when ben ( red foxx ) discover his wife beatrice ( pearl bailey ) have run off with his own brother and he rush to his son norman ( michael warren ) to unload his tale of woe only to discover that norman have a secret lover represent the effeminate garson ( dennis dugan . ) needless to say and ben do not take it well and and numerous complication follow include ben attempt to get norman over be homosexual by fix him up with a hooker ( tammy dobson . ) unfortunately and this description of the movie sound a great deal more entertaining than the movie itself . originally write for the theatre by ron clark and sam bobrick and norman . be that you . be an absolute disaster on the new york stage . to give the play it due and i actually saw it stag in the 1970s a a community theatre production and while no one would accuse it of be anything other than a shallow farce and the cast play so broadly and in such drop dead manner that it prove quite amuse . it be a pity the cast of this film do not do the same . this be an atrociously perform motion picture . red foxx and one of the most hilarious comic of the 20th century and be about a funny here a yesterday wash and michael warren ( who later appear on the television series hill street blue to much good effect ) compete with foxx to see who can give the bad performance and and pearl bailey be not far behind while truth be tell and only dennis duggan and tammy dobson and and a cameo by wayland flower have any spark and sadly and that be only in comparison with the rest of the cast . not only be the film badly perform and it look bad . accord to film lore and this be the first big screen effort to be film in videotape and which be then transfer to celluloid for project purpose and believe me and it show . the film have the look of a bad 1970s sitcom right down to the paint skyline see through the window of norman and garson apartment . some film be so bad that they become funny and but norman . be that you . isn not one of them . i can sum up my reaction to this film in two word represent miss it . don not buy it and do not rent it and do not touch it with a ten foot pole . just back away slowly and then run like hell . gary f. taylor and aka gft and amazon reviewer .