The Gazebo (1959)

(On Cable TV, May 2021) As far as late-1950s comedies go, The Gazebo is markedly darker than you’d expect — especially as it begins with a murder plot to ensure that the protagonist’s wife isn’t embarrassed by the release of nude pictures. That’s right — the hero shoots down a bad guy and spends the rest of the film trying to prevent events from further getting out of control. Glenn Ford plays the harried husband killing to protect his wife’s honour (especially considering that she’s played by Debbie Reynolds), but the script is aligned in his favour, as all the people harmed during the course of the film definitely deserved it. Amusing without necessarily being all that funny, The Gazebo arguably plays better when viewed alongside more serious criminal fare of the era — Alfred Hitchcock gets name-checked (indeed, there are similarities here with his The Trouble with Harry, since playwright Alec Coppel contributed The Gazebo’s original story to and handled screenwriting duties on Vertigo) and you can see the film as a slight film noir parody (albeit in colour and in a small town, so not really all that much). It’s not mandatory viewing, but it’s certainly watchable and even more so if you’re familiar with 1950s thrillers. The Gazebo’s got a bit more bite than other movies of the era, as the dark comedy it features would become more prevalent later on. But keep your expectations in check.