The Mating Game (1959)
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62% of users liked it
(161 ratings)
George Marshall directed this breezy romantic comedy starring Tony Randall and Debbie Reynolds. Randall plays Lorenzo Charlton, a stuffy tax investigator sent to the farm of Pop Larkin (Paul Douglas) and Ma Larkin (Una Merkel) to find out why they haven't been paying taxes. He discovers that the… More George Marshall directed this breezy romantic comedy starring Tony Randall and Debbie Reynolds. Randall plays Lorenzo Charlton, a stuffy tax investigator sent to the farm of Pop Larkin (Paul Douglas) and Ma Larkin (Una Merkel) to find out why they haven't been paying taxes. He discovers that the Larkins, instead of money, use a homegrown barter system. Their complex economic network causes Lorenzo to drink one home brew too many. Awakening from a hangover, he sees a vision of loveliness before him -- the Larkin's spunky daughter Mariette (Debbie Reynolds). Enraptured by Mariette, he decides to stick around and help the family out of their onerous tax burden. Further research reveals an ancestral claim dating to the Civil War -- in reality, the government owes the Larkins $14 million. ~ Paul Brenner, Rovi
- Directed By
- George Marshall
- Genres
- Comedy
- In Theaters
- Apr 29, 1959 Wide
- On DVD
- Jan 27, 1993
Critic Reviews
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Steve Crum, Dispatch-Tribune Newspapers
Very dated (social mores) romantic comedy with Tony Randall paired with Debbie Reynolds.
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Cast
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Debbie Reynolds
as Marietta Larkin
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Tony Randall
as Lorenzo Charlton
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Paul Douglas
as Pop Larkin
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Fred Clark
as Oliver Kelsey
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Una Merkel
as Ma Larkin
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Philip Ober
as Wendell Burnshaw
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Philip Coolidge
as Rev. Osgood
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Charles Lane
as Bigelow
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Trevor Bardette
as Chief Guthrie
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Addison Powell
as DeGroot
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Rickey Murray
as Lee Larkin
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Donald Losby
as Grant Larkin
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William Smith
as Barney