In 1963, a bright young actress named Jane Fonda nabbed one of her first starring roles in Sunday in New York. Long absent from a proper release on home video, the movie finally has a remastering and a brand new DVD, courtesy of the Warner Archive collection.
Jane Fonda stars as Eileen Tyler, a young woman engaged to Russ (Robert Culp), who has threatened to break off the engagement if she doesn’t sleep with him before the wedding. In despair and not sure how to proceed, the innocent Eileen goes to visit her brother Adam (Cliff Robertson) in New York. When Eileen seeks Adam’s counsel on the matter, he tells her she has done the right thing by resisting Russ’s advances and, further, implies that she would not be as good a catch if she were not a virgin. An airline pilot, Adam leaves Eileen in his apartment to fly out of town. It’s not long before she discovers evidence that her brother isn’t living by his own advice, even as he secretly goes to meet up with his girlfriend Mona (Jo Morrow). Thoroughly armed with conflicting notions and and a rebellious streak, Eileen sets off into the big city on her own. She soon meets Mike (Rod Taylor) and spends the whole day getting to know him. They go back to Adam’s apartment together, just in time for Russ to make an appearance, igniting a series of mistaken identities and errors that will shape the rest of this classic romantic comedy.
Sunday in New York is a remarkable movie in that it reflects and examines the morals and taboos of the era in which it was made but presents the awkward situations with more comedy than most modern rom-coms can manage. Norman Krasna adapted the story from his earlier stage play, and Peter Tewksbury directed the adaptation, following up on his work with the sitcoms My Three Sons and Father Knows Best. It is a treat to see early work by actors who would go on to bigger roles, and there even are some cameos by recognizable performers like Jim Backus (Mr. Howell from Gilligan’s Island) as a flight dispatcher. Eileen’s then-scandalous ponderings wouldn’t raise an eyebrow in today’s movie audiences, and that lends even more charm to the movie.
Like all of the Warner Archive releases, this DVD is being produced on demand and doesn’t contain any bonus features beyond the movie itself. Fans of classic romance films or of any of the stars will enjoy seeing the movie getting this remastering and a real release after so long. If you’re sick of the current generation’s crop of trite romantic comedies, this one is worth checking out, if only to see how it should be done.
