A woman’s virtue was a more delicate thing in older films than it is in more modern ones, but in the 60s and 70s the trend shifted away from female leads as swooning romantic interests gradually bedazzled by the manly men starring opposite of them. Consequently, we ended up with strong female leads and films more willing to explore the ideas of an emergent female sexuality. One such film tackling both of these ideas is Sunday in New York. It was hot on the tale of the similar Sex and the Single Girl starring Tony Curtis, Natalie Wood, Henry Fonda and Lauren Bacall – and with that in mind, you can’t help but feel that Sunday in New York was another studios follow-up competition film, so that it had a title with similar themes and audience drawing power.
Eileen Tyler (Jane Fonda) is visiting her brother Adam (Cliff Robertson; younger folks, think Uncle Ben from Spider-man), a pilot, in New York City. She arrives at his apartment and before each of them goes their separate ways in the city, they have a conversation wherein he insists that the women he dates maintain their “virtue” and he never sleeps with them. She knows he’s telling the truth – wink, wink – because of their longstanding vow to be honest through a brother-sister pact. Just then his girlfriend arrives and they run off to go “ice skating” (which looks a lot like calling acquaintances from a payphone seeing if they can use their flat for sex). After her brother leaves, flight control calls his apartment saying they need him to pilot a flight. Eileen runs after her brother and in the process becomes attached to Mike Mitchell (Rod Taylor). The two spend the day together, and by the end they’re more enamored with one another than either could have expected; it’s a love connection complicated by Eileen’s long-running romance with well-to-do Russ Wilson (Robert Culp).
Sunday in New York is an entertaining little romantic comedy, and it’s a decent Fonda vehicle. If you’re a Jane Fonda or Rod Taylor fan it’s worth picking up from the WB Online Store.
DVD Bonus Features
It’s a burn-by-order DVD available through the WB Online Shop, so there are no extras besides a trailer for the film.
"Sunday in New York" is on sale February 8, 2011 and is not rated. Comedy, Drama, Romance. Directed by Peter Tewksbury. Written by Norman Krasna. Starring Cliff Robertson, Jane Fonda, Rod Taylor, Robert Culp.
