-troubled middle-aged man named Skippy.
I actually watched this episode twice, and still can’t quite get a read on it. This is a strange one, for out of the four chapters featured in ‘Sunday Lovers’, I suppose this would be the closest to a love story, and yet so much of this tale is ambiguous and open to interpretation. My suspicion is that Gene Wilder wrote this as a feature-length screenplay, and having offered it up to this project needed to cut it down dramatically into a twenty-minute piece. As a result, I sense there is a lot of exposition missing.
The story itself centres on Skippy – a man aged in his forties who has checked himself into a mental health facility – and his romantic escapades with a much younger woman named Laurie (played by Kathleen Quinlan) during a weekend release from the hospital. There are some trademark Wilder moments, such as his crazy dancing to Bee Gees songs, but seeing him naked throughout extended love scenes was definitely not on my bingo card. This story really was a mixed bag!
I enjoyed ‘Skippy’ to a degree, as there was just enough depth to get me invested in the characters; helped along by the madcap antics of Wilder, but brought down a peg or two by the excessive nudity. However, most reviewers and online commentators rate this story as a dumpster fire, with many saying it is the worst episode out of the four, but I did not quite see it that way.
The fourth and final chapter is titled ‘Armando’s Notebook’ and stars Ugo Tognazzi, who plays an Italian man named Armando who discovers an old notebook containing the telephone numbers of his former girlfriends. As his wife is away for the weekend, a bored Armando begins calling the names listed in the book, and of course – hi-jinks ensue!
Setting aside the willingness of the main character to cheat on his wife so easily, this story is really nothing more than a typical Italian romantic comedy/romp. Tognazzi’s performance is serviceable and there are a number of funny scenes; most notably a bizarre encounter with a woman possessing supernatural powers.
I would give this episode a pass mark, as it is quite entertaining yet mindless on so many levels.
Overall, ‘Sunday Lovers’ is a watchable film but will not have aged well with most modern audiences. Having Roger Moore and Gene Wilder attached to this project is what initially piqued my interest, and their respective stories are definitely worth watching. I maintain that Moore’s ‘An Englishman’s Home’ is the better of the four episodes, with Wilder’s ‘Skippy’ coming in second place. The Italian romp ‘Armando’s Notebook’ is next best – thanks to its comedic tones – with the Parisian tale ‘The French Method’ being the least enjoyable chapter.
‘Sunday Lovers’ or ‘Les Seducteurs’ used to be almost impossible to find, but fortunately – thanks to the wonders of the internet – the entire film can now be watched on YouTube.
I have added a link below to Don Alex’s YouTube Channel where not only can you watch the movie, but you can read some of the host’s insightful comments about the film – some of which differ from my own opinions. Regardless, if you are a fan of Roger Moore or Gene Wilder – or both – then I highly recommend you check out the film, even if you only watch their particular segments.
Again, the link is below – courtesy of Don Alex on YouTube.
Screenshots courtesy of Cinema International Corporation, United Artists and MGM.
Sean Carslake 