What it’s about
Evie Jackson (Page), a single postmistress from Ohio arrives in New York City for a convention. On the same train is womanizing salesman Harry Mork (Ford) determined to change his ways and marry a bourgeois widow Phyllis (Lansbury). A chance encounter in the hotel’s coffee shop brings the chatty wallflower and the worldly bachelor together. With some inadvertent help from Harry’s wacky soon-to-be stepson (Anderson, Jr.), the two lonely hearts’ fates are forever changed.
Why we love it
Oscar winner Mann (“Marty”) delivers another heartfelt romance from a gently comic script (adapted from Tad Mosel’s story “The Out-of-Towners”) that also cagily packs some raunchy punches. Page excels as the middle-aged dreamer who won’t let life get her down; she’s alternately annoying and endearing. Ford plays well off his own smooth screen image. Bustling scenes in the hotel lobby and train station buzz with city life while Henry Mancini’s romantic score culminates in the Oscar nominated end credits song that gives the film its name. Don’t miss this underrated charmer.