The War Between Men And Women (1972)

A cranky writer (Jack Lemmon) with an inclination toward misogyny is going blind. When he meets a divorced woman (Barbara Harris) with three kids and a dog, the last thing on his mind is marriage. So guess what happens? "Suggested" by the writings and drawings of James Thurber, one can see what the film makers were attempting but it just doesn't work. For a film about a misogynist, the film feels misogynist which surely isn't what the film makers intended. The movie interpolates live action with animation sequences but they're crude and ineffective. As an audience, we need to see what attracts Harris to this cantankerous anti-social curmudgeon and we don't other than he's played by Jack Lemmon who's played so many nice guys that it's hard not to like him. Harris's body of film work isn't large and any opportunity to see her is welcome but she's really wasted here as is Jason Robards as her ex-husband (as soon as we hear of his occupation, his fate is predictable). Still, it's one of Lemmon's better 1970s performances. Directed impersonally by Melville Shavelson (YOURS, MINE AND OURS). With Herb Edelman, Severn Darden, Ruth McDevitt, Lisa Eilbacher and Joyce Brothers.