But I Don't Want to Get Married! (1970)

Sadly Over-hyped

A waste of 90 minutes of my life

I am only giving this movie a 1 for the great cast, though I can't imagine what any of them were thinking. This movie was horrible

The film never slows down or bores, plunging from one harrowing sequence to the next.

Herschel Bernardi is an accountant and recent widower with two sons who is confused by many things: the difference between hiring a maid and an afternoon escort, how to feed his family without going out to eat every night and...New Math. Brash, occasionally funny TV-movie, directed by Jerry Paris and co-produced by Paris and Aaron Spelling, spotlights some amusing ladies, mostly from TV (Shirley Jones, Nanette Fabray, June Lockhart, Tina Louise, and Penny Marshall in a bit). Colorful and harmless, a cartoony sketch of modern-day dating in place of a satirical study on the subject. The gummy photography and thick-as-a-brick background scoring are both irritating, and there's too much of mush-mouthed Brandon Cruz as Bernardi's youngest child; otherwise, a lightly charming piece of harmless fluff.

Hershel Bernardi has a real "bevy of beauties" from all age groups here, as he is a suddenly single 40s something Professional in 1970.Living in a College Community, he is the older, wiser, and very desirable target of hot, blonde college girl Sue Lyon, switching around his office in a funky mini skirt. He is more comfortable with Joyce Van Patton, the Housekeeper, more in his age group...and actually less challenging, intellectually.His precocious son gives him advice he does not need.This movie appears to be unavailable even on VHS and that's a shame. I watched my Betamax TV dupe about 50 times.Pretty strong for a Made For TV movie.Let me know when it comes out! :)

I saw this movie only once -- probably when it first aired in 1970 -- but it made a lasting impression on me. It is indisputably sweet, and unobtrusively moral. Bernardi's character has an unassuming nobility that even transcends the excellent script. For example, when he reveals to her that he has been secretly watching Shirley Jones' character undressing -- as her bedroom window is unavoidably visible from Bernardi's apartment window -- he manages to make this act seem somehow innocent. He is astonished, and is finished as her suitor, when she finds this to be disgusting. (As I recall, her final line -- just before she slaps him -- is, "That's DISGUSTING!") Bernardi's scene with the too-young Sue Lyon is the most memorable and is the best proof of his character's nobility. She wants to pursue him (sexually, one gathers), but he recognizes that he is too old for her. When he protests as much, she retorts (I might have their ages wrong), "I'm 20, I know what I want." He responds with, "I'm 45, I know what I can't have." You can't improve on this.As a measure of how this film has stuck with me over the last 37 years: when my kids don't like something that a neighbor or relative has cooked, I always find myself recalling the line, "No Aunt Hallie!" This is the chant that Bernardi's kids make when they contemplate yet another frozen meal cooked by their aunt -- the sister of their deceased mother -- who is a horrible cook and a rather cold person, but who obviously loves her sister's family and wants to help in some way.I would love to see this movie again.

As a child growing up in the 1960's and 1970's I used to love to watch those wonderful ABC Movie of the Week made-for-TV movies. The theme would start with the gorgeous Burt Bacharach's "Nikki", an all time favorite song from one of my all time favorite composers. One of those most memorable movies was 1970's "But I Don't Want To Get Married!" a simple comedy about a widower, played by the late great Herschel Bernardi and his two sons who move to California to start a new life. Walter (Bernardi) discovers the single life and suddenly becomes the target of blind dates, set-ups and the desires of several needy single women. Everyone wants what's good for Walter but he's still not over his loss nor is he ready to make a commitment and settle down, neither are his sons ready for a new mother.This is a sweet, heart-warming movie with a very likable cast like the movie's director and co-producer Jerry Paris as Walter's playboy co-worker, Brandon Cruz as his youngest son best known for his role in "The Courtship of Eddie's Father" and of course the unforgettable women Shirley Jones, Tina Louise, Nanette Fabray, Sue Lyon, June Lockhart and others.I love the time this movie was made; no big social issues weighed it down, no one slept around and while its topic has been done several times (before and after) still takes you back to a more innocent time not so long ago. A few years ago it played on a late-late night broadcast and luckily I managed to record it. I have never seen it since then or on video. It's too bad others can't share what makes this movie a somewhat forgotten gem especially being produced by another late great, Aaron Spelling.It can currently be seen on YouTube, just do a search.